Detours

How to Actually Visit Our National Parks This Year

Primary access points and visitor centers are closed. Here's where to go instead.

05/15/2025 By Allison Williams

THE OLYMPICS

Insider's Guide to Visiting Washington State's Olympic National Park

What to do, where to hike, and where to camp under the stars in Washington's most diverse national park.

04/17/2025 By Allison Williams

Overnights

The Best Pacific Northwest Lodges for a Cozy Vacation

Park once and play all weekend.

01/16/2025 By Allison Williams

Loo Limits

Hurricane Ridge Reopens, But There's a Line for the Bathroom

Rangers at the iconic Olympic National Park destination are limiting visitors based on toilet usage.

08/03/2023 By Allison Williams

Slope Stories

A Short History of Washington's Bygone Ski Hills

Over the years, some of the state’s ski mountains proved as ephemeral as snowflakes.

12/18/2018 By Christina Ausley

Fees, Please

Would You Pay $70 to Visit Mount Rainier?

What about the Olympic National Park? The park system is pondering one heck of a rate hike.

10/25/2017 By Allison Williams

Olympics 101

First Time in the Olympic Peninsula? Here's What to See.

Scenic vistas, stunning beach walks, and main street strolls: Here's what should be on any first-timer's to-do list.

07/20/2017 By Allison Williams

Northwest Travel

Secrets of the Olympic Peninsula: 25 Hidden Gems Waiting Across the Sound

From forgotten history to fresh-from-the-farm cider to a valley of 10,000 waterfalls, there's a ton to discover in our state's greenest corner.

07/20/2017 By Allison Williams

Feature

Quiet: A Soldier’s Fight for the Most Silent Place in America

The military’s plan to send newer, more disruptive jet planes over the Hoh and Quinault rain forest region has unraveled not only townspeople throughout the Olympic Peninsula, but the veterans who thought they’d found a refuge.

11/16/2016 By Madeline Ostrander

Get Out

The State's Best Beaches Are Hard to Reach...But That’s What Makes Them Great

Getting to the good stuff: The journey makes the destination even more rewarding.

07/20/2016 By Allison Williams

Washington's National Park Fund

Slide Show: Washington's National Park Fund's Spring Dinner and Auction

On Saturday, April 23, 337 friends of Mount Rainier, North Cascades and Olympic National Parks came together for Washington's National Park Fund’s Spring Dinner & Auction.

04/24/2016

Explainer

The Sea Star Die-off

Last summer, an ecologist noticed sea stars dying on the outer coast of the Olympic Peninsula. Since then, 80 percent of the starfish population has disintegrated due to a mysterious syndrome scientists call sea star wasting.

10/01/2014 By Heather Hansman

Bang for Your Buck

Cheap Week Seattle: August 25–31

The National Park Service turns 98 and a chance to chat with renowned concert poster artists: the best ways to spend your week without spending much.

08/25/2014 By Conor Romack

Where to Camp

Beach Bumming on the Olympic Coast

06/01/2014 By Allison Williams

Northwest Travel Dispatch

Winter 2013 Travel News

What’s happening where, from Canada to Oregon to the end of the road.

12/01/2013 By Allison Williams

Get Out

Try This Trail: Grand Ridge

There's still time for a wildflower walk (and the views are worth it even if the flowers are gone).

09/23/2013 By Craig Romano

Article

Legends of the Fallen

A magnificent Douglas fir stood for more than 300 years at the edge of the Olympic National Forest. When Reid Johnston looked at it, all he could see was money.

04/17/2013 By Matthew Halverson

Wildlife

Olympics Goat Death Leads to Lawsuit

Rangers consider removing the non-native species from the national park.

08/11/2011 By Allison Williams

Article

Insider’s Guide to Olympic National Park: Where the Wild Things Are

07/22/2011

Article

Insider’s Guide to Olympic National Park: Saving the Park

When federal funds dwindle, volunteers step up.

07/22/2011 By Annie Rose Favreau