Interpretive Activities

Washington's state parks are a great place to go for outdoor recreation. But your state parks are also filled with historic and cultural places, along with some of the least-spoiled natural areas in the Northwest. Stroll down a short self-guided trail, tour a furnished historic home or join an evening campfire program. From underground limestone formations to lighthouses on the coastline, you'll find lots to explore and new things to learn in dozens of Washington state parks.

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Information to help you plan visits to Mount St. Helens Visitor Center at Silver Lake or Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center.
 

Please see individual park listings for more specific details. (Click onto "Park Information" on index at left, search for the park you want and once on the park page, scroll down to the "Interpretive Opportunities" section on the right-hand column of the park page.)

• Natural Heritage Sites
  Canyons, cliffs and coulees carved by massive Ice Age floods can be seen at Sun Lakes-Dry Falls, Steamboat Rock and Palouse Falls. Fields Spring features Puffer Butte, a volcanic butte at the origin of the Columbia River basalt flows, and ponderosa pine and shrub-steppe habitats with exceptional wildflower displays and diverse bird life. The Ocean Shores Environmental Interpretive Center (near Ocean City State Park) features rocks, plants, birds and animals found in the coastal dunes. Groves of old-growth timber at Lewis and Clark and Federation Forest offer glimpses of what this land looked like before outside settlers came.

• Northwest Indian Heritage Sites
  Prehistoric images pecked into rocks (petroglyphs) and painted onto stone (pictographs) can be seen at Ginkgo Petrified Forest, Riverside and the Painted Rocks satellite of Yakima Sportsman. Rangers at Columbia Hills offer guided tours of extensive rock images high above the Columbia River. Palouse Falls is home to the Marmes Rock Shelter, a major archaeological site dating back 10,000 years. Exhibits on American Indian cultures can be found in interpretive centers at Sacajawea, Fort Simcoe, Fort Columbia, Riverside and other parks throughout the state.

• Early Settlement Heritage Sites
  The picturesque whitewashed buildings of Fort Simcoe, now surrounded by tribal lands of the Yakama Nation, were built in 1856 to help keep peace between settlers and Native peoples. Fort Okanogan and Spokane House (Riverside) were early fur-trading posts. Olmstead Place near Ellensburg is an authentic early Washington farm with an original homestead cabin, a 1908 farmhouse and historic barns and sheds. Other historic homes include the Colbert House (Cape Disappointment), the Rothschild House (Fort Worden) and the John R. Jackson House (Lewis and Clark).

• Coastal Fortifications
  Eight coastal military forts, most of them dating from the turn of the 20th century, now serve as historic state parks. Fort Columbia and Fort Worden survive almost fully intact, but all - Fort Casey, Fort Flagler, Fort Ebey, Fort Ward, Manchester and Fort Canby at Cape Disappointment - have at least some original structures and wonderful water views.

• Civilian Conservation Corps Heritage Sites
  Washington State Parks benefited tremendously from the work of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a federal relief program that put young men to work during the Great Depression. Many log-and-stone bathhouses, picnic shelters and ranger's houses built by the CCC during the 1930s are still in active use. Good examples can be seen at Deception Pass, Moran, Millersylvania and Riverside. A "Three Cs" bathhouse at Deception Pass has been converted into a small CCC museum.

• Guided Walks and Campfire Programs
  Check individual park listings for details on staff-led programs for visitors. (See "Park Information" on index at left, search for the park you want and on the park page, scroll down to the "Interpretive Opportunities" section on the right-hand column of the park page.)