Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Queets, Hoh, and Elwha rivers are the
main kayaking rivers. One of the most
popular canoeing lakes in Washington
is Lake Ozette in Olympic National
Park.
FISHING
For information on
freshwater fishing in Washington,
contact the
Department of Wildlife,
Natural Resources Building, 1111
Washington St. SE, Olympia, WA
98501 (
&
360/902-2200;
www.wa.
gov/wdfw); mailing address: 600
Capitol Way N., Olympia, WA
98501-1091.
GOLFING
Although the rainy
weather in western Washington puts a
bit of a damper on golfing, the mild
temperatures mean that it's possible to
play year-round. The state has only a
handful of resorts with golf courses,
but most larger cities have public
courses. A couple of the state's most
celebrated courses are in eastern Wash-
ington near the city of Wenatchee.
HIKING & BACKPACKING
Washington has an abundance of hik-
ing trails, including a section of the
Pacific Crest Trail, which runs along
the spine of the Cascades from
Canada to the Oregon state line (and
onward through California to Mex-
ico). In the Olympic National Park,
you'll find hikes along the beach,
through valleys in rainforests, and
through alpine meadows; at Mount
Rainier National Park, you can hike
through forests and the state's most
beautiful meadows (hikes from Sun-
rise and Paradise are the most spectac-
ular); and in North Cascades National
Park, there are hiking trails through
the state's most rugged scenery. The
Alpine Lakes region outside Leaven-
worth is breathtakingly beautiful, but
so popular that advance-reservation
permits are required. Another popular
hike is to the top of Mount St. Helens.
Lesser known are the hiking trails on
Mount Adams in Washington's south-
ern Cascades. In the Columbia Gorge,
the hike up Dog Mountain is strenu-
ous but rewarding. For general infor-
mation on hiking in the Northwest
and for information on the Northwest
Forest Pass, which is required at most
national forest trail heads in Washing-
ton, contact
Nature of the North-
west,
800 NE Oregon St., Suite 177,
Portland, OR 97232 (
&
503/872-
2750;
www.naturenw.org).
If you'd like to hike the wild coun-
try of Washington state with a knowl-
edgeable guide, you've got a couple of
good options. The
Olympic Park
Institute,
111 Barnes Point Rd., Port
Angeles, WA 98363 (
&
360/928-
3720;
www.yni.org/opi), offers a vari-
ety of hiking and backpacking trips, as
does the
North Cascades Institute,
810 State Rte. 20, Sedro-Woolley, WA
98284-1239 (
&
360/856-5700,
ext.
209; www.ncascades.org).
SEA KAYAKING
Sea kayaks differ
from river kayaks in that they are
much longer, more stable, and able to
carry gear as well as a paddler or two.
There are few places in the country
that offer better sea kayaking than the
waters of Puget Sound and around the
San Juan Islands, and therefore this
sport is especially popular in the Seat-
tle area. The protected waters of Puget
Sound offer numerous spots for a pad-
dle of anywhere from a few hours to a
few days. There's even a water trail
called the
Cascadia Marine Trail
that
links camping spots throughout the
Sound. For more information about
this trail, contact the Washington
Water Trails Association (
&
206/545-
9161;
www.wwta.org).
The San Juan Islands are by far the
most popular sea-kayaking spot in the
region, and several tiny islands, acces-
sible only by boat, are designated state
campsites. In the Seattle area, Lake
Union and Lake Washington are both
popular kayaking spots. Willapa Bay,
on the Washington coast, is another
popular paddling spot.
