The most beautiful natural sites to discover Côte Ouest Etats-Unis

A huge redwood 6 m in diameter and 93 feet high in Prairie Creek.

The English elks are elk, of the family of deer, with long wood. It is a very rare species in the world, it left out mainly in Canada. You will see them here in freedom, a few metres from you. Remember that it is a wild species; although not very wild, do not get too.

Panum Crater is the youngest volcano in the Mono Lake site. He would be between 600 and 700 years according to the specialists. A trail allows you to walk through the crater or climb at its peak, from which the views on Mono Lake Basin and Sierra Nevada are sublime (approximately 90 minutes). An essential activity for geology lovers.

At 3.3 km high, the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument suddenly rise above the desert. Hiking trails meander through palm groves set against evergreen snow-capped peaks. Wild and spectacular.

A very beautiful wooden with a nice, well reconstructed chapel. It was a former fur trading post established by a Russian company in 1812, whose activity lasted until 1842. It was the southernmost point of the Russian colony in America, before the 1848 Gold Rush precipitate Western conquest by American pioneers. Traces of this Russian colony are found in California, and especially in Alaska. The park also protects the coastline over 10 kilometres and the surrounding Redwood forest. If you are in the region, note that the park organizes every year, at the end of July, its Fort Ross Festival, a day out of time for small (carriage, theatrical and musical performances) and large (tasting of local beers, etc.)! Find out directly on the website for details of attractions and various stands.

A 7 km long trail leads hikers, cyclists and riders through underwater. The purpose of this promenade is the highest waterfall of the Santa Monica Mountains, which is observed on two levels. Some sections of the hike will use your climbing skills. Have two good hours for this journey. The best time of the year to start the conquest of Escondido Falls is from November to April. The rest of the year, the waterfall is less impressive because of drought.

In 1950, a dam on the Colorado River exploded and hundreds of tons of water poured into a nearby valley. This inland sea, above sea level, is nothing but the result of human error. At the time, local farmers rushed around the so-called giant lake to develop their crops, while tourists, bailed by this unhoped-for freshness in the wilderness, only a few kilometers away from the very fashionable Palm Springs, practiced water skiing and faring on the banks of the Salton Sea. Hotels, restaurants and cafes grow like mushrooms. The water of the inland sea is twice as salty as that of the Pacific. Fish are introduced, fishing competitions organized. The seaside resort is expanding, more heavily frequented than Yosemite National Park, until the 1970 s, which saw Salton Sea water evaporating suddenly. The idyllic landscape is transformed into a true ecological nightmare, streaked with dead fish and trees that are spotted by salt. Tourists flee, buildings are abandoned. Today, Salton Sea is a dystopic curiosity worthy of a science fiction film. Some too poor people to escape from this salty hell still live on the shores of Salton Sea, in rusty caravans and ghosts.

Dedicated to President Abraham Lincoln in 1909, Lincoln Park's site was the San Francisco cemetery until the late 1860 s. In 1902, golf fans dug three holes on part of the land. The golf course was expanded in 14 holes in 1914 and 18 holes in 1917. It was during this period that several road projects were transferred to the federal government. Lincoln Highway, along with its terminus west of Lincoln Park, was designed and mapped in 1913 as the first coastal route crossing fourteen states.

A few hundred metres walk around Lake Tuendae, facing the California State University Desert Studies Center. Has little interest.

Cross the beautiful gorges and explore the ruins of Fort Piute, built in the 1880 s to welcome travellers on Mojave Road. A nearby permanent water course provides the necessary water for plants and animals.

Learn how to identify desert plants on this short trail.

This park belongs to Nevada and has many fewer attractions. It is a park where you can fish, camping, and hike, but it is especially famous for its easily observable wild fauna: eagles, coyotes, deer, elk…

This panoramic view of the Valley of Fire is an ideal place to admire, and photograph, the colorful rocks that are on the horizon.

These unusual sandstone formations altered by the forces of erosion resemble the alveoli of a hive (bee = bee, hive = hive).

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…

A row of Indian totems welcomes you and reminds you that Indian tribes and pioneers handed battle to this place in 1855. You can take a look at the memorial that pays tribute to firefighters who died in the great fire of the quarter at the end of the th century. A modern music kiosk in the form of a music kiosk welcomes all summer groups. It's a pleasant place to walk!

From Neah Bay, take Cape Loop Road. A 40-minute hike allows you to reach the Cape Flattery, which marks the extreme north-west of the United States through the forest. Four views offer breathtaking views of the islands of Tatoosh and Vancouver. You can also watch whales.

The town of Dungeness is known for giving its name to a variety of crab. The Dungeness Spit, which stretches over 9 km, is the largest sand tower in the world and is part of the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge. It serves as a refuge for more than 250 species of birds, 41 species of terrestrial mammals and 8 species of marine mammals.

A small trail (600 m) crosses the forest to a superb point of view on the Spit. You can continue this trail, which goes down on the sand bench, and walk to the lighthouse (7 km).

North of Wenatchee, it is interesting to stop by the narrow lake Chelan Indian, whose name means "deep water". Fed by leaves of the chain of Cascade Mountains. A beautiful waterfall to be admired by road.