The Pacific Northwest, rain or shine.

Glacier, WA

Artist Point and Mount Shuksan

The end of the Mount Baker Highway at 5,100 feet, where a short walk opens onto a 360-degree view of Mount Baker on one side and the jagged glaciated face of Mount Shuksan on the other. Picture Lake, just below on the road, gives the famous reflection of Shuksan that has stood in for the Alps in countless ads. Snow lingers into July and the heather meadows turn crimson by late September.

Clear turquoise water fills the foreground, reflecting a steep granite amphitheater with lingering snow patches and dark evergreen slopes under a blue sky with scattered clouds. Leafy branches frame the lower edge, and the calm lake surface mirrors the mountain wall in the warm light of summer.

Index, WA

Lake Serene

Lake Serene sits at 2,521 feet beneath the sheer granite face of Mount Index, one of the most dramatic mountain walls in the Cascades. The 8-mile round trip trail gains approximately 2,000 feet and passes Bridal Veil Falls along the way. The lake's calm surface frequently mirrors the imposing north face of Mount Index.

Mount Hood rises snow-covered above Trillium Lake, its peak and dark forested slopes mirrored in the still, deep-blue water. The wide composition is framed by evergreen shoreline and a clear golden-hour sky.

Government Camp, OR

Trillium Lake

Trillium Lake is a 63-acre lake located south of Mount Hood that provides one of the most iconic reflection views of the volcano. The lake was created in 1960 by a dam on Mud Creek. A 1.9-mile trail loops around the shoreline through old-growth forest.

Heceta Head Lighthouse stands on a grassy cliff above the Pacific, its white tower and red-roofed buildings catching warm golden-hour light. Dark rocky headlands frame the scene while waves crash against the shore below under a clear blue sky.

Florence, OR

Heceta Head Lighthouse

A 56-foot lighthouse built in 1894 that is often cited as the most photographed lighthouse in the United States. It sits 205 feet above the ocean on a dramatic headland between Florence and Yachats. The keeper's house has been restored as a bed and breakfast and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Wide panorama from Rowena Crest overlooking the Columbia River Gorge, with bright sun reflecting off the river, green cliffs rising on both sides, and the Historic Columbia River Highway curving in horseshoe switchbacks below. The foreground shows rocky, brushy slopes and scattered evergreens, with a hazy golden-hour glow across the distant hills.

Hood River, OR

Rowena Crest Viewpoint

Rowena Crest sits at the eastern edge of the Columbia River Gorge and offers sweeping views of the river, Tom McCall Point, and the Historic Columbia River Highway's horseshoe curves below. The surrounding Tom McCall Nature Preserve hosts wildflower blooms in spring. The viewpoint marks the transition from the wet western gorge to the dry eastern grasslands.

Two parallel suspension bridges stretch across the calm Tacoma Narrows under a clear blue sky, with their tall towers and cables reflected faintly in the water. A sandy, pebbled shoreline in the foreground leads the eye toward the long green span and wooded shoreline beyond.

Tacoma, WA

Tacoma Narrows Bridge

A pair of suspension bridges spanning the Tacoma Narrows of Puget Sound between Tacoma and the Kitsap Peninsula. The original 1940 bridge famously collapsed due to aeroelastic flutter and was replaced by the current westbound span in 1950, with an eastbound span added in 2007. The bridges are each approximately 5,400 feet long with towers rising 510 feet above the water.

A sweeping panoramic view from a grassy alpine ridge shows layered green forested slopes dropping into a deep mountain valley, with snowy peaks stretching across the horizon under clear blue sky. Sunlit meadows and scattered evergreens frame the foreground, emphasizing the vast scale of the Olympic Mountains.

Port Angeles, WA

Hurricane Ridge

Hurricane Ridge sits at 5,242 feet elevation and offers panoramic views of the Olympic Mountains, including Mount Olympus on clear days. Alpine wildflower meadows bloom from late June through August, and black-tailed deer frequently graze in the meadows near the visitor center. In winter, the road is open on weekends and holidays for snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.

Vista House stands centered on its broad circular terrace, with pale stone walls and a green domed roof set against a dramatic sky of layered clouds. Rolling green hills and the Columbia River Gorge stretch into the distance behind it, with a few visitors and parked cars adding scale at the overlook.

Troutdale, OR

Crown Point Vista House

Vista House is a 1917 Art Nouveau observatory perched on Crown Point, a 733-foot basalt promontory overlooking the Columbia River Gorge. It offers 360-degree panoramic views up and down the gorge. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Wide view over Colchuck Lake with vivid turquoise water reflecting the granite walls and jagged peaks of the Enchantments. Foreground boulders, dusty trail, and scattered evergreens frame the calm alpine basin in soft golden-hour light.

Leavenworth, WA

Colchuck Lake

Colchuck Lake is a stunning alpine lake at 5,570 feet elevation in the Enchantments area, surrounded by granite peaks including Dragontail Peak and Colchuck Peak. The lake's intense blue-green color is the result of glacial meltwater. The hike to the lake is approximately 8 miles round trip with 2,200 feet of elevation gain.

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21 places

Waterfalls

Cascades, drops & mist-hung gorges

17 places

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Sea stacks, coves & tidal shores

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Cascade peaks & volcanic landscapes

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Hidden Gems

The spots most visitors miss

Notes from the road

From the Journal

A park ranger stands beside a wooden sign for the Bainbridge Island Japanese American Exclusion Memorial and Joel Pritchard Park, set on a leaf-covered wooded slope in bright morning light. Tall evergreens and bare deciduous trees frame the scene, with scattered rocks and mossy undergrowth suggesting early spring.

Precise

Sep 9, 20266 min read

Five Degrees of Morning Light

A September crossing to Bainbridge Island for the story wall's raking hour, then six miles north to a lighthouse that could not compete with it.

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A narrow dirt trail winds uphill through a dense old-growth forest, with moss-covered roots, ferns, and tall conifers filling the frame. The light is soft and shaded, but there is no view of Lake Crescent or the summit overlook.

Melancholy

Sep 1, 202610 min read

Waiting Out the Crowd at Storm King

A September morning on Mount Storm King, climbed too late in the day for solitude, and what I noticed while I waited my turn for the view.

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A museum destroyer is docked beside a narrow waterfront gangway, with gray gun turrets, rigging, and masts rising against a clear blue sky. The calm inlet reflects the ship and nearby shoreline, with distant hills visible beyond the harbor.

Weary

Aug 25, 20266 min read

The Light That Didn't Come

A second visit to Bremerton's waterfront boardwalk, years after the first, arrives under a different sky and finds a different kind of picture.

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Off the tourist trail

Hidden Gems

Mount Hood rises in the distance above the Hood River Valley, framed by the curved concrete shelter in the foreground and a low stone wall. Sunlit green orchards and farmland spread across the middle ground under a clear blue sky with wispy clouds.

Hidden Gems

Hood River, OR

Panorama Point

Panorama Point is a county park in the Hood River Valley offering a wide-angle view of Mount Hood framed by orchards and farmland. In spring, the surrounding fruit orchards bloom with pear and apple blossoms. The site provides one of the most accessible and unobstructed views of Mount Hood's north face.

Golden-hour light fills a misty secluded cove, with dark sea stacks and rock outcrops rising from a calm, reflective shoreline. Soft waves, wet sand, and a hazy cliff edge create a warm, glowing long-exposure scene.

Hidden Gems

Brookings, OR

Secret Beach

A secluded crescent beach within Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor accessible only by a steep half-mile trail through dense coastal forest. The beach features dramatic sea stacks, a small waterfall, and rock arches visible at low tide. Its relative difficulty of access keeps visitor numbers low compared to other Oregon Coast beaches.

A wide river view at dawn shows a long steel bridge stretching across calm water, with several small boats below and dark green riverbanks on both sides. Soft pink and blue morning light fades into hazy hills and rocky silhouettes in the distance.

Hidden Gems

Bellingham, WA

Oyster Dome Trail

A 6.2-mile round-trip hike in the Blanchard State Forest ascending through second-growth forest to a rocky summit with panoramic views of the San Juan Islands, Samish Bay, and the Cascade Range. The exposed rock dome at the summit provides an unobstructed 270-degree viewpoint. Raptors and bald eagles are frequently spotted from the summit.

morningspring · summer

Cascades, drops & mist-hung gorges

Waterfalls

Snoqualmie Falls plunges over a rocky cliff in a wide, misty morning view, with the river spilling into a deep canyon framed by dense evergreen forest. A lodge and small buildings sit along the left rim while spray rises across the lower right side of the falls.

Waterfalls

Seattle, WA

Snoqualmie Falls

A 268-foot waterfall on the Snoqualmie River, 25 miles east of Seattle, that is one of Washington's most popular natural attractions. The falls are 100 feet taller than Niagara Falls and are sacred to the Snoqualmie Tribe. A lower observation platform accessible by a steep 0.7-mile trail provides views from the base of the falls.

morningspring · summer

Multnomah Falls drops in two tiers over dark basalt cliffs, with a thin upper ribbon of water falling to the historic stone footbridge and a broader lower cascade plunging into a small pool below. Lush green trees frame the misty scene, and the long-exposure blur gives the water a silky, soft look.

Waterfalls

Troutdale, OR

Multnomah Falls

Multnomah Falls is a 620-foot two-tiered waterfall, the tallest in Oregon. A historic stone footbridge built in 1914 spans the falls between the upper and lower tiers. The falls flow year-round, with peak volume during spring snowmelt.

morningspring · summer

A white curtain of Palouse Falls drops into a deep basalt canyon, framed by sunlit brown and green scabland hills under a clear blue sky. Two people stand on the grassy rim at right, looking down over the dramatic overlook.

Waterfalls

LaCrosse, WA

Palouse Falls

Washington's official state waterfall drops 198 feet into a circular basalt plunge pool carved by Ice Age floods, in a canyon that seems to appear from nowhere in the rolling wheat country of the Palouse. The upper viewpoint looks straight down the canyon as the river snakes away toward the Snake. Spring runoff turns the falls into a thundering column framed by green hills.