The park is home to what many claim is the tallest waterfall in the continental United States Colonial Creek Falls, with its glacial meltwater cascading over 2,500 feet and thirteen drop offs. That makes hiking and, more specifically, backpacking the key draws. While it’s an easy day trip from the Seattle area, the park feels especially remote. Hugging the border with Canada, North Cascades National Park preserves a rugged stretch of Washington’s northernmost mountains. North Cascades National Park, home to Washington's northernmost mountains, is just a 1.5-hour drive from Seattle. The Shi Shi trail passes the Point of Arches, a string of rugged sea stacks that pair particularly well with a Pacific sunset. Two trails in particular highlight the biodiversity: the challenging Hoh River Trail traverses moss-draped forests for some 17.4 miles and the 8-mile round trip Shi Shi Beach trek is a microcosm of everything that makes Washington’s coast so thrilling. Inland, the range of elevations mean lots of geographic diversity including glacial mountain peaks like Hurricane Ridge, mineral pools at the seasonal Sol Duc Hot Springs, and many miles of sprawling rainforest trails-arguably the park’s most famous feature. Here, photographers snap shots of the iconic sea stacks and coastal rock formations like those at beloved Rialto Beach. To its west, 73 miles of Pacific coastline lure beachcombers and cold-water surfers to its sandy shores and marine life lovers to its teaming tide pools. In Olympic National Park’s nearly one million acres, you’ll find a diversity of ecosystems that few national parks can match. Olympic National Park's Second Beach has iconic sea stack views and offers camping permits. Deserving a spot on every serious hiker’s bucket list, the strenuous 93-mile Wonderland Trail (usually a 10 to 14 day journey) circumnavigates the base of Mount Rainier, passing through a range of alpine and subalpine landscapes and showing off what makes this Washington’s most famous park. That makes it a playground for backpackers, day hikers, and backcountry campers. One of America’s oldest national parks, established in 1899, Mount Rainier is also one of its wildest: 97 percent of its 368 square miles has been designated by Congress as official wilderness. Glacial lakes are ringed with conifer forests and meadows of wildflowers sprawl out below the volcano’s peak. More than 260 miles of maintained trails lace through ancient fern-filled woodlands. For starters, you’ve got an active volcano looming the iconic Mount Rainier itself, which you'll recognize from postcards and local craft beer labels. If anyone in Hollywood made a live action remake of The Land Before Time, Mount Rainier National Park would be the perfect setting. The fern-filled woodlands of Mount Rainier National Park are a hiker's dream.
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