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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.

Clayton Beach access trail closes Nov. 1 until late spring of 2023

OLYMPIA – Oct. 27, 2022 – Larrabee State Park is getting an exciting renovation this winter that will significantly improve safety and access to Clayton Beach.

State Parks is building a new bridge over the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railroad track, which, supported by a new trail reconfiguration, will provide safe passage between this popular beach and the Lost Lake parking lot.

An oasis that many locals have yet to discover, Helen McCabe is a small wayside park at the northern entrance to the Yakima Canyon Scenic Byway, near the intersection of Interstates 90 and 82 in central Washington State.

OLYMPIA – April 5, 2022 – As a member of the Washington Clean Coast Alliance, the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission will participate in this year's Washington Coast Cleanup.

The event will take place from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, April 23.

OLYMPIA — The future trail system at Nisqually State Park is taking shape and the community is invited to join Washington State Parks for a public meeting to get a first-hand look at what’s to come. 

Goldendale Observatory, set in the hills above the Columbia River, houses one of the nation's largest public telescopes. Reservations are required to enter the visitor center and attend programs. See information below.

OLYMPIA – Gov. Jay Inslee has appointed Scott Merriman of Thurston County as the newest member of the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission. 

Planners will discuss facility improvements at Blake Island Marine State Park

OLYMPIA – April 20, 2022 – Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission invites the public to a hybrid in-person and virtual public meeting on Bainbridge Island to learn more about planned facility improvements at neighboring Blake Island Marine State Park.

Family-friendly festival runs Sept. 25-27 

PASCO – Sacajawea Historical State Park welcomes all to come have some fun at its 21st-annual Heritage Days celebration. 

This free, family-friendly event is open to the public on Thursday, Sept. 25 and Friday, Sept. 26, from 1 to 5 p.m., and on Saturday, Sept. 27 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.   

In celebration of our 111th birthday (just as Bilbo celebrated in The Fellowship of the Ring), we are here to show you Middle Earth and Washington are not so different. Sure, The Lord of the Rings wasn't filmed here, but that doesn't mean you can't walk through the ecological diversity of Middle Earth right here in Washington.

OLYMPIA — The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission invites the public to nominate winter sports enthusiasts for the agency’s snowmobile advisory committee. Three positions are available statewide to snowmobilers, and one is available statewide to individuals involved in non-motorized winter sports. 

OLYMPIA – Washington State Parks’ Folk and Traditional Arts Program (FTAP) announces its lineup of concerts and festivals this spring and summer, including the popular Waikiki Beach concerts at Cape Disappointment and the longstanding American Roots concerts at Deception Pass.

Forest thinning project will reduce wildfire risk to Roslyn, Cle-Elum

OLYMPIA – May 12, 2022 – Washington State Parks will begin work to thin approximately 90 acres on the Bullfrog State Park Property near Cle Elum this month. The hired contractor will remove smaller, weaker and less fire tolerant trees to reduce fuel loads and promote fire tolerant species. The project will return the forest to historic site conditions and improve the health of remaining trees by reducing competition.

OLYMPIA – Feb. 22, 2022 – This month, Gov. Jay Inslee appointed Holly Williams of Vancouver as the newest member of the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission.

Monticello Convention State Park Heritage Site commemorates two meetings attended by Euro-American men that helped set in motion the establishment of the Washington Territory.

Despite the fact that the territory had fewer than 4,000 settlers, the petitions ultimately succeeded in influencing the passage of legislation establishing the Territory of Washington, approved by President Millard Fillmore on March 2, 1853.

Once a Yakama Nation camping area, the rich, fertile region sparked discord between the tribes and Euro-American settlers, prompting the U.S. Army to construct a fort in 1856. Fort Simcoe's military history was short-lived when in 1859 the fort was closed and turned over to the Bureau of Indian Affairs. It is one of the few remaining pre-Civil War forts in the west.

Doe Island Marine State Park preserves an entire island along the southeastern coastline of Orcas Island in the San Juan Archipelago. It takes its name from the prevalence of deer in the area—nearby place names include Doe Bay, Deer Point and Buck Bay.

A Rocky Island

The San Juan Islands are distinct from most of Puget Sound in that they feature shorelines with exposures of hard bedrock, rather than the bluffs of clay, sand and gravel left by Ice Age glaciers that are predominant on most of Washington’s Salish Sea, the state’s inland saltwater passages.

OLYMPIA — The Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission is seeking applications from winter sports enthusiasts for the agency’s snowmobile and non-motorized advisory committees. Five positions are available statewide to snowmobilers, and two are available statewide to individuals involved in non-motorized winter sports.

…a seacoast fortification may be said to have most efficiently performed the function for which it was intended, if it is never called into action at all.

                                                                                  -Eben Eveleth Winslow, US Army Corps of Engineers

OLYMPIA — Washington State Parks needs the help of its visitors to stop the spread of invasive pests that can cause significant damage to our forests. 

State parks have a wide variety of natural native and planted non-native trees and forests, which puts them at risk for almost every worrisome invasive pest. Parks are of particular concern because they welcome visitors from all over the state and country who often bring their own camping supplies for their stay. This includes the main culprit for invasive pest transfer: firewood. 

Ebey’s Landing State Park Heritage Site is situated at a point where tall bluffs of ice age glacial outwash that ring most of Whidbey Island gently lower to the sea, affording easy access from the saltwater beach to the open prairies of the island’s interior. People have lived here for more than 10,000 years. It is among the most culturally significant settings in the Pacific Northwest.

Steptoe Battlefield State Park Heritage Site preserves a significant site in the running battle that occurred on May 17, 1858, between allied Indigenous warriors under the leadership of Chief Kamiakin (Yakama/ Palús) and US Army soldiers under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Edward J. Steptoe. The battle was a significant victory for the Indigenous warriors in their drive to protect their way of life against the incursion of American colonists into their homelands.

Free performances celebrate diverse cultures

OLYMPIA – June 7, 2022 – The Washington State Parks' Folk and Traditional Arts Program will reprise two of its beloved concert series this summer at Deception Pass and Cape Disappointment state parks. The program also added a third series at Lake Wenatchee State Park, expanding free access to diverse musical traditions in Central Washington.

Performance schedules are as follows:

The Central, 107 mile section of the PTCT begins at the Snoqualmie Tunnel and continues east through Ellensburg, over the Columbia River on the recently renovated and reopened Beverly Bridge and ends at Royal City Cut-off (milepost 2010).

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.