Wildfire season is here and impacting several parks, so make sure you’re in the know before you go. Before you head to a park, please check its page or head to our alerts page for closures, alerts and other important information to make sure you have a fun, safe and informed trip.
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Grayland Beach provides front row access to a sandy beach and ocean view. Summer days host a variety of ocean activities and winters can be a quiet day in your RV or yurt.
OLYMPIA – The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission will hold a special commission meeting at the Stanwood High School Commons on July 15 and its regularly scheduled commission meeting at the Four Points by Sheraton in Bellingham on July 18.
The regular Commission meeting agenda items include requests for Commission approval of:
Does your perfect day off involve trees, lawn, sun spots, shade and a clear, turquoise river? Pack your fishing pole, swimsuit and picnic basket, round up your family and friends - or take some much-needed solitude – and head to Schafer State Park.
The 40-mile Spokane River Centennial State Park Trail weaves together rural, urban, and park landscapes filled with stories of land and people. The trail stretches through the Spokane River Valley, meandering from the Idaho/Washington state line to Riverside State Park.
OLYMPIA – The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission is updating its camping and moorage fees for 2025 to support its operations amid inflation impacts and rising costs.
Separating the mountains from Lake Chelan, Twenty-Five Mile Creek State Park is perfect for a day trip or campout with activities to keep the entire family entertained.
Washington water fans, look no further! Bust out your kayak, sand bucket, swimsuit or fishing rod, and head straight for Dash Point State Park! Hidden in plain sight between Seattle and Tacoma, this park offers miles of forested hiking and biking trails, but its main draw is the beach.
A rock with a face like Abe Lincoln's overlooks this friendly popular state park above the Rocky Reach Dam. Folded into the rich, mauve hills along the Columbia River, Lincoln Rock State Park is a classic, with a community atmosphere, shaded campsites, cabins and a boat launch with mooring docks on Lake Entiat.
OLYMPIA – Jan. 18, 2022 – The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission will hold its regular in-person commission meeting Thursday, Jan. 27 in The Commons at Fort Worden Historical State Park.
Commission action items include approval of 2022 agency priorities and a decision regarding obligations of the Fort Worden Public Development Authority.
Walk in an old-growth forest filled with lush undergrowth and western views of Admiralty Inlet. Stop in to stretch your legs, hike and picnic or gather with family and friends at the amphitheater surrounded by majestic trees.
Flaming Geyser State Park straddles the Green River at the lower end of the Green River Gorge, a unique place where sandstone bedrock, covered by glacial deposits in most of the Puget Sound lowlands, is revealed by the downcutting of the river through the formation. Seams of coal interwoven with the sandstone fueled a mining industry in the local area. On October 4, 1911, coal miner Eugene Lawson drilled a test bore in today’s park area, attempting to locate a coal seam. At 390 feet deep, he found a seam 6.5 feet thick.
Lyons Ferry State Park occupies a place at the drowned confluence of the Palouse and Snake Rivers, where people have crossed over the rivers for millennia.
Ice Age Floods Carve a Canyon
The walls of the Snake and Palouse River Canyons, and the cliffs which soar over the park are made of basalt lava flows that erupted from vents in southeast Washington. The forces of plate tectonics continue to shape this landscape, wrenching and stressing the vast layered basalt flows that make up Washington’s Columbia Plateau, weakening the rock along subtle fractures.
Millersylvania State Park offers fun for everyone. Spend a summer day splashing in Deep Lake. Gather with friends in an historic kitchen shelter. Plan a romantic overnight in a luxury "glamping" site, or visit with friends and neighbors in a tent or RV campsite. Take a quiet walk through wetlands and old-growth forest.
OLYMPIA – The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission will hold its regularly scheduled commission meeting and work session virtually on Nov. 13.
The Commission meeting agenda has one item, a request to transfer a .68 parcel of land to the Washington Department of Transportation for a weigh station project
Work session agenda items include:
Brooks Memorial State Park is located in a Simcoe Mountain oasis of ponderosa pine and Oregon white oak forest beside the East Prong of the Little Klickitat River. The area has long been enjoyed as a rest stop for travelers going between the Columbia River Gorge and points in north central Washington.
A first-time visitor to Paradise Point State Park might wonder why a place so close to the roar of a busy interstate highway was chosen to be one of Washington’s “cherished places.” It is important to remember that this landscape has a story that runs much longer and deeper than the concrete ribbon of Interstate 5.
Fort Columbia State Park preserves an example of a US Army defense project from the beginning of the 20th century. Its strategic location on a high bluff at the entrance to the Columbia River estuary also features wide views of one of the most consequential places in the modern story of the Pacific Northwest.
Jackson House State Park Heritage Site is a 1.4-acre day-use park at Jackson Prairie. The park is the setting of a homestead cabin built by John R. Jackson, one of the first Euro-Americans to settle north of the Columbia River and a significant figure in early Washington territorial history.
Matia Island Marine State Park provides off-the-beaten-path recreation experiences in a place with stories that extend well beyond its shores.
OLYMPIA – March 1, 2022 – The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission will host their regularly scheduled work session virtually on March 8.
The public may listen to or watch the meeting through the resources listed below. This is a work session between staff and the Commission. The public is invited to attend, but no public comment will be taken. No decisions will be made by the Commission at the work session.
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.
OLYMPIA — Nisqually State Park will temporarily close beginning Jan. 27 for phased maintenance and construction work as park development continues. The park is expected to reopen to visitors in the fall.
The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission is developing a long-range plan for its property located on Miller Peninsula. This 2,800-acre undeveloped park is located in the north Olympic Peninsula, just east of Sequim and north of Highway 101 in Clallam County. The property includes a trail system for hikers, mountain bikers, and equestrians through a beautiful second-growth forest.
The 40-mile, 526-acre Spokane River Centennial State Park Trail winds through eastern Washington from Nine Mile Recreation Area on Lake Spokane to the Idaho border.
McMicken Island Marine State Park is an off-the-beaten-path destination for boaters near Harstine Island that was homesteaded and used as a vacation home for many years.