Search results
1204 results found
The End of Hood Canal
Belfair State Park features a popular stretch of beach between the mouths of Big Mission Creek and Little Mission Creek at the tip of the hook of Hood Canal. Today’s Belfair State Park was covered by glacial ice during the last ice age. The finger-like waterways of South Puget Sound were excavated by highly pressurized meltwater streams that developed as the ice began to melt.
Rasar State Park lies midway along the Skagit River’s winding path between the rugged North Cascade Mountains and the Salish Sea. The Skagit River, part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, is the second largest river on the west coast of the contiguous United States, after the Columbia. Like much of the Skagit River Valley, the park land is naturally terraced as the river has cut into glacial deposits from the ice age.
OLYMPIA – The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission will hold its regularly scheduled commission meeting virtually on May 29.
Seaquest State Park hugs the shore of Silver Lake in the foothills of Mount St. Helens, famous for its major eruption on May 18, 1980. A major attraction at the park is the Mount St. Helens Visitor Center, where the story of the mountain’s volcanic history is interpreted with exhibits, ranger programs and audio-visual media.
Seasonal positions will serve parks across Washington.
OLYMPIA – Jan. 17, 2023 – Washington State Parks is recruiting seasonal park aides to work in its beautiful outdoor places this spring, summer and fall!
Parks is looking for 305 park aides and senior park aides to work from April through September in diverse environments like old-growth forests, channeled scabland and shrub steppe, as well as on Pacific Ocean beaches and the high desert and around Puget Sound and its islands.
OLYMPIA – April 6, 2022 – The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission will hold its regular in-person commission meeting Thursday, April 14 at the Columbia Pacific Heritage Museum in Ilwaco.
Commission action items include 2023-25 capital budget target request level and proposed modifications to the Klickitat State Park Trail long-term park boundary.
In addition, the commission will hear updates and reports from agency staff and the Washington State Parks Foundation.
Friends of the Columbia Gorge held neighboring property until Parks could buy the land
OLYMPIA – June 15, 2022 – Washington State Parks, with critical assistance from Friends of the Columbia Gorge, purchased a tract of land next to Beacon Rock State Park. That land will be used to create safe, accessible pedestrian crossings, a new entrance and egress and additional parking.
A Mountain on an Island
The pinnacle of Moran State Park, Mount Constitution, rises 2,407 feet directly from sea level to the second highest point on an oceanic island in the contiguous 48 US states. The rocks that make up the heights of Mount Constitution began as lava erupting on the ocean floor or slowly accumulating sediments formed by skeletons of marine microorganisms, windblown dust and volcanic ash settling to the ocean floor. The pillow basalts, chert and shale seen at rocky exposures in the park are evidence of these events.
The arching bridges that link Fidalgo Island to Whidbey Island are only an introduction to the beauty and fascination of Deception Pass State Park.
OLYMPIA – Nov. 9, 2021 – The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission will hold its regular in-person commission meeting Thursday, Nov. 18, in Vancouver.
Commission action items include authorizing the transfer of the Lake Newport property in Pend Oreille County for local park purposes and authorizing the sale of the Auburn State Park Property in King County.
Washington State Parks has started a planning process for Steptoe Butte State Park and Steptoe Battlefield State Park Heritage Sites. CAMP is a multi-staged, public participation-based planning process for individual parks that culminates with adoption of park land classifications, a long-term park boundary, and a park management plan. The combination of these deliverables constitutes a land use plan.
A Rain-fed River Runs Through It
Bogachiel State Park hugs the bank of the Bogachiel River (locally known as the “Bogie”) on the northwestern reaches of the Olympic Peninsula, providing recreational opportunities on the windward slope of the Olympic Mountains. Storms and moisture rise as they are forced up over the Olympic Mountains from the Pacific Ocean. When the moist air rises, it expands and cools. The colder air is less able to hold moisture, so clouds and precipitation form. Bogachiel State Park averages over 120 inches of annual precipitation!
Park planners will discuss design alternatives for Nisqually State Park
OLYMPIA – Feb. 15, 2022 – Washington State Parks invites the public to an in-person open house to learn more about plans for day-use facilities and trails at Nisqually State Park.
WHEN:
6 – 8 p.m.
Thursday, March 3
OLYMPIA – May 1, 2024 – Schafer State Park is ready to welcome visitors to its expanded campground, just in time for its centennial anniversary as a state park.