University Place · $$$$ — 2015 U.S. Open
Road trips · Washington
Washington road trips & hidden gems.
Washington is rainforest, volcano, island, and city in a single state — Rainier and the North Cascades for the mountains, the Olympic coast for the wild. Summer and early fall are the window; pack rain gear regardless. Dramatic and underrated.
Best time to visitJuly–October
Don’t missWildflowers under Mt Rainier
Gem Hunt nominees10 candidates
Hikes14 curated
Scenic drives4
Worth-the-detour corridors
Drives through Washington
Ranked city-to-city drives that cross Washington — each with honest +N min detours on the shelf.
Gem Hunt nominees
What locals say you shouldn’t miss.
Community-nominated candidates. Add yours and vote to help choose the first published finalists.
Marsh's Free Museum
A free, gleefully bizarre curio shop on the Long Beach boardwalk whose star is Jake the Alligator Man, a mummified half-man-half-gator drawing the curious since 1967, with shrunken heads and penny machines.
Ginkgo Petrified Forest State ParkPerched on basalt cliffs above the Columbia River near Vantage, one of the few places on earth where you can walk a trail past 15-million-year-old logs turned to stone, right off I-90.
Salt Creek Recreation AreaA clifftop county park west of Port Angeles where low tide unveils some of the richest tide pools in the Northwest, framed by sea stacks and the blue sweep of the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Stonerose Interpretive CenterIn the old mining town of Republic in the far northeast, the only public fossil dig in Washington hands you tools to split 50-million-year-old shale and keep up to three of your finds.
The Mazama StoreA beloved family-run mercantile and bakery tucked just off the North Cascades Highway at the head of the Methow Valley, where fresh pastries fuel travelers before or after the high mountain passes.
Dahmen BarnA former dairy barn in tiny Uniontown wrapped in a fence of over 1,000 rusted wagon wheels, now a free working artist studio and gallery — the perfect Palouse pull-off in the southeast wheat country.
Worth traveling for
Events that put Washington on the calendar.
The big ones
National parks in Washington.
The bucket-list landscapes — when to go and what not to miss.
Explore by interest
Everything else worth a stop in Washington.
Start with a few highlights, choose one interest, or explicitly open the full state guide.
Showing General guide and Scenic routes highlights. Choose a category or Show all for the full state guide.
Scenic drives
Scenic routes through Washington.
Themed trails
Trails to follow in Washington.
More worth the detour
The general guide to Washington.
Museums, monuments, historic sites, and local-only stops from Roamward's shared place map.
Boots on
Best hikes in Washington.
From family-easy to bucket-list — trails worth the detour, great for the RV & camping crew.
Cape Flattery
boardwalks to the northwesternmost point of the Lower 48
Colchuck Lakea turquoise lake below the Enchantments
Hall of Mosses (Hoh Rain Forest)a dripping rainforest cathedral — family/RV-accessible
Lake 22old-growth forest to a cliff-ringed cirque
Maple Pass Loop (North Cascades)larch-gold ridgelines and alpine lakes
Mount Sithe classic Seattle conditioning climb
Beyond the parks
Wild lands in Washington.
National forests, wilderness, and monuments — the big scenic public land between the parks and the gems.
Where to wake up
Camping in Washington.
The most scenic places to pitch a tent or park the rig — each with how to reserve and how RV-friendly it is.
Raise a glass
Breweries, distilleries & wineries in Washington.
The trip-worthy taprooms, distilleries, and wine country.
Cloudburst Brewing
a cult downtown brewery with ever-changing, hop-forward beers.
Copperworks Distillingan award-winning waterfront distillery on the Seattle waterfront.
Fremont Brewinga beloved urban beer garden in a great beer city.
Georgetown Brewingthe maker of Manny’s Pale Ale, Seattle’s unofficial house beer.
Reuben’s Brewsa multi-award-winning Ballard brewery with a huge rotating tap list.
Stoup Brewinga Ballard favorite with a lively, family-and-dog-friendly beer garden.
Where to eat
Road-trip dining in Washington.
Restaurants, diners, and food halls that fit the drive — curated by town, not scraped from a phone book.
Copper Creek Inn
Longtime local favorite two miles from Rainier's Nisqually entrance, famous for Northwest comfort food and its blackberry pie.
Copper Creek Inn RestaurantIn continuous operation since 1946, two miles from the Nisqually entrance — hearty Northwest plates and a blackberry pie that generations of Rainier travelers detour for. Lonely Planet named it one of Washington's standout rural restaurants.
National Park Inn Dining RoomHistoric Longmire-area dining room inside the park corridor, useful when the Mount Rainier day stays on the Nisqually side.
Rainier BaseCamp Bar & GrillOutdoor grill at the RMI Expeditions/Whittaker Mountaineering basecamp — pizzas, all-natural beef burgers, and microbrews around firepit tables with climbers fresh off the mountain. Kids get a free climbing wall.
Wildberry RestaurantOwned by a record-setting Everest Sherpa family, serving authentic Himalayan dishes alongside a mountain-American menu — easily the most unexpected meal at any national park gate. Seasonal; closed mid-October through April.
Aslan Brewing CompanySustainably built family-run brewery pouring 100 percent organic beer alongside scratch pub fare in a lively taproom and beer garden.
Snow season
Best ski resorts in Washington.
Big-mountain steeps, all-mountain variety, and family hills.
Knobby tires
Best mountain biking in Washington.
Trail systems, bike parks, and gravel routes.
Soak it in
Best hot springs in Washington.
Resorts, historic bathhouses, and wild primitive soaks.
Sol Duc Hot Springs
mineral pools in the rainforest of Olympic National Park.
Olympic Hot Springswild forest pools reached by a long road-walk in Olympic.
Scenic Hot Springscliffside Cascade pools with a permit and a steep climb.
Goldmyer Hot Springsa protected, limited-access soak in an old mining cave near Seattle.
Sand & surf
Best beaches in Washington.
Family sand, surf breaks, wild shores — find your vibe.
Alki Beach
Seattle’s in-city beach with skyline and Sound views.
Cape Disappointmentbeaches, lighthouses, and cliffs where the Columbia meets the Pacific.
Golden Gardensa Seattle beach with Olympic Mountain and sound views and fire pits.
Hobuck Beacha Makah coast surf beach backed by forest and open Pacific swell.
Kalaloch Beachdriftwood, tide pools, and the famous "Tree of Life" on the Olympic coast.
Long Beach Peninsulaone of the longest drivable beaches in the country.
Chasing water
Best waterfalls in Washington.
From roadside stops to bucket-list hikes — easy ones flagged for the RV & family crew.
Spray Falls
a fan of misty strands on Rainier’s quieter northwest side.
Comet Fallsone of Rainier’s tallest, a long plume reached by a wildflower climb.
Snoqualmie Fallsa powerful, easily-reached fall taller than Niagara east of Seattle.
Wallace Fallsa tiered classic with Skykomish Valley views along the way.
Falls Creek Fallsa dramatic three-tier fall in the Gifford Pinchot forest.
Palouse FallsWashington’s state waterfall, plunging into a desert canyon.
Tee it up
Public golf you can book in Washington.
Brewster · $$$ — Top modern public
Shelton · $$$
DuPont · $$$
Walla Walla · $$$
Orondo · $$
Beacons
Lighthouses in Washington.
Take me out
MLB ballparks in Washington.
Plan the Washington trip
Get the scenic route, the stops, and the timing.
Explore and save the trip on the web now. Join the iOS beta list for verified check-ins, shared trips, badges, and your growing map.
Where to stay
Find a place to stay near Washington.
Hotels, cabins, and rentals close to the action — compare and book for your trip.
We may earn a commission from bookings made through this link — at no extra cost to you.