No state is as diverse or beautiful as Washington. Explore the ten regions. Washington is also the smallest state west of the Rockies, so you can easily travel the varied worlds of this gifted corner of the continental U.S.  From natural wonders like the rainforests and towering volcanos, to manmade structures like the Space Needle and Grand Coulee Dam. These are the some of the most spectacular and interesting things you'll experience during your visit to Washington State.

You can't argue with a gentle ocean breeze that soothes you or a raging storm that entertains you as you eat fresh seafood on the shore. Life is good. 

Visit the magnificent San Juan Islands, a great place to start the Cascade Loop, or finish it off.

Our volcano in the west becomes a sea of mountains and forests and dark diamond lakes as you travel east into some of the most accessible and spectacular wilderness on the planet.

• The forests and beaches and mountains are here together, to amaze you and soothe you.
   
• Hells Canyon and Umatilla National Forest are places you will talk about forever.
   
• Man and his massive dam created a huge lake amid some of the most majestic mountains and forests found anywhere in the country.
   
• The Space Needle is over thirty now and just as graceful and beautiful as ever. Get a seagull's view from the observation deck of the Needle then, just a walk away, let the earthier flavors of Seattle fill your senses at the Pike Place Market.
   
• The natural wonders of this region are so massive and beautiful, it can make you ponder creation and be thankful.
   
• The first atom bomb was fueled here along what is now the last remaining natural segment of our greatest river. The birds and the landscape are magnificent.
   
• Grand Coulee Dam is monstrously cool to see in its surreal setting of sun and gorges scoured by the biggest floods in prehistory.

The Coast
Follow the final days of the Lewis and Clark Expedition along the Columbia to its mouth at the Pacific Ocean. Follow the final days of the Lewis and Clark Expedition along the Columbia to its mouth at the Pacific Ocean. Then drive on a beach and past the Willapa Hills into the heart of timber country where mansions and museums tell stories of industry and Indian legend. Taste the air of a rainforest where the trees live for a thousand years and grow to twenty stories tall, grabbing moisture from low clouds. Fish for salmon or watch for gray whales. Listen for the cries of an eagle in the crown of a giant hemlock.

Columbia River Plateau
It seems that you can witness Creation in this region, where the Ice Ages and volcanic tantrums of the planet came together to form a surreal landscape.  It seems that you can witness Creation in the Columbia River Plateau region, where the Ice Ages and volcanic tantrums of the planet came together to form a surreal landscape. The beauty of this region of Washington sneaks up on you. You'll be driving on a flat road or stepping through the sagebrush and happen upon a steep canyon that plunges in spectacular shapes and colors. The vast sky is a slow-motion dance of desert sun, puffy clouds and undiluted blue.

The Islands - The San Juans
Autumn is ideal in the San Juan Islands. The leaves change colors and the last sweet blackberries cling to the vine of summertime. Autumn is ideal in the San Juan Islands. The leaves change colors and the last sweet blackberries cling to the vine of summertime. The hot sun of August becomes a warm hand on your cheek in October. Sea and sky and mountains share shades of blue. The long, blonde grass of fallow fields looks ready to lie down and rest for a few months. Horses, alpaca and friendly dogs seem happier in the cooler air. As you drive around the islands, steel ponds lie calm and clear, reflecting the sky and the evergreens. Deer look up for a moment as you pass. No morning meetings. No highway traffic. Just a group of women smiling in a line of bicycles hugging the shoulder of a country road.

The Islands - Whidbey & Camano Islands
You will take refuge from reality. Do nothing. Read or hike. Explore the history or ponder your dreams of the future.  You will take refuge from reality. Do nothing. Read or hike. Explore the history or ponder your dreams of the future. Get a massage. Eat ice cream while you shop for antiques. Leave the balcony doors open and let the air repair your mind while you sleep. Find the cutest towns on the planet. Look up to see the eagles. Look down to watch your steps in the pebbles of an unspoiled beach.

North Cascades
Nowhere else in the country can you take a four day road trip through a more spectacular variety of terrain. Nowhere else in the country can you take a four day road trip through a more spectacular variety of terrain. From a river near the coast across the mountains into the high desert flying up a fjord to a town unreachable by road before heading back through the heart of the North Cascades to a city on the sea. Unbelievable.

Olympic and Kitsap Peninsulas
Anything is possible in this region of Washington. From a Victorian vacation town to the longest sand spit in North America, to prehistoric trees to the furthest northwest point in the continental U.S.  Anything is possible in this region of Washington. In four days, we lounged in the luxury of a B&B on a secluded bay, then stayed in a Victorian vacation town with views of mountains and water in multiple directions, then jogged the longest sand spit in North America, drove to a mountaintop in the Olympics, hiked through prehistoric trees to a waterfall, visited the nation of the Makah people and reached the furthest northwest point in the continental U.S. Bald eagles watched us all along the way. Just another long weekend on the Kitsap and Olympic Peninsulas.

The Palouse
Travel through a land full of rolling hills, steep canyons, and historic towns.  Travel through a land full of rolling hills, steep canyons, and historic towns. Start at the southeast corner of the state where the Snake River winds through eon-old canyons marked with Native American pictographs, and where The Corps of Discovery first stepped foot into what would become Washington State, to fertile fields of wheat and lentils that stretch as far as the eye can see. Whatever activity you enjoy, whether it's world-class fishing, skiing in the Blue Mountains, or antiquing in the dozens of small towns listed in the National Historic Registry, you can do it in the Palouse.

Rocky Mountain Gateway
Elevate your soul as you climb and wind through the many mountains and valleys found in the Rocky Mountain Gateway region of the state.  Elevate your soul as you climb and wind through the many mountains and valleys found in the Rocky Mountain Gateway region of the state. A land rich in lumber and warm, friendly people who work hard and have fun doing it. Streams rich with fish await the angler, trails carved by the CCC call out to the hiker, and the number of lakes in the area are only outnumbered by the coniferous trees growing tall in the mountain sun - this is an outdoors lover's dream come true. Stroll through Spokane, visit Roosevelt Lake, or go fossil hunting in Republic. Enjoy yourself.

Seattle and King County
From Microsoft to Elliott Bay, Amazon to Issaquah, King County is a mix of gorgeous scenery and high technology.  From Microsoft to Elliott Bay, Amazon to Issaquah, King County is a mix of gorgeous scenery and high technology. It's a place where people kayak to work, or take a ferry, or ride their bike, or just walk. Exercise and stunning natural surroundings dance in sync with relaxing and one-of-a-kind architecture. Awaken to the sun casting its rays down from the east, and delight as it burns behind the Olympic Mountains and into Puget Sound at dusk. Seattle may be known as the "Emerald City," but King County the gem of the Pacific Northwest.

Volcano Country
One gorge, three volcanos, and a million possibilities await you in Volcano Country. One gorge, three volcanos, and a million possibilities await you in Volcano Country. Climb one of the tallest mountains in the Lower 48, paddle along one of the longest rivers west of the Mississippi, and explore your inner-self as you venture through gorgeous scenery. From Vancouver to Tacoma, Randle to White Salmon and hundreds of miles in between you'll find historic sites and recreational delights. Retrace the steps of Lewis & Clark along the Columbia River Gorge, look out from Paradise, or sit back and enjoy a meal in one of the many wonderful restaurants in Vancouver. Just pack a map and get out and explore because you just never know what you may find in Volcano Country.

Wine Country
Four days in Washington’s Wine Country allows you to meet the wine makers in one of the premier grape-growing regions of the world.  Four days in Washington’s Wine Country allows you to meet the wine makers in one of the premier grape–growing regions of the world. The sun is a constant companion as you visit the pioneer past, walk in the shadow of Mount Adams on the homelands of the Yakama Nation, and trace the footsteps of Lewis and Clark. Powerful rivers feed orchards rolling over rippling hills. Open the sun roof and let the lemon light pour in as you drive beneath a sprawling Western sky.