cool state washington

Your Excellent Washington State Adventure Starts Here

Washington State is nestled in the northwest corner of the continental United States and shares a border with British Columbia, home to the 2010 winter games. We are the true northwest, bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the Olympic rainforest and the tiny San Juan Islands bobbing off the northwest shores. The towering Cascade mountain range with its four snowcapped volcanic peaks divides us in half from north to south; channeled scablands and fertile high-plains desert comprise our central regions. To the far northeast, you begin to feel the influence of the Rocky Mountains as sagebrush gives way to towering ponderosa pine, crisp streams and glacial lakes. To the southeast, you’ll find the rolling hills of the Palouse area. Here dunes of volcanic ash, sediment from the massive Missoula floods and irrigation courtesy of the Snake River combine to create some of the richest farmland in the nation Directly to the north and easily accessible, is Canada. Our southern border is defined by the mighty Columbia River, cutting a huge gash through the Cascades to create the famous Gorge, the only sea-level passage through the mountain range.
This geographic diversity creates perhaps the widest range of outdoor activities you’ll find anywhere in the world—winter and summer.