The Parks headquarters Information Center is moving from its current location in Tumwater to the Department of Ecology building at 300 Desmond Drive SE in Lacey. Our customer service team is located at the front desk, just inside the main entrance.
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Set on a split cove, Tolmie State Park is a great destination for beach exploration, swimming, hiking, clamming, and crabbing. Popular with scuba divers, Tolmie features an underwater park with an artificial reef. A saltwater marsh, abundant wildlife, and birdwatching opportunities make Tolmie a great day use destination!
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.
Hike around Saltwater State Park, Various trail surface conditions; asphalt, gravel, and dirt. Switch back trails inclines and descent. 3-5 ft wide trail sections. Families are welcome if children can handle the mileage. Visit the beach on your own after the hike.
This hike will be led by a Park Ranger, who will guide participants along the Wenatchee River, up to our North Beach for views across Lake Wenatchee, and then through our Pine and Douglas Fir forest, finally ending back at the North Reservation Booth for hot cocoa and light snacks!
While much of James Island Marine State Park is designated a Natural Forest Area and is closed to public access, there is plenty of open territory to explore on this water access-only island. Enjoy the emerald coves, forested trails, spectacular views and an isthmus with two white sand beaches.
Cape Disappointment camping — including loops A, B, C and D, Waikiki Beach and the North Jetty will tentatively close after Labor Day 2025 through May 2026 while we complete renovations and repairs to improve the park. The boat launch will also experience intermittent closures.
The park's proximity to Interstate 5 and long sandy beach make this a popular swim spot for local families, and the disc golf course can be a great play day destination on summer afternoons. On misty mornings, the park has the feel of a wetland and makes for a picturesque stroll.
Under the supervision of a Park Ranger, Park Aides perform a variety of tasks at a State Park, beach or historical area. A typical workday may include anything from registering campers and collecting camp fees, to cleaning facilities, mowing lawns or explaining park rules. The specific duties will have some variation by park location.
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.
This day use park sits at the end of Ebey Road and is one of the trailheads for the popular Bluff Loop Trail. Featuring dramatic, sweeping views of the Olympic Mountains, visitors can begin the 3.5 mile hike up to the top of the bluff and along the beach – one of the most popular hikes in the state.
OLYMPIA – June 29, 2023 – Washington's state parks are some of the most iconic in the country. Now, more families will be able to experience the beauty in their backyard thanks to the expanded Check Out Washington program.
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.
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.
Located off Hwy 97 between Winthrop and Wenatchee, Daroga State Park is a lush green oasis nestled among the dry, rolling hills of Central Washington. Enjoy dramatic views, a calm lagoon ideal for beginner swimmers and paddlers, scenic walking trails, and a relaxing beach area. The nearby Columbia River offers exciting opportunities for boaters and water sports enthusiasts.
Meet at Lake Wenatchee North Park Entrance and tag along with our park staff as they snowshoe 1.3 miles along the Wenatchee River, the shores of Lake Wenatchee, and surrounding forest. Participants can enjoy a well-packed route through parts of our park that are not always accessible in summer. Expect some historical talking points, nature interpretation, and views of Nason Ridge, Dirty Face, and North Beach
The End of Hood Canal
Belfair State Park features a popular stretch of beach between the mouths of Big Mission Creek and Little Mission Creek at the tip of the hook of Hood Canal. Today’s Belfair State Park was covered by glacial ice during the last ice age. The finger-like waterways of South Puget Sound were excavated by highly pressurized meltwater streams that developed as the ice began to melt.
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.
Lake Sammamish State Park is one of Washington’s most popular state parks, attracting visitors from the large cities and towns nearby with its attractive beaches, picnic areas, athletic fields and open space.
Tongues of the great Pleistocene glaciers that excavated the passageways of Puget Sound also dug the nearly seven-mile-long basin of Lake Sammamish. Today’s park encompasses the floodplains of Issaquah Creek and Tibbetts Creek at the lake’s inlet.
With so many lakes, rivers, bays, inlets and ocean shores, it’s no wonder boating, paddling, angling and beach camping are popular in Washington, especially when the weather gets warm.
Washington State Parks manages public boat ramps, docks, launches and mooring buoys, and each has its own pass or permit requirements.
Here is your handy guide to help you determine which passes you may need for your favorite water activity:
Seasonal positions will serve parks across Washington.
OLYMPIA – Washington State Parks is recruiting seasonal park aides to work in its beautiful outdoor places this spring, summer and fall.
Parks is looking for more than 300 park aides and senior park aides to work from April through September in such diverse environments as old-growth forests, channeled scabland and shrub steppe, on Pacific Ocean beaches, in the high desert and around Puget Sound and its islands.
Seasonal positions will serve parks across Washington.
OLYMPIA – Jan. 17, 2023 – Washington State Parks is recruiting seasonal park aides to work in its beautiful outdoor places this spring, summer and fall!
Parks is looking for 305 park aides and senior park aides to work from April through September in diverse environments like old-growth forests, channeled scabland and shrub steppe, as well as on Pacific Ocean beaches and the high desert and around Puget Sound and its islands.
OLYMPIA – Aug. 31, 2022 – Washington State Parks will close the lower parking lot and all restroom facilities at Tolmie State Park near Lacey on Tuesday, Sept. 6 to complete a fish passage project.
The upper lot at Tolmie will remain open, with space for 30 cars, and portable toilets will be available during construction. The work is set to start in September and wrap up in February of 2023. Visitors will be able to reach the beach on a steep trail from the upper parking lot.
Make a splash at the Polar Plunge at Lake Sammamish State Park !
Polar Plunge returns on New Year’s Day 2025. Festivities will begin at 10:30 a.m. with registration, music, and merriment brought to you by Clown Garage on the shores of Sunset Beach. The crowd will “plunge” at noon.
The first 300 registered participants will receive a Polar Plunge SWAG bag, including a commemorative pin from local company Pins by Design..
Spectators are welcome to come out to cheer on the athletes as they take a dunk in the chilly waters of Lake Sammamish.
Polar Plunge returns on New Year’s Day 2025. Festivities will begin at 10:30 a.m. with registration, music, and merriment brought to you by Clown Garage on the shores of Sunset Beach. The crowd will “plunge” at noon.
The first 300 registered participants will receive a Polar Plunge SWAG bag, including a commemorative pin from local company Pins by Design..
Spectators are welcome to come out to cheer on the athletes as they take a dunk in the chilly waters of Lake Sammamish.
Cape Disappointment State Park spreads over the land north of the point where the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean meet. The park includes three headlands of basalt rock cliffs: Cape Disappointment overlooking the river, North Head above the strand of Long Beach, and McKenzie Head, midway between the other two headlands. The basalt bedrock of these wave-pounded cliffs are ancient lava flows that erupted on the ocean floor. Encountering the cold ocean water, the lava quickly hardened into bulbous masses geologists call pillow lava.