Washington

Parks

  • National Historical Reserve

    Ebey's Landing

    Coupeville, WA

    This stunning landscape on the Salish Sea, 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, 18,000 to 15,000 years ago, an ice dam in northern Idaho created Glacial Lake Missoula stretching 3,000 square miles around Missoula, Montana. The dam burst and released flood waters across Washington, down the Columbia River into Oregon before reaching the Pacific Ocean. The Ice Age Floods forever changed the lives and landscape of the Pacific Northwest.

    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

    Seattle flourished during and after the Klondike Gold Rush. Merchants supplied people from around the world passing through this port city on their way to a remarkable adventure in the Yukon Territory of Canada. Today, the park is your gateway to learn about the Klondike Gold Rush, explore the area's public lands, and engage with the local community.

    Artist rendering of Pioneer Square during Klondike Gold Rush

  • National Recreation Area

    Lake Roosevelt

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

    The ancient geologic landscape of the upper Columbia River cradles Lake Roosevelt in walls of stone carved by massive ice age floods. Come explore the shorelines and learn the stories of American Indians, traders and trappers, settlers and dam builders who called this place home. Swim, boat, hike, camp, and fish at this hidden gem in Northeast Washington, created by the Grand Coulee Dam.

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

  • National Historic Trail

    Lewis & Clark

    Sixteen States: IA,ID,IL,IN,KS,KY,MO,MT,NE,ND,OH,OR,PA,SD,WA,WV

    The Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail winds nearly 4,900 miles through the homelands of more than 60 Tribal nations. It follows the historic outbound and inbound routes of the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1803-1806 from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to the Pacific Ocean. Follow the trail to find the people, places, and stories that make up the complex legacy of the expedition.

    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

    The Manhattan Project is one of the most transformative events of the 20th century. It ushered in the nuclear age with the development of the world’s first atomic bombs. The building of atomic weapons began in 1942 in three secret communities across the nation. As World War II waned in 1945, the United States dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan—forever changing the world.

    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. Over 120,000 persons of Japanese ancestry (Nikkei) had to leave their homes, jobs, and lives behind, and were forced into one of ten prison camps spread across the nation. This 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 five 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

    Since time immemorial, the valleys, prairies, mountains, and plateaus of the inland northwest have been home to the nimíipuu (Nez Perce) people. Extremely resilient, they survived the settling of the United States and adapted to a changed world. Nez Perce National Historical Park consists of 38 places important to the history and culture of the nimíipuu. Explore these places. Learn their stories.

  • 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 of 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 and serve as 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 its splendid vistas, saltwater shores, 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

    One moment can change the fate of many nations. After thousands of years of habitation by the Cayuse Nation, life in the Columbia River Plateau begins to change rapidly with the influx of missionaries, newcomers from the Oregon Trail, and diseases. A single violent act of desperation to protect a community ignites a series of events that will reshape the United States forever.

    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 9/30/2020.