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OLYMPIA – Starting Oct. 1, 2025, the annual Discover Pass will increase from $30 to $45. The Discover Pass is a fee charged to park a vehicle at Washington’s state parks and lands operated by the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife and Washington Department of Natural Resources.
During the spring of 2025, Parks worked with contractors to complete a 340-acre forest health project in Riverside State Park in the area between Seven Mile Road and Carlson Road. This project will promote a healthy and resilient forest by removing wildfire fuels and low vigor trees.
Lake Wenatchee owes its existence to giant glaciers that widened and deepened the headwaters of the Wenatchee River. Gravel and rock carried in the glacier was deposited at the glacier’s end, forming a moraine, a natural dam to impound the lake. Lake Wenatchee State Park is situated on that moraine.
Book a Washington State Parks Retreat Center for youth groups, schools, families, businesses and other groups
OLYMPIA – Dec. 21, 2021 – The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission announced the reopening of park retreat centers beginning in spring 2022. On Jan. 3 at 7 a.m., parks will begin accepting retreat center reservations for the 2022 Memorial Day weekend and beyond.
Conconully State Park is a favorite camping and fishing place in the arid transition zone of north central Washington. The park is set between the town of Conconully, WA and the north shoreline of the Conconully Reservoir, which stores water from Salmon Creek for flood control and irrigation purposes.
Potlatch State Park is one of many of Washington’s state parks that was established in response to an appeal from local residents. In the building boom after the end of World War II, residents of the Hood Canal area felt squeezed out of access to the shoreline by rapidly spreading development.
“To know the land, one must feel it out inch by inch with the feet.” –Harvey Manning
A generous land donation and the hard work of community activists has ensured that Squak Mountain State Park will be an enduring piece of wilderness close to the homes of millions of urban residents.
The Spokane River flows west from its source at Coeur d’Alene Lake through the Spokane Valley. After it tumbles over its namesake waterfalls in its namesake city, it bends to the northwest and meanders through a spectacular canyon described by some as the “Grand Park of the Spokane.”
Even during the dark days of winter, the world is your family-friendly playground at our state parks and Sno-Parks. But cold weather adventures do add a few layers complexity, pun intended. We’ve got tips (learned mostly through trial and error) on how to stay warm and dry in the outdoors this winter.
McMicken Island is so small, you could easily miss it. But boaters who love Puget Sound would not want to miss it. This small state park, in the fold of Harstine Island, is only reachable by boat. Low tide allows you to walk across a tombolo to and from Harstine Island for a few hours each day.
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.
Twenty-Five Mile Creek State Park lies at the farthest uplake point accessible by road on Lake Chelan, just about midway from its toe in the sun-kissed rain shadow of central Washington to its head among the ramparts of the North Cascades.
In the evening by lamp-light, Willie was buried here November 26, 1855.
Willie Keil Grave State Park Heritage Site commemorates a tale that is legendary for its strangeness, its example of devotional love for a departed son, and for its story of a father’s promise kept.
Trees are ever-present above us when visiting or camping in the forest. Yet, too often, we are unaware of the risks associated with trees. Trees and branches can fall at any time and at any location for lots of reasons, including weather, age, fire, damage and disease.
OLYMPIA — The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission will hold a virtual work session on May 21.
Commission meeting agenda items include a financial update, a presentation on the current 2025-2027 budget outlook, a look at the 2026 operating supplemental budget request, a legislative update and a discussion of Commission priorities.
Saltwater State Park provides access to the shores and undersea gardens of Puget Sound in the midst of one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States. The woodsy ravine behind the beach can be explored on miles of trails, and visitors enjoy camp life just minutes from the homes of millions of people.
Significant septic and infrastructure failures led to the closure of the cabins and other buildings in the beach area of park in February 2024. Following a public process, the Commission voted in October 2024 to keep the cabins permanently closed where they currently sit.
The Center for Wooden Boats, restrooms in the lower area, the store and park office are also closed.
Day use in the area remains open but restrooms are only available in other parts of the park.
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.
Dash Point State Park provides access to the shores and undersea gardens of Puget Sound in one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States. The woodsy ravine behind the park’s beach can be explored on miles of trails, and visitors enjoy camp life just minutes from the homes of millions of people.
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.
Kopachuck State Park is a good place to contemplate the many interconnections that bind the community of life to the landscape we all inhabit.
The winding saltwater passageways of southern Puget Sound, including Carr Inlet surrounding Kopachuck State Park, were molded and scoured by glacial meltwaters at the close of the Pleistocene ice age.
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.
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.
Westport Light State Park encompasses the southern point at the entrance to Grays Harbor. The point is a constantly changing bit of land, at the whim of sand and waves. The name of the point has fluctuated, too, finally landing on Point Chehalis, using the tribal name of its original people, translated as People of the Sand.
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.