getting there

where to stay

port townsend

Lise and Els

The Olympic Peninsula is one of the most beautiful areas in Washington State. Breathtaking mountains, hiking trails, rainforest, natural hot springs, rivers, ocean bays, sandy beaches...

The Olympic National Park and Forest take up the centre of the peninsula.

• Great Outdoor Recreation Pages: Olympic National Park
• R.D. Payne's unofficial but very informative guide to Olympic National Park
• Olympic Peninsula's Guide to Olympic National Park
• Olympic National Forest
• There's even a Backpacker Trailhead Shuttle Bus.
• Current Weather in Olympic National Park

In Sequim, about 45 minutes' drive from Port Townsend, is the phenomenal Dungeness Spit, a 5-mile natural sandspit in the Juan de Fuca Straight between the Olympic Peninsula and Vancouver Island. It's home to the marine life and waterfowl in the Dungeness National Wildlife Area. You can camp there, too, at the Dungeness Spit County Park.

In and near Port Townsend, you can camp at Fort Worden State Park (which also has a very interesting Marine Science museum), and Old Fort Worden State Park.

Right in Port Townsend there is plenty to do too.

• Rothschild House State Park is a Victorian home preserved exactly as it was a century ago. Lovely herb garden out back, too.
• P.T. Cyclery rents bicycles, even tandems.
• Puget Sound Express ferry offers a daily whale-watching trip to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island.
• Kayak Port Townsend rents kayaks and offers tours.
• Port Townsend Chamber of Commerce's list of events
• more stuff to do in Port Townsend

• Washington State Parks, particularly the North Coastal Region.
• Olympic Peninsula Recreation
• Olympic Peninsula Things To Do