Seattle Vacation Ideas

If you fancy a road trip this summer, you can pile the kids into the minivan and head to Hell’s Canyon, which straddles the border of Oregon and Idaho, just below the southeast corner of Washington. I drove through it this weekend on my way to Boise, and it looks like a great place for some outdoor adventures. I passed quite a few river rafting outfits and fishing spots, and today I checked out the web to see what else there is to do.

The recreation area features three rivers which are designated Wild and Scenic: the Snake, Imnaha, and Rapid rivers. Hell’s Canyon has a claim to fame as the deepest river gorge in North America.

Some of the activities in the area include the afore mentioned rafting and fishing, camping and picnicking, and almost 900 miles of trails suitable for hiking, horseback riding, and mountain biking. The towns nearby aren’t very populous, so if you’re looking for a place to get away from the crowds, chances are you can find some private wilderness here.

If you enjoy learning opportunities, there are also spots that offer educational site seeing: “Discover rural life in America with vibrant turn-of-the-century historic districts. Explore the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center at Flagstaff Hill, near Baker City. Marvel at bronze sculptures at foundries in Joseph.”

If you’d like to know more about the area without all the effort involved in reading (heh), here’s a link to a video on Hell’s Canyon: Cradle of the Snake. More links and information (for those who don’t mind reading) are available on the USDA Forest Service site.

Where can you see black bears, cougars, bison, mountain goats, porcupines, toads, and salamanders all in the same place? Well, probably at the zoo, but if you want to see these creatures in something closer to their natural habitat, check out Northwest Trek.

As their about page says, the 723-acre park has a little bit of everything: lakes, trails, meadows, and plenty of animals. Northwest Trek is home to more than 200 North American animals, which roam about the lands instead of being locked in small cages.

Admission costs $13.50 for adults and includes a 55-minute tram tour of the park. When you’re done, you’re free to cruise the walking trails, which meander through forest and wetlands. Stop to listen to a Keeper Talk on subjects such as wolf packs or owl habits when you want to take a break and rest for a bit. When you get hungry, there’s a cafe on site, or you can bring your own lunch to the picnics areas. Just don’t feed the bears…

Northwest Trek is 55 miles south of Seattle on the way to Mt. Rainier National Park.

http://www.nwtrek.org

If you’re up for a road trip over the pass, or you’re heading that direction anyway, you might want to detour to Gingko Petrified Forest State Park. It is located 30 miles east of Ellensburg.

The 7,470-acre park is a registered national natural landmark because it contains the remains of one of the most unusual fossil forests in the world, including some of the rarest types of petrified wood ever found.

Outside the visitors’ center, the landscaping is made up of dozens of petrified logs. Inside the center, you can find many displays of polished cross-sections of petrified wood, including examples of the more than fifty species of petrified trees that have been found in the park. There are also remains of prehistoric animals that once roamed present-day Washington State.

In addition to petrified trees, you can visit a display featuring Native American petroglyphs, that were cut from the nearby cliffs before they disappeared under waters from the Wanapum Dam, built in 1953. The site included more than 300 separate figures, which were carved centuries ago by the Wanapum Indians. Some 60-odd petroglyphs were salvaged and cemented into place behind the center.

Park hours:

Summer: 6:30 a.m. to dusk.
Winter: 8 a.m. to dusk.

Camping spots are available.

Gingko Petrified Forest

One of my favorite times of year is to go and visit all of the blooms that finally get a chance to show off after months of gloom.  Because I’m not much of a gardener, or more of a wannabe gardener, I find myself drawn to big, showy flower displays, often with camera in hand.

If you like lilacs you might want to take a drive down to the Lilac Gardens in  Woodland Washington.  http://www.lilacgardens.com/directns.html.  They’re having a Lilac Festival through Mother’s Day. (Sunday, May 13, 2007) and admission is $2, according to the website.

Like Rhodies, the Washington State Flower? Try Pt. Defiance or the Rhodendron Species Garden in Federal Way.

There are also numerous Oriental Gardens, Rose Gardens, Arboretums and more spread throughout the region.

Yes, it does, within the city limits, too!  It’s an extinct volcano called Mt. Tabor and is inside a park, named  aptly Mt. Tabor Park. This is one of about 50 extinct volcanoes in the greater Portland/southwest Washington Area. The hours are 5:00am-midnight and you can do any number of park activities here including picnic and hike.  The park is almost 200 acres. The trail is moderately steep, but if you walk all the way to the top, you’ve got stunning views of the surrounding area!

Other amenites include a basketball court – outdoor, disabled access picnic area, disabled access play area, disabled access restroom, dog off-leash area, horseshoe pit, paths paved and unpaved, oudoor stage, tennis courts, volleyball courts, and a wedding site. 

Granger’s Dinosaur Park might not be a vacation destination in and of itself, but if you’re heading over to the Yakima Valley anyway, it’s a fun spot for kids (and, okay, adults too). Full of climbable painted dinosaurs, the park is a fun place to picnic or just relax with the family. On the weekends, you can rent paddleboats and visit the floating dinosaur in the middle of a pond in the park. If you forget to bring your lunch, there’s a dino snack store on site that sells nachos, hot dogs, sodas, and frozen goodies (what, you were expecting health food from a concessions stand?).

If you’re going to be at the park for a while, you may need to visit the somewhat interesting restrooms. The toilets are located inside a large replica of a volcano, which is done up to look like it’s erupting. Dinosaur Park might not be the ultimate in class, but I bet the kids will get a kick out of it.

Admission is free, but make sure to come during daylight hours, as the park isn’t lit at night.

For those who aren’t familiar with Granger, WA (which is most people probably), you can find it on I-82, 23 miles south of Yakima. Take exit 58 (Granger), which puts you on #223. Follow the street for about a mile (don’t take the first right, which heads into Granger proper) and at the third right, you’ll see the entrance to Dinosaur Park.

For more on the origins of the park (whose idea were those dinos anyway?), check out the Granger Tourism site.