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Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission is beginning a process to update the long-term boundary for Pearrygin Lake State Park to include properties on the north shore of the lake. This change would result in all of Pearrygin Lake’s shoreline being within the long-term park boundary, allowing for future connection of a loop trail around the lake.
The story of Mount Pilchuck State Park goes deep. The distinctive blocks of light-colored quartz monzonite (a rock like granite but with a smaller proportion of quartz crystals) that a hiker must scramble over to reach the historic fire lookout were once molten magma slowly cooling thousands of feet below the earth’s surface. The mechanisms of plate tectonic subduction elevated the rocks to 5,324 feet above sea level to put Mount Pilchuck’s prominent alpine summit barely 18 miles from salt water at the Snohomish River estuary.
OLYMPIA – Following a public process, the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission voted on Thursday to keep the cabins at Cama Beach Historical State Park permanently closed where they currently sit.
“…they topped the last hill and saw the abundance nature had spread before them.
OLYMPIA – December 1, 2022 – The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission will hold a planning meeting in-person on Tuesday, Dec. 6 and Wednesday, Dec. 7 in Camano Island.
Agenda items include year-end review, division highlights and 2023 Commission priorities.
The public may attend the meeting, but no public comment will be taken. Attendance is limited to in-person only. No virtual access will be available.
James Island Marine State Park preserves an entire island on the western side of Rosario Strait. Its two forested hills rise more than 200 feet above a low isthmus. Rock outcrops on its rugged shore reveal that the bedrock of the island was formed deep on the ocean floor and uplifted above the water’s surface by the forces of plate tectonics.
Bottle Beach State Park’s sweeping shoreline provides a window into one of the most important shorebird feeding area on the Pacific Coast. Grays Harbor attracts more than a million birds each spring and up to 20 percent of these migrating birds use the area just off Bottle Beach, peaking in late April and early May. Shorebirds are attracted to this spot because the mudflats just offshore host abundant shrimp-like Corophium amphipods for them to eat. The rich supply of amphipods, up to 55,000 per square meter, is unique along the Pacific Coast.
Same-day reservations program expands across Washington
OLYMPIA – June 6, 2024 – Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission (Parks) is excited to announce its same-day reservation pilot program has expanded to 26 parks across the state.
OLYMPIA – Dec. 13, 2021 – The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission will hold a special commission meeting on Tues., Dec. 14. The purpose of this special meeting is for the Commission to establish the qualifications for the initial screening of applicants for the State Parks director position and to delegate authority or take other actions in the discretion of the Commission for the director recruitment and hiring process.
“The wife of Shabono our interpretr we find reconsiles all the Indians, as to our friendly intentions… a woman with a party of men is a token of peace.” --William Clark, on the Snake River, October 13, 1805
OLYMPIA — The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission welcomes Lourdes E. Alvarado-Ramos (Alfie), its newest member, to the Commission.
The Commission is made up of seven citizen members appointed by the governor. Commissioners are responsible for guiding the policies that steer the agency. Other duties include approving the agency’s strategic plan, setting Parks budget priorities and approving changes to Parks-related Washington Administrative Code.
Skagit Island Marine State Park is a delightfully pristine small island located in Skagit County near Deception Pass.
Rock From Spreading Tectonic Plates
The bedrock that makes up Skagit Island is part of a larger assemblage of rocks that outcrop on nearby islands and collectively make up an ophiolite sequence, a distinctive formation of rocks formed where the sea floor has spread apart at a tectonic plate boundary.
Stuart Island Marine State Park is a favorite boating destination with an interesting convergence of personal histories.
Sediments and Folds
The rocks that make up Stuart Island are made of siltstone and sandstone that formed from sediments deposited by river deltas and massive underwater landslides on the sea floor about 75 million years ago, at a location hundreds of miles south of today’s Stuart Island. Geologists call this formation the Nanaimo Group.