Our state’s most underrated (and less crowded) parks

Everyone knows that Washington has among the most lovely parks within the nation, however among the extra widespread ones — like Mount Rainier Nationwide Park — can get crowded, particularly in the summertime when some mountaineering trails can virtually really feel like freeways.

Fortunately there are some underrated and lesser-known parks price exploring.

Particulars: Listed below are a couple of urged by Solely in Your State and Outdoors Journal.

State parks

• Beacon Rock State Park, east of Portland on the Columbia River. Encompasses a one-mile hike that takes you 848 toes up the facet of a mountain and others that result in great waterfalls.
• Fort Worden Historic State Park, close to Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula. Together with Fort Flagler and Fort Casey, Fort Warden was a part of the U.S. coastal protection system often called the “Triangle of Hearth” and options battle bunkers, batteries, seashores and a lighthouse.
• Camano Island State Park, between coastal Snohomish County and Whidbey Island, is much less crowded than most Puget Sound island parks. This 244-acre park provides forest mountaineering trails plus 6,700 toes of shoreline.
• Joseph Whidbey State Park, on Whidbey Island. At the present time-use park has a shocking west-facing view of Victoria, British Columbia, Lopez Island and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Guests come to see the sunsets and to look at storms roll in.
• Dosewallips State Park, southwest finish of Hood Canal on Olympic Peninsula. Close to its a lot better-known sibling, Lake Cushman State Park, Doeswallips has tenting, mountaineering, swimming and shellfishing. (Be certain to select up a leisure license for those who plan to dig for oysters and clams.)
• Rockport State Park, east of Concrete. Pristine forest with 250-foot bushes and hikes that vary from strenuous to straightforward.

• Leadbetter Level State Park, on Washington’s coast between Ocean Shores and Lengthy Seashore. Much less widespread than a lot of its coastal neighbors, this 1,732-acre park has seaside frontage on the Pacific Ocean in addition to Willapa Bay. Birdwatching alternatives abound on the adjoining Willapa Nationwide Wildlife Refuge.

Nationwide Parks

Two of Washington’s nationwide parks — Olympic and Mount Rainier — every draw round 2.5 million guests yearly. Against this, North Cascades Nationwide Park logged simply 30,000 guests in 2022.

• Outdoors Journal just lately listed North Cascades among the many most underrated parks within the nation, noting that the park has greater than 400 miles of trails, glaciers and distant alpine peaks. Moreover, there’s an 18-mile dog-friendly stretch of the Pacific Crest Path.
• “Backpackers rejoice–there’s sufficient surroundings right here to final a lifetime,” the journal declares.