Washington (state)

From World travel guide

Often called Washington State to distinguish it from Washington, DC, Washington offers rugged coastline, mountains, volcanoes, and hundreds of coastal islands to explore. The Cascade Mountains bisect the state, with the damp coastal areas to the west, and the deserts and farmland of the Columbia Plateau to the east.

Contents 1 Regions 1.1 Counties 1.1.1 Western Washington 1.1.2 Eastern Washington 2 Cities 2.1 West of the Cascades 2.2 East of the Cascades 3 Other destinations 4 Understand 5 Talk 6 Get in 6.1 By plane 6.2 By train 6.3 By car 6.3.1 From British Columbia 6.3.2 From Oregon 6.3.3 From Idaho 6.4 By bus 7 Get around 8 See 9 Do 10 Eat 11 Drink 12 Stay safe 13 Get out 14 External links

Regions

• Cascade Mountains
• Columbia Plateau
• Olympic Peninsula
• Puget Sound
• San Juan Islands area

Counties

Western Washington

Clallam County | Clark County | Cowlitz County | Grays Harbor County | Island County | Jefferson County | Kitsap County | King County | Lewis County | Mason County | Pacific County | Pierce County | San Juan County | Skagit County | Skamania County | Snohomish County| Whatcom County | Wahkiakum County

Eastern Washington

Adams County | Asotin County | Benton County | Chelan County | Columbia County | Douglas County | Ferry County | Franklin County | Garfield County | Grant County | Kittitas County | Klickitat County | Lincoln County County | | Okanogan County | | Pend Oreille County | Skagit County | Spokane County | Stevens County | Thurston County | Walla Walla County | Whitman County | Yakima County

Cities

West of the Cascades

• Allyn -- Allyn overlooks the shoreline of North Bay-Case Inlet on Puget Sound.
• Bainbridge Island -- a 35 minute ferry ride from Seattle
• Bangor -- Submarine Base for Naval Base Kitsap
• Belfair -- Home of Theler Wetlands
• Bellevue
• Bellingham
• Bremerton -- The Kitsp Peninsula's largest town
• Burley
• Brownsville
• Chico
• Dewatto
• Fox Island
• Friday Harbor
• Gig Harbor -- Southern gateway to the Kitsap and Olympic Peninsulas
• Gorst
• Hansville -- Beautiful beaches and a wonderful lighthouse
• Holly
• Indianola -- Quaint waterfront community, mostly residential
• Keyport -- Home to the Naval Undersea Warfare Center.
• Kingston -- 30 minute ferry ride from Edmonds
• Kirkland -- Lakefront town across from Seattle with cute downtown
• Manchester
• Olympia -- State capital
• Olalla
• Ocean Shores -- Popular resort area separating Greys Harbor from the Pacific Ocean
• Port Gamble -- Historic lumber mill town established in 1853 and still company owned
• Port Orchard -- County seat for Kitsap County
• Port Townsend -- historic town
• Poulsbo - Known as "Little Norway
• Purdy
• Renton
• Retsil
• Seattle -- the largest city in the Pacific Northwest.
• Seabeck
• Silverdale -- Shopping center for the Kitsap Peninsula
• Southworth
• Suquamish -- Home of the Suquamish Tribe
• Tacoma -- several good museums
• Tahuya
• Tracyton
• Vancouver, Washington
• Union -- At the bend of Hood Canal, spectacular views

East of the Cascades

• Pullman -- home of WSU, Washington State University
• Spokane -- not as dull as you might expect. Largest city east of the Cascades.
• Richland -- and Pasco, Kennewick, and Richland, the "tri-cities area."

Other destinations

• Anacortes, Fidalgo Island, and the San Juan Islands.
• Camano Island
• Mount Rainier National Park
• Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument
• North Cascades National Park
• Olympic National Park - the only temperate rain forest in the United States

Understand

Talk

Get in

By plane

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, (Airport code: SEA), called "SeaTac" by locals, connects Seattle to all regions of the world, with especially frequent transpacific routes. Alaska Airlines provides something approximating discount air fare to and from the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California.

Spokane International Airport, (Airport code: GEG).

By train

Amtrak has 3 routes into Seattle's King Street Station. These routed are Amtrak Cascades, Coast Starlight and Empire Builder

By car

From British Columbia

Interstate 5 and the Peace Arch [1] crossing is the main port-of-entry to Washington from Canada, though expect to be in queue for awhile when crossing here. An alternative to crossing at the Peace Arch, is to take the Pacific Crossing [2] via British Columbia Provencial Route 15, which typicaly has much shorter queues, and is the commercial truck crossing. It continues on as Washington State Route 543, and runs right onto Interstate 5. Both crossings are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

From Oregon

Interstate 5 (and Interstate 205) provide access from the greater Portland area. Interstate 82 / US 395 provides access from eastern Oregon to the tri-cities area of Eastern Washington. For a more scenic entry, try taking US Route 101 along the Washington and Oregon coast, but be aware for the numerous speed traps in the small cities.

From Idaho

Interstate 90 is the main route in via Coeur D'Alene, but US 2 provides access to the northern parts of Idaho and Washington.

By bus

Get around

See

Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens

Do

Eat

Drink

Stay safe

Get out

External links

• Washington Tourism Official site of Washington State tourism
• State of Washington Official state information web site

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