Spotlights

Mount Rainier National Park

Cape Alava located in Olympic National Park

Fort Vancouver National Historic Site - Fort Vancouver was the administrative headquarters and main supply depot for the Hudson's Bay Company's fur trading operations in the immense Columbia Department. Under the leadership of John McLoughlin, the fort became the center of political, cultural, and commercial activities in the Pacific Northwest. When American immigrants arrived in the Oregon Country during the 1830s and 1840s, Fort Vancouver provided them with essential supplies to begin their new settlements.

Klondike Gold Rush-Seattle Unit National Historic Park - In 1897 news of a gold strike in the Canadian Yukon reached Seattle, triggering a stampede North to the Klondike Gold Fields. From 1897 to 1898, tens of thousands of people from across the United States and around the world descended upon Seattle's commercial district. While in Seattle, the hopeful miners purchased millions of dollars of food, clothing, equipment, pack animals, and steamship tickets. The final outcome of this great stampede helped shape the Seattle we know today, bolstering the city's reputation as the Queen City of the Pacific Northwest.

Lake Chelan National Recreation Area - Here the beautiful Stehekin Valley, with a portion of fjordlike Lake Chelan, adjoins North Cascades National Park. The national recreation area is managed with the national park and Ross Lake National Recreation Area as the North Cascades National Park Service Complex.

Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area - In 1941, damming of the Columbia River as part of the Columbia River Basin project created a 130-mile long lake. Named for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the lake is now the largest recreation feature in the Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area. The man-made recreation area provides opportunities for boating, fishing, swimming, camping, hiking and tours of Fort Spokane and the Dam.

Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail - This site celebrates the heroic expedition of the Corps of Discovery, led by Captain Meriwether Lewis and Captain William Clark. Thirty three people traveled with them into unknown territory, starting near what is now known as Wood River, Illinois in 1804, reaching the Pacific Ocean in 1805 and returning in 1806.

North Cascades National Park - The North Cascades National Park Service Complex includes North Cascades National Park and Ross Lake and Lake Chelan National Recreation Areas. North Cascades National Park contains some of America's most beautiful scenery -- jagged peaks, deep valleys, cascading waterfalls and over 300 glaciers -- within its 505,000 acres (202,000 hectares).

Olympic National Park - Often referred to as "three parks in one", Olympic National Park encompasses three distinctly different ecosystems—rugged glacier capped mountains, over 60 miles of wild Pacific coast and magnificent stands of old-growth and temperate rain forest. These diverse ecosystems are still largely pristine in character (about 95% of the park is designated wilderness)and are Olympic's gift to you.

Ross Lake National Recreation Area - Ross Lake National Recreation Area is part of the North Cascades National Park Service Complex. Ringed by mountains, it offers many outdoor recreation opportunities along the upper reaches of the Skagit River, between the north and south units of North Cascades National Park.

San Juan Island National Historic Park - San Juan Island NHP commemorates the peaceful resolution of the 19th century boundary dispute between Great Britain and the United States over the Oregon Country. The crisis on San Juan Island -- which both nations claimed -- ignited when on June 15, 1859, an American farmer shot a British-owned pig. Soon the U.S. Army and Royal Navy were at gunpoint. However, officials on both sides quickly restored calm and the nations agreed to a military joint occupation of the island until the boundary dispute could be resolved.

Whitman Mission National Historic Site -  Whitman Mission, located in the southeastern part of Washington state, preserves the site of Waiilatpu Mission, a Presbyterian mission to the Cayuse Indians from 1836 to 1847. During the eleven year period of the mission, it also became a way-stop for Oregon Trail pioneers. The mission ended in violence in November, 1847 after an outbreak of measles killed half the Cayuse tribe. Marcus Whitman, Narcissa Whitman and eleven others staying at the mission were killed by the Cayuse.  The park preserves the foundations of the mission buildings, the Mill Pond and irrigation ditch, a short segment of the Oregon Trail, and the grave where the victims are buried. Native grasses give visitors a sense of how the area looked in 1840s.