Seattle has beautiful scenery. We were in Seattle in early September and during our time there, made day trips to Snoqualmie Falls, Olympic National Park and Mt. Rainier National Park. We visited Snoqualmie Falls as part of a wine-tasting tour. The falls are one of the most popular scenic attractions in Washington and they certainly were impressive. We viewed them from an upper observation deck and then hiked down to a lower area where we could also view the falls. The falls are part of the Snoqualmie River and fall 270 feet from a cliff and then rejoin the river. The pictures below show the falls from the upper observation deck, part of the path we hiked to view the falls from below, and a picture of the falls from the lower viewing area.

On another day, we did a small group tour to Olympic National Park. We took a ferry from Seattle to Port Angeles. Olympic National Park is made up of several different ecosystems from the peaks of the Olympic Mountains to old growth forests. We hiked on the Spruce Railroad Trail. The hike began in an old orchard of maple trees, many covered with moss. Besides maple trees, we saw Sitka spruce and hemlock trees. We also had views of Lake Crescent.

The Spruce Railroad Trial follows an old railroad that once transported spruce trees out of the forest, hence the trail’s name. When there wasn’t a high demand for the logs, the National Park Service turned four miles of the railroad bed into a scenic trail. We walked just past the tunnel and then turned around and went back. When we came to the tunnel, we could go around it on a narrow path or go through it. I chose to walk through the tunnel and my husband took the path.

We made another stop where we took a short walk to see Madison Creek and Madison Falls. Our last stop was at Hurricane Ridge, at an elevation of 4,242 feet. It provided beautiful views of the Olympic Mountains and is considered one of the most scenic areas of the park.

On another day we visited Mt. Rainier National Park. Soon after entering the park we saw views of Mt. Rainier’s peak and we were glad we did. Shortly after, more clouds moved in and the peak was no longer visible. Mt. Rainier rises 14,410 feet above sea level. It is an active volcano, but hasn’t erupted since 1894. Mt. Rainier is also the most glaciated peak in the lower 48 states. It is a story of “fire and ice” for while the massive rivers of glacial ice flow down the slope of the mountain, steam escapes from Mt. Rainier’s core.

Still in the national park, we took a short hike in the Paradise Inn area. Below are some of the trees common in the park, mountain hemlocks and alpine fir. The park is also home to different wildlife like black bear, mountain goats and black-tailed deer. We didn’t see any of them, but did see a marmot.

We did a couple of more short hikes before finishing our day. There were more trees – the ones below are coastal redwoods. There are lots of wildflowers in the spring. We were lucky to see a few on our September trip, including the fireweed pictured below. We also walked near Reflection Lakes. There are longer hikes some visitors take where one can see Mt. Rainier reflected in the lake. We didn’t have time to do that, but did see pretty views. And finally, as we were driving back to Seattle, we saw Christine Falls. It is often photographed with the Arch Bridge partially framing it.

We enjoyed our time in each of these venues. We booked small group tours through Viator which helped us make good use of our time. Our tour guide provided transportation, selected the specific areas we visited and provided all of the logistics.