National Parks Washington

Mount Rainier National Park
Established in 1899. 235,625 acres (97% is designated Wilderness). Includes Mount Rainier (14,410'), an active volcano encased in over 35 square miles of snow and ice. The park contains outstanding examples of old growth forests and subalpine meadows.

Designated a National Historic Landmark District in 1997 as a showcase for the "NPS Rustic" style architecture of the 1920s and 1930s.

Whether hiking on its flanks, climbing its summit, snowshoeing or cross-country skiing on its slopes, camping along its glacier-fed rivers, photographing wildflower displays in subalpine meadows, or just admiring the view, nearly two million people come to enjoy the grandeur and beauty of Mount Rainier each year.

http://www.mount.rainier.national-park.com/
North Cascades National Park
Few fully know the intense and rugged beauty of the North Cascades jagged peaks, deep valleys, cascading waterfalls and over 700 glaciers. North Cascades National Park Service Complex contains the heart of this mountainous region in three park units which are all managed as one and include North Cascades National Park, Ross Lake and Lake Chelan National Recreation Areas. Each area offers different experiences and contains wilderness. A vast majority of the park complex, over 93%, is managed as the Stephen T. Mather Wilderness, which was established by Congress in 1988. The wilderness area was named in honor of the first director of the National Park Service.

Long before North Cascades National Park Service Complex was established in 1968, this area was a home. It was the home to many Native American tribes and a trade gateway between the Plateau tribes to the east and the Coast Salish tribes to the west. Native Americans have been in these mountains for over 8,000 years. More recent settlers came in the nineteenth century to establish homesteads in places like the Stehekin Valley, or to mine elusive minerals ? like gold, or to trap furbearing animals such as the beaver, otter, and marten. Now it is preserved as a national park for future generations to enjoy.

http://www.north.cascades.national-park.com/
Olympic National Park
Thinking about planning a day trip to the nearby Grays Harbor County area? Make sure to check out some reviews of Restaurants in Ocean Shores before you make your decision of where to eat.  

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.

Olympic is also known for its biological diversity. Isolated for eons by glacial ice, the waters of Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the Olympic Peninsula has developed its own distinct array of plants and animals. Eight kinds of plants and five kinds of animals are found on the peninsula and live nowhere else in the world.

http://www.olympic.national-park.com/