A fun, historic place to walk by. Beautiful architecture. There was not much information posted…read moreabout the history, but still enjoyable.

This is also called OSPI: Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. Directly…read moreacross the street from Sylvester Park. If you still can't find this place because the GPS told you I that you arrived in the middle of the street near the farmer's market, look for Hotel Olympian Barber and Styling Shop and then you will see it. Ring the doorbell on the castle and they will let you in. Friendly folks.

Very photogenic. Beautiful 1890s historic Queen Anne Victorian. Great architecture. Worth taking…read morea look at and snapping some pictures.

Part of the exhibit…read more The Castle Rock Exhibit Hall, dedicated on the 10th anniversary of the eruption of Mt. St.Helens, is one of North Cowlitz County's featured attractions for visitors. Operated by the nonprofit Castle Rock Exhibit Hall Society, the facility has three galleries of exhibits, displays and photographs portraying the area's history and culture. Those exhibits include Cowlitz Indian artifacts, logging carvings, sawmilling, logging displays, a Smithsonian Institution exhibit depicting the Mt. St. Helens blast zone, pre-eruption and post eruption pictures of the mountain and Spirit Lake, and other exhibits. The Exhibit Hall also includes a demonstration area that hosts annual quilt shows, holiday wreathmaking and other events, and a small store featuring books by several local residents among its merchandise. In the front of the building is a Castle Rock Chamber of Commerce Visitors Center that provides tourists brochures, maps and information about Mt. St. Helens and other Washington and Oregon tourist attractions. A historic city jail built in 1907 is located on city property behind the Exhibit Hall. Murals featuring Mt. St. Helens and Spirit Lake, a logging train and a Sternwheeler water vessel grace exterior walls of three buildings near the Exhibit Hall. Visitors may tour the historic city jail, which has been unused since the mid 1940's.

During a quick trip to Mount Rainier National Park, we pulled over to a viewpoint for Christine…read moreFalls. I had no idea to expect such splendor with a waterfall perfectly positioned behind a bridge. If you follow the trail there is the perfect picture spot. It makes a great spot to relax or enjoy a snack after the drive to the park.

Just a few miles east of Longmire is this beautiful waterfall in Mount Rainier National Park…read more Christine Falls is a 60-foot waterfall that plunges underneath a historic arched bridge. There is a small pullout on either side of the bridge. I missed the pullout the first time I drove to Christine Falls. So keep an eye out for it because it comes up quick as you turn the corner. There is also no sidewalk to walk on when walking to the short path to the falls. Be careful of passing cars. You get a nice view of the falls once you get to the overlook. Christine Falls is named for Christine Van Trump. She is the daughter of Philemon Beecher Van Trump. He and his partner are credited with the first ascent of Mount Rainier in 1870.

Absolutely the best water on the planet!!! I fill the trunk up with the water that comes from this…read morepipe. It is free-flowing & cold right from the ground. There used to be 57 wells that came from the depths. Everyone that lives in and around the Oly area should drink this water, even when it was just a metal pipe coming straight out of the ground. Bring your own plastic or glass jugs, fill them up and enjoy. Sometimes it's a wait, sometimes you pull up and go. It's well worth it. Now you get to see the pretty tiles and visit the nice people that call this home.

What a cool thing to have right in the middle of the town! There's a nice parking lot a few feet…read moreaway from the well, so it's easy for people to fill up multiple jugs of water and load them up into their vehicles. The water comes out from a pipe and empties into a metal grate so there's no pooled water to worry about. It wasn't busy when I went, and so I just took a sip from the stream of water coming out. It was cold, refreshing, and slightly metallic tasting. Not too bad. There are advisories to not boil the water as it was tested and noted to have high levels of manganese, which boiling would concentrate and potentially cause health issues if consumed in large amounts.

I love memorials. I love History. I love that we keep records of all things History. Good or Bad…read more That's how we learn from what we did. Copy the good things we did and fix our mistakes and don't ever repeat them. This memorial is Awesome. I love that the names of those that fought for our freedom will always be here and we will never forget them. It's important that we never forget them. Every person on that wall is important, no matter what they did, they gave their lives. The ultimate sacrifice. Thank you to all of them for your sacrifice and service.

As a then young man of the Vietnam era, I am glad we have such a fine memorial to honor those of my…read moregeneration who were killed whilst serving in this war. It's unfortunate that we need war memorials, but here we are. The memorial is in the shape of Vietnam's boundary. The names on the panels are listed in order of death, year by year. If I recall, those who are still missing in action are listed too. There are holes in the wall by the names to leave a flag, a note, a flower. One do-better I'd like to see is some way to look up by name and/or home town, what panel those you are looking for are on. It's quite moving to see the named of the approximate 1120 sons, brothers, husbands, dads. Many from my small home town went. Five were killed in action or in related combat activities. To me, none are forgotten. We were the town's children, classmates and some were friends. A link to the State of Washington's page about this memorial follows: http://www.des.wa.gov/services/facilities/CapitolCampus/MemorialsArt/Pages/Vietnam.aspx

How can you not like a bridge with a name like "Skookumchuck"!…read more Traveling frequently between Seattle and Portland, I cross this 4 lane bridge frequently. It is unassuming and you've crossed it before you even knew you were approaching a bridge. This bridge is the "unofficial" half-way point between Portland and Seattle. They have recently added access roads to improve access to nearby businesses for the locals.

I enjoyed seeing the capitol building. The grounds are nice as well. There is no charge to walk…read morearound and there are some beautiful areas to see. It appears to be a favorite spot for weddings as well as we saw one in progress and 2 other groups having pictures taken. The interior is very pretty and I especially liked some of the lighting and sculptures. We didn't go inside the rooms but could see the reception room from outside. There are photos by the gift shop that shows the stages of building it which was interesting to see. The gift shop was very nice with memorabilia form Olympia, books, dishtowels, tshirts, hats, and various gifts. Though I didn't buy anything, I enjoyed looking around.

Decided to take a walk around the state capitol the other day, and everything is maintained well…read more We noticed that they were doing some construction on a few of the buildings, but even with that, the area gave off a peaceful atmosphere. We went inside the Legislative building, and we were greeted right away. We didn't have a tour appointment set up, but a worker named Terry insisted he take us on a quick tour around the building. He was very knowledgable and told us details like where the marble was from, where they got chandeliers, and even how many light bulbs were on the chandelier. He informed us on how the House of Representatives and the Senators house agree on a bill. It was a very information packed tour which we greatly appreciated. I would highly recommend taking a walk around the capitol and taking a tour of the inside. Definitely recommend visiting this place!

August, 2026 Very nice park, all reviews quite accurate…read more 1 night stay, senior, $41.00, water/electric only throughout the park I believe. Dump station, of course. Free hot showers.

Such a fun campground you never wanna leave! Very relaxing and clean and organized love how the…read morebathrooms are maintained and clean