The most beautiful natural sites to discover Washington

Paradise is the center of the park. It includes a visitor center, the Paradise Jackson Visitor Center, and a hotel, Paradise Inn. This is the most frequented place in the park in summer and winter. Paradise is known for its superb panoramic views of Mount Rainier and its meadows of wild flowers, the flowering period of which is from mid-July to August. There are several hikes to discover Paradise, including Bench and Snow Lake Trail (3.7 km), Pinnacle Peak (4.2 km), Nisqually Vista Trail (1.9 km) and Alta Vista Trail (2.7 km). Not to be missed too: Reflection Lake, certainly the most photographed place in the park! He has his name because Mount Rainier is reflected in his crystal clear waters.

This botanical garden with some 10 000 plants from all over the world (including rhododendrons and azaleas) is listed here. The Japanese tea garden is a gift from the city of Kobe, a Japanese city twinned with Seattle.

This small museum vividly commemorates the gold rush in the Klondike, in the northwestern part of Canada, near Alaska, which contributed to the development and prosperity of Seattle, an important step on Alaska Road: collection objects that belonged to minors, photos and diaries, audiovisual documents. The real reproductions of the lives of the miners and the various demonstrations made make the museum truly exciting and make it possible to understand this epic and decisive period for the city.

The street map reflects the history of the neighborhood. Following a quarrel, David Denny and Dr. Maynard, the founders of Seattle, shared the city on both sides of Yesler Way. The Pioneer Square triangle was the culmination of a limit that should not be exceeded. The buildings surrounding Pioneer Place were built after the 1889 fire in the style created by the architects of the Chicago School. A totem, stolen by the pioneers in a Tlingit Indian village was placed in the centre of the square in 1890. Burned by an incendiary, the city commanded another (the one that is now on the square) in 1938, paid this time. Just on his side is the bust of Indian chef Seattle (Sealth in Indian language) who gave his name to the city. The elegant ouvragée and glass pergola that decorate the square were made in 1909 by J.F. Everett to serve the passengers who were waiting for the trolley. It was restored in 1970.

This superb 4 km long beach is very popular in the summer because it is one of the few Puget Sound not covered with pebbles and shells. It also offers one of the best views on Seattle.

Ballard's locks work for large pleasure boats as well as fragile kayaks! Throughout the summer and early fall, very many salmon come dressed in the opposite currents. The lucky ones manage to escape sea lions, which are greedy greedy.

A 20 minute walk around the Seattle Center. Take Queen Avenue North and turn left onto Highland Drive. Attention, it climbs. But your efforts will be rewarded by the splendid view you have on Elliot Bay and Seattle. This is the ideal place to take a nice picture of the city with its skyscrapers, the Space Needle and weather permitting, Mount Rainier. At night and at sunset, the view is simply magical. A little further on W Highland Dr at Betty Bowen Park, you can enjoy the magnificent views of the Puget Sound and the Olympic Peninsula Mountains.

These waterfalls have a cliff about 82 meters high. The park all around belongs to the hydroelectric power station on the cliff behind the waterfall. Trails lead to observation positions across the falls, offering a superb view. You can go down to the river by walking for a few kilometers to have another panorama. Fans will have recognized the falls in the generic series of the Twin Peaks series, made by David Lynch in 1989. For Indian tribes in the valley, these falls are sacred. Legend tells us that loved ones can travel from earth to heaven through the haze of water.

For more information about the work around the falls, consult the Puget Sound Electricity site, the hydroelectric power plant: www.pse.com

North of Vancouver, the WA 503 road leads to the edge of this forest, one of the oldest in the United States and the largest wild blueberry field in the world! It surrounds Mount St. Helens, so you will have to cross it to visit it. Follow WA Highway 504 to Johnston Ridge Observatory, you're there! The 360° (free) view of the horseshoe crater of the St. Helens volcano is unforgettable and spectacular from the peak reached by a small path from the esplanade.

Bypassing the west of Olympic National Park, we arrive in this beautiful rainforest (virgin forest). At the beginning of the H Rain Forest Visitor Center, many trails go to the discovery of the forest. A small 1,2 km loop trail, the Hall of Mosses, allows to discover the magic of the places: trees like désarticulés puppets seem to be guided by the passage into a humid environment in the green mile where an ice stream flows. You can easily imagine a world of fées bells in the surroundings. The Roosevelt elk lives in that part of the park where Spruce Nature Trail passes (2 km). The H River Trail (27 km) leads to the Blue Glacier and Mont Olympus.

Former industrial site renovated in the park. It is from here that we admire the fireworks of 4-July. Superb views of the Lake Union and the city.

Located 10 minutes from downtown, this zoo is one of the city's main attractions. Considered one of the best in the country, the Woodland Park Zoo has over 300 different species. You can see among other macaques, orang-utan, gorillas, grizzly bears, jaguars, sea, elephants, lions, giraffes, zebras, penguins… Several environments and ecosystems have been reproduced, savanna and African village, tropical rainforest, Alaska forests etc. An exciting journey for small and large. Cafés and restaurants as well as picnic areas allow breaks in this magnificent zoo.

The dams of Elwha and Glines Canyon were built in 1913 and 1927 without the development of a passage for fish, as required by law. Since then, thousands of salmon could no longer reach the Elwha Valley. In 1992, the United States Congress passed a law ordering the destruction of these dams. In doing so, Lake Aldwell disappeared in 2012 and Lake Mills in 2014. This is the largest project of this kind in the history of the United States. The goal? Ensure that the five species of Pacific salmon return to the Olympic National Park in Droves to reproduce. The landscapes of the Elwha River have changed dramatically in recent years. The national park teams revégétalisé the sédimenteuses areas left empty by the missing lakes.

There are many pleasant walks along the Elwha river. Also see, the Madison Falls, a pretty waterfall 5 minutes walk from the parking lot.

It is a festival of permanent art which is held on the main square (City Park) from May to mid-October. Artists exhibit their works (paintings, crafts) and the collected funds are used to finance local schools of arts.

Esther Barrow, from the Willamette Valley, arrived in the Olympic Peninsula in the 1930 s after marrying Charles Webster. She is editor of the Port Angeles Evening News, and she is devoted to painting, which she studied in New York a few years earlier. They will build this house to live there and Esther lèguera her to death so that she is transformed into art gallery. Today, this little ar gallery overlooks the waterfront, the city and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, from Beaver Hill. In this semi-circular house, the artists of the region exhibit their works. On the outside, Webster's Woods is a sculpture garden, which gives the opportunity to take a surprising walk. Look for the eyes carved in a tree, or the needle heels climbing to the trunk.

The park's name comes from the failure of navigator and fur trader John Meares to turn back north of this cape on a stormy night and miss the discovery of the mouth of the Columbia River in 1788. Located at the southern tip of the Long Beach Peninsula, at the mouth of the river, this extreme point was reached a few years later, again by the sea, by American Captain Robert Gray in 1792, and finally by the Lewis and Clark ground expedition (exactly near Chinook) in the winter of 1805-1806. In the park, you can visit the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center. The park also has many trails to enjoy the entire site, including two lighthouses: North Head in the north and Cape Disappointment Lighthouse in the south. From the latter, we can see what the locals call the Pacific Cemetery, the particularly dangerous exit from the Columbia River, between Washington and Oregon Jetties.

Before arriving at Animorphic, this shelter protects migratory bird colonies.

North of Hoquiam, these two beaches are beautiful.

On the road to Mt Rainier, from Tacoma, the Northwest Trek Wildlife Park is a unique reserve where visitors can observe wildlife in their surroundings. A 50-minute shuttle tour allows you to see wolves, grizzly bears, lynx, foxes, coyotes, etc. Also a video on the history of the site, a cabin where animal observation methods are explained, the trails discovered…