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Penrose Point State Park preserves a landscape that was a beloved summer retreat for a family that played a prominent role in education and public service in Washington State.

The winding saltwater passageways of southern Puget Sound, including Carr Inlet surrounding Penrose Point, were molded and scoured by glacial meltwaters at the close of the Pleistocene ice age.

Between the Mountains and the Sea

Dosewallips State Park features extensive tidelands at the mouth of the Dosewallips River on Hood Canal. Erosion of the Olympic Mountains to the west combined with the steep gradient of the river carries a large quantity of sediment downriver. Silt, sand and gravel are deposited by the river when it reaches the flatter terrain in the park, naturally braiding its riverbed with many channels as it flows towards Hood Canal. The large fan of sediment and mud at the river’s mouth has long been a rich estuary.

By Holly Sproul (Parks Forms Manager & Web Specialist) & Nephew Evan (Age 9) 

For my family, campouts have typically centered around boating and fishing. This summer, my sister and I took my 9-year-old nephew Evan to state parks in different areas of Washington. Here is our just-over-a-week campout experience with Evan’s insight and tips – and some tips from the adults as well.  

Ike Kinswa State Park encompasses a rich history about the ways in which natural resources have been stewarded and exploited at the historic confluence of the Tilton and Cowlitz Rivers, now flooded by the reservoir behind Mayfield Dam.

Rockport State Park is renowned for its forest of giant Douglas fir, western red cedar and western hemlock trees--some more than 600 years old. The classic old growth forest features large trees, standing snags, decaying logs and layered, multi-aged forest species. It has held great value for people through the ages, although it has been valued in different ways in different times.

Pacific Beach State Park has a long history as a place for travelers to rest as they journey along Washington’s Pacific Ocean coastline.

Indigenous Lands

The park lies within the traditional territories of Coast Salish Indigenous people whose present-day descendants include members of the Quinault Indian Nation and the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation.

Ethnographers reported that the mouth of Joe Creek in today’s Pacific Beach State Park served as a “rest stop” for Indigenous people traveling along the coast between trading centers. 

Beacon Rock State Park centers on the prominent rock monolith that rises more than 840 feet above the Columbia River, but the park’s landscapes and stories extend well beyond the rock.

Boring Volcanics and Ice Age Floods

Beacon Rock is the core of an extinct volcanic cinder cone that erupted about 57,000 years ago. It is part of a volcanic feature geologists call the Boring Volcanic Field (named for the town of Boring, OR), as is the explosive caldera featured in nearby Battle Ground Lake State Park.

Fort Ebey State Park preserves a World War II era military facility established to bolster Puget Sound coastal defenses. Its unobstructed view west through the Strait of Juan de Fuca provided a valued strategic location and features wide vistas for park visitors today.

Wallace Falls State Park highlights three plunging waterfalls on the Wallace River. The largest one drops 265 feet down a sheer face of moss-covered rock. The park’s busy, well-built trails are a testament to the hard work and persistence of those who dedicated themselves to its creation.

Steamboat Rock State Park preserves spectacular features of the Columbia Plateau Ice Age Floods. The 800-foot-tall butte of Steamboat Rock, sheer cliffs, and scoured coulees are remnants of a series of flood events that completely dwarf the imagination.