Washington

Parks

  • National Historical Reserve

    Ebey's Landing

    Coupeville, WA

    This stunning landscape at the gateway to Puget Sound, with its rich farmland and promising seaport, lured the earliest American pioneers north of the Columbia River to Ebey’s Landing. Today Ebey’s Landing National Historical Reserve preserves the historical, agricultural and cultural traditions of both native and Euro-American – while offering spectacular opportunities for recreation.

    Ferry House from across the Prairie

  • National Historic Site

    Fort Vancouver

    Vancouver, OR,WA

    Located on the north bank of the Columbia River, in sight of snowy mountain peaks and a vibrant urban landscape, this park has a rich cultural past. From a frontier fur trading post, to a powerful military legacy, the magic of flight, and the origin of the American Pacific Northwest, history is shared at four unique sites. Discover stories of transition, settlement, conflict, and community.

    Image of the reconstructed stockade at Fort Vancouver and Pearson Air Museum looking northeast from the Land Bridge.

  • National Geologic Trail

    Ice Age Floods

    WA,OR,ID,MT

    "At the end of the last Ice Age, some 12,000 to 17,000 years ago, a series of cataclysmic floods occurred in what is now the northwest region of the United States, leaving a lasting mark of dramatic and distinguishing features on the landscape of parts of the States of Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon." Public Law 111-11, March 30, 2009

    Stev Ominsk's painting depicts debris and ice filled water filling and rushing through a basalt walled canyon.

  • National Historical Park

    Klondike Gold Rush - Seattle Unit

    Seattle, WA

    The Seattle unit of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park preserves the story of the stampede to the Yukon gold fields and Seattle's crucial role in this event. The headlines of a Seattle newspaper on July 17, 1897, Gold! Gold! Gold! Gold! ignited dreams of easy riches in the minds of thousands as word of a rich gold strike in northwestern Canada. A dream that would prove all but dream.

    Artist rendering of Pioneer Square during Klondike Gold Rush

  • National Recreation Area

    Lake Chelan

    Stehekin, WA

    Less than three hours from Seattle, an alpine landscape beckons. Discover communities of life adapted to moisture in the west and recurring fire in the east. Explore jagged peaks crowned by more than 300 glaciers. Listen to cascading waters in forested valleys. Witness a landscape sensitive to the Earth's changing climate. Help steward the ecological heart of the Cascades.

    View from Sourdough Mountain Overlook A view looking down onto Diablo Lake. Photo Credit: NPS/Michael Silverman, 2010.

  • National Recreation Area

    Lake Roosevelt

    the Canadian border going to Coulee Dam along the Columbia River, WA

    In 1941 the Grand Coulee Dam was built on the Columbia River as part of the Columbia River Basin project, creating a 130-mile long lake. Named for President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Lake Roosevelt National Recreation Area provides opportunities for boating, fishing, swimming, camping, canoeing, hunting and visiting historic Fort Spokane and St. Paul's Mission.

    The calm, inviting waters of the Spokane Arm. Photo Credit: NPS\LARO\John Salisbury

  • National Historic Trail

    Lewis & Clark

    Eleven States: ID,IL,IA,KS,MO,MT,NE,ND,OR,SD,WA

    Between May 1804 and September 1806, 31 men, one woman, and a baby traveled from the plains of the Midwest to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. They called themselves the Corps of Discovery. In their search for a water route to the Pacific Ocean, they opened a window into the west for the young United States.

    photo of a replica keelboat with a crew member on the bow at sunset

  • National Historical Park

    Lewis and Clark

    Long Beach to Cannon Beach, OR,WA

    Explore the timeless rainforests and majestic coastal vistas. Discover the rich heritage of the Native people. Unfold the dramatic stories of America's most famous explorers. The park encompasses sites along the Columbia River and the Pacific Coast. Follow in the footsteps of the explorers and have an adventure in history.

    close up view of gate and parade ground of Fort Clatsop

  • National Historical Park

    Manhattan Project

    Manhattan Project National Historical Park, NM,WA,TN

    This site tells the story about the people, events, science, and engineering that led to the creation of the atomic bomb, which helped end World War II.

    workers housing in Happy Valley

  • National Historic Site

    Minidoka

    Jerome, ID,WA

    The Pearl Harbor attack intensified existing hostility towards Japanese Americans. As wartime hysteria mounted, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 forcing over 120,000 West Coast persons of Japanese ancestry (Nikkei) to leave their homes, jobs, and lives behind and move to one of ten Relocation Centers. This single largest forced relocation in U.S. history is Minidoka's story.

    View through the barbed wire from inside the camp looking east.

  • National Park

    Mount Rainier

    Ashford, Enumclaw, Packwood, Wilkeson, WA

    Ascending to 14,410 feet above sea level, Mount Rainier stands as an icon in the Washington landscape. An active volcano, Mount Rainier is the most glaciated peak in the contiguous U.S.A., spawning six major rivers. Subalpine wildflower meadows ring the icy volcano while ancient forest cloaks Mount Rainier’s lower slopes. Wildlife abounds in the park’s ecosystems. A lifetime of discovery awaits.

    Mount Rainier peeks through clouds, viewed across subalpine wildflowers and glacial moraine.

  • National Historical Park

    Nez Perce

    four states, ID,MT,OR,WA

    Established in 1965 to tell the story of the Nez Perce (Nimiipuu) people. Spread out over four states, following the route of the 1877 conflict, this park offers something for everyone. The history and culture of the Nez Perce surrounds the park. Discover how the Nimiipuu adapted and today thrive continuing to preserve their culture.

    Nez Perce National Historical Park. Front Page banner photograph is of Heart of the Monster, an ancient place where the Nez Perce creation story originates. The secondary page photograph is of Nez Perce beadwork.

  • National Park

    North Cascades

    Marblemount, WA

    Less than three hours from Seattle, an alpine landscape beckons. Discover communities of life adapted to moisture in the west and recurring fire in the east. Explore jagged peaks crowned by more than 300 glaciers. Listen to cascading waters in forested valleys. Witness a landscape sensitive to the Earth's changing climate. Help steward the ecological heart of the Cascades.

    View from Sourdough Mountain Overlook A view looking down onto Diablo Lake. Photo Credit: NPS/Michael Silverman, 2010.

  • National Park

    Olympic

    Port Angeles, WA

    With its incredible range in precipitation and elevation, diversity is the hallmark of Olympic National Park. Encompassing nearly a million acres, the park protects a vast wilderness, thousands of years of human history, and several distinctly different ecosystems, including glacier-capped mountains, old-growth temperate rain forests, and over 70 miles of wild coastline. Come explore!

    A fallen tree supports new life in the coastal forest.

  • National Historic Trail

    Oregon

    Various States, ID,KS,MO,NE,OR,WA,WY

    Imagine yourself an emigrant headed for Oregon: would promises of lush farmlands and a new beginning lure you to leave home and walk for weeks? More than 2,000 miles of trail ruts and traces can still be seen along the Oregon National Historic Trail in six states-reminders of the sacrifices, struggles, and triumphs of early American settlers.

    Scotts Bluff National Monument is located in western Nebraska, landmark for the Pony Express, Oregon, California and Mormon Pioneer national historic trails

  • National Historical Park

    San Juan Island

    Friday Harbor, WA

    San Juan Island is well known for splendid vistas, saltwater shore, quiet woodlands, orca whales and one of the last remaining native prairies in the Puget Sound/Northern Straits region. But it was also here in 1859 that the United States and Great Britain nearly went to war over possession of the island, the crisis ignited by the death of a pig.

    American Camp parade ground looking west

  • National Historic Site

    Whitman Mission

    Walla Walla, WA

    The 1847 attack on the Whitmans horrified Americans and impacted the lives of the peoples of the Columbia Plateau for decades afterwards. Was killing the Whitmans justified legal retribution, an act of revenge, or some combination of both? The circumstances that surround this tragic event resonate with modern issues of cultural interaction and differing perspectives.

    Scene from Eliza Spalding's Protestant ladder

  • Affiliated Area

    Wing Luke Museum

    Seattle, WA

    More than a museum, the Wing is an experience. A chance to truly understand what it was - and is - to be Asian American in the Pacific Northwest. Take a guided tour of a historic hotel and learn the inside story about what makes the local Chinatown-International District unique. Visitors explore thought-provoking exhibitions of real stories, including actor and martial arts master Bruce Lee.

    Nippon Kan Theatre curtain, painted with logos and ads for local Japanese-American businesses

By The Numbers

These numbers are just a sample of the National Park Service's work. Figures are for the fiscal year that ended 9/30/2015.