The Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge is incredible! The best $3 (cash deposit) I…read morehave ever spent! Over 3 hrs of birdwatching, deer sighting, eagle watching, heron mating dances, moss, frogs, snakes, and more. The brackish water and estuary allow for diverse life cycles across fresh to salty habitats. The boardwalk is well maintained, gravel moving into wooden slits. Incredible! Highly recommend. Big parking lot, fairly busy on a Monday in March.

Always a great solitude hike to clear my head and solve my problems. Frankly, I like to talk with…read moreGod out here. Somehow, I feel closer to him when surrounded by the beautiful Nisqually nature trails. Only $3 to gain access (honor system drop box), there are miles of gravel trails and boardwalks to enjoy. No biking, no jogging, and no pets allowed, but plenty of bird enthusiasts taking pics with long lens cameras. It's a quiet place to be in your thoughts. Occasionally, you see deer, rabbits, seals, coyote, lots of birds, and awesome eagles! Makes it so worth it? I highly recommend coming out here for a low effort hike, the quiet, and all things beautiful in nature!

At the top of Chambers street in Steilacoom, lies 62 acres of hidden paradise with a 15-acre pond…read morecalled Farrell's Marsh. This treasured wetland and park is home to a diverse biosphere of native plants, birds, mammals, and amphibians. The main trail of the park is a vestige of the historic road between Fort Steilacoom and Fort Nisqually constructed in the 1830s by the Hudson Bay Company. A pre 1917 Assessors Map shows the marsh, then known as Light's Swamp, as a continuous swamp of approximately 40 acres. Around 1917 the marsh was drained to create a pasture for livestock. In 1930 Fort Lewis bisected the land with a road off Union Avenue. By the 1960s pastoral farming ended to urbanization as Steilacoom expanded. The new developments increased street drainage and outflow, partially reviving the marsh. In 1975 it was purchased by the town with a State grant to be preserved as a protected wetland. Kill Trap Wetlands are ideal for beaver, natures ecosystem engineers, and provide habitat for many endangered species. The algae and plants in the pond improve water quality by absorbing dissolved nutrients, processing organic wastes, and detoxifying toxic street runoff (e.g. heavy metals, pesticides and fertilizers). Through the years beaver have inhabited the marsh and in December 2019 returned, strengthening the derelict dam at the 1917 man made outflow. During the wet months of January, the dam held fast with heavy rains exceeding 5.5 inches in just 5 days, while still allowing a continuous flow of water. The park has recently become a local controversy over how the town plans to mitigate the beavers and the dam. The concern is the potential to downstream flooding, should the dam break. Past flooding has occurred largely due to undersized, substandard and blocked culverts along Union Avenue. Kill Trap Mayor Ron Lucas confirmed he hired a trapper to trap and kill the beaver after a park visitor discovered a lethal "Conibear" kill trap and surveillance camera near one of the trails. There was an immediate concern for public safety since no warning signage was posted and these dangerous traps which could easily kill a large dog or injure a child. The traps, according to the mayor, have been removed with the plans on hold, but as of 29 May, the trail camera remains. COVID-19 has restricted wildlife management from dispatching specialists to the field. However, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) advised council woman Nancy Henderson that the impact of the beaver should be objectively assessed prior to implementing any further plans. Pursuant to RCW 77.55 a Hydraulic Project Approval (HPA) permit must be issued by the Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife (WDFW) to remove or modify a beaver dam on a natural or modified watercourse. Trail Surveilance Camera Dees and Associates 1998 Farrell's Marsh Basin Study advised to effectively achieve flood control a 2.25-foot-wide outlet should be installed. Driveway culverts should be up sized to between 36-42 inches. None of the recommendations were implemented. WDFW stated beaver trapping is both costly and temporary, as beaver will return. Other mitigating more effective measures are available such as a flexible pond leveler or a beaver deceiver. So where are we today? Before further public monies are expended on trapping, subject matter experts must conduct a risk assessment of the current ineffective culvert drainage system on Union Avenue. WDRW Region 6 habitat biologists should be consulted regarding all recommended interventions. Decisions on the long-term impact of this wetland park should be discussed in public forum, including the elected members of the city council; not the unilateral decision of one person. Let's learn to live with them, not without them. Those who wish to remain current on this issue can join the Facebook Group, "Citizens for the Protection and Preservation of the Farrell Marsh."

This is a tiny hidey-hole of a portal in a forgotten corner of Steilacoom. Enter this dark forest…read moreand you will immediately be surrounded by a sense of enigma...and foreboding... Tiny paths digress from the main trails and dead end at the moor's edge. Tangles of ivy and prickly things will grasp your arms and legs whilst curiosity leads you forward like a coy, evil faery with a casual giggle and a curled-finger. Onward, ever onward, you seek to know what lies just beyond the next bend in the dense hedges until you find yourself stepping into a circle of giant mushrooms, onto a muddy clearing that seems just slightly out of place. What looks like a path beckons from the other side, you take a step, then another. Your nervous bae fidgets behind you like a colt that smells a faint trace of blood spilled by some predatory feline. "Can we go back now?" she says, trying to mask the fear, the adrenaline that closes around her throat like icy fingers. "Let me just take a peek around this shrubbery. I see something weird...these roots...what?" "Bae?" "I'm sinking! My feet! Oh my god..." "BAE!!!!" "The blue lights, I see the blue lights. Run, J-Bae! Run!" "AHHHHHHH!" MEOW! A portal opens. The faery laughs and laughs. Your curiosity is sated...forever...

Jacob's Point is a small preserve on Anderson Island with a 3 mile walking path that illustrates…read moreboth the beauty and the history of the island. There are many stops along the path, mostly to see the Puget Sound and Mount Rainer in the background. I'm always impressed with Mount Rainer because it seems to poke out of the skyline from nowhere. There are certainly Cascade Mountains that border Mount Rainer, but they are not nearly as high and nor are they visible unless you head towards the mountains. There is one stop showing the remnants of one of the first homesteads on the island. The only thing left is the brick chimney. Apparently, it was a hay farm for a few years before the family moved off the island to find work elsewhere. I can't imagine how hard it would've been to have a hay farm on the island. You would essentially have to provide all the food for yourself and figure out how to transport your hay to market. The most interesting part of the trail was the old brickyard. The mud in the area provided good brickmaking material and the cove on the Puget Sound enabled the brickmaker to ship the heavy bricks to buyers elsewhere. Initially, it didn't make sense to me to have a heavy brickmaking facility on a hard to reach island but if your mode of transport is feet away from the facility, it makes more sense. The boats would float into the cove during high tide before settling on to supports at low tide. At that time, they could fill the boat with bricks. The boat would raise off the supports at high tide and head to market. For someone like myself who grew up in the Midwest, it was interesting to see how businesses could use the tides to their advantage. Unfortunately for this particular brickmaking company, the brick market collapsed a few years after they started operation and were forced to shut down.

Although you can map the GPS coordinates, there is no precise address for the park entrance. From…read morethe ferry dock, take Yoman Road south, then when it turns into Eckenstam - Johnson Road (keep left at the Y-intersection) continue south. It's about 2.7-3.2 miles from the dock, depending on how you map it, with the trailhead and small parking lot with signage on the left. Anderson Island is worth a trip just to visit this pretty little trail. It begins by winding through a marsh on a boardwalk, then proceeds through open woods to the chimney and the site of the Jacob family pioneer family. From there, the trail leads to a clean, waterless composting pit toilet. and to some cutbanks overlooking the south side of Oro Bay. At low tide you can explore the kelp-y, pebbly beaches. I heard tell of a sea cave (also mentioned on park websites), but I did not see it for myself. I did however see the sea. The website also warns of being trapped by "sucking mud" and the tides. Certainly, when the tides are coming it, be sure to know where you got down to the beach and keep it in sight, as the banks are steep all around and access points are limited. Even if the tide is in, the end of the point features a stunning view of Mt. Rainier, shining bright, or reflecting brightly, rather. The trail is mostly level with a few bumps, well maintained, and easy to follow.

This is our favorite dog park to take our pup. Simply put, it's MASSIVE. Our dog can run, play, and…read moresocialize with so many different dogs all over this park and he comes back exhausted and so happy from his fun filled day. Worth the drive no matter where you are in WA. Rain or shine this park is always open. Just don't be surprised if your pup comes back covered in mud on a rainy day .

This is on the site of a former territorial military fort, then a state mental hospital and work…read morefarm (c.1868). With the farm's closing in the 1970's, a wonderful gift to the people of Lakewood and Washington state grew out of the distress of those hospital days. A diamond rising from the ashes, so to speak. There are a few of the farm buildings remaining plus the foundation to the barracks for the hospital's farm workers. More over there is tons of room to spread out, no matter what your activity might be (sports fields, trails, picnic areas......)

Out of all honesty I'm hovering between three to four stars on this park. Much of it revolves…read morearound the timing of when you go here I imagine. Most of the surrounding shore that makes up American Lake looks to be private and this park seems to be more of a boat launching point for the general public to use for utilizing the lake. The park itself is quite small and that also goes for the parking lot as well. The day I went was a warm day so the park was full as well as the designated lots. Filled lots for certain parks often times in neighborhoods aren't really that big of a deal because you can use curbside parking that is usually nearby but in this part of Lakewood there is no curbside parking at all and it looks like parking in front of someone's house doesn't seem like it's a good idea because one gets the idea you are parking in their yard and not on a curb. So what I did was park in an area that was designated for a school and carefully looked for any parking restrictions given the amount of time it would take for me to walk to the park, check it out for a bit then walk back. This proved to not be an issue parking here but the walk was a bit long. Fortunately the day that I picked to go to American Lake was a clear day and if you walk to the boat docks you can get a good view of Mount Rainier and the the lake itself is very pretty. But don't assume you can get a clear view of the mountain all of the time. Overcast is not unusual. There is also a decent looking beach here as far as lake beaches go but like everything the day I went it was fairly crowded. The boat ramp was in full use as well and a line of cars were waiting to unload as well. Definitely a very busy park the day I went despite it's size. Aside from the crowds this park isn't too bad and if you can enjoy the view of Mount Rainier and the water I'd definitely bump that aspect of the park up to four stars.

I can't believe I haven't been to this park sooner. It's just the right size and not overcrowded…read more It's a small nice park with lots of parking and boat/dock access for fishing and boats. I bet it probably gets kind of busy in the warmer months but it's perfect in the spring to just grab a folding chair and just sit out by the lake unhampered. There isn't much actual beach, but rather the green grass steeply slopes down hill directly into the reasonably clean water. There is signage that there is no lifeguard on duty, so swim at your own risk. This would be a perfect free place to cool down if you're too hot and it's a small enough roped off swimming area that it may be more hard to lose your kids. You should still keep an eye on them though as any good person should. There is also a small playground as well if your little ones don't want to go near the water. There is also a single outdoor show for rinsing off before you head on home and the restrooms with handicapped accessibility are reasonably clean. I didn't see a doggy doo bag station though which explains the few spots of dog turds near the beach which kind of makes me think the water is icky if that runs off into the water. I just really think this is an excellent place to come and get an unobstructed view of the lake. So often do all the houses block bodies of water as the land is coveted. I will definitely be back with a picnic blanket and maybe a good book.

A MUST when visiting Mt. Rainier / Crystal Mountain resort - it was the perfect way to admire what…read morethe wifey had just accomplished, running down the gigantic mountain, the ride up is about 10 - 15mins, all worth it!!! breath taking views of Mt. Rainier, do dress accordingly, it was pretty windy and about 10 degrees colder up on the mountain. there is a restaurant/restrooms observation chairs and a beer garden at the top! but the view!!! stunning, the greens/whites/ snow peak colors with the sky blue in the background. as usual parking could be hit or miss, they do have several parking lots but the closest one to the gandola ( the paved one ) is on the smaller side, they have other lots designated by letters ( which also unpaved ) Info on Gondola here: https://www.crystalmountainresort.com/things-to-do/activities/mt-rainier-gondola

Came for the day while friends skied. Beautiful, sunny and gorgeous! Snow already melting - this…read moreis the last day of the season. Gondola tickets $54 each and you get 2 round trips.

When I managed to put some spider cracks in the gel coat of my kayak, I asked on a local Facebook…read moregroup for repair recommendations and was barraged by people saying great things about Rhonda at Kayakers Go Coastal. They were right. My lime green kayak from a less-common manufacturer was a hard shade to match, but Rhonda re-did the work around 5 times to get as close as possible. She was friendly and great to deal with, and the price was more than fair in my opinion. When picking up the repaired boat, I asked about helmets and she was super helpful, showing me several helmets and caps, finding a good fit, and having my choice shipped to me a couple of days later since she didn't have the color I wanted in stock. She was also helpful with a problem with my backband. (And she took Apple Pay, which was convenient for me.)

From the owner: Kayak, SUB, Canoe, white water boats repairs major and minor. Keel Strips for all kayaks. Retail…read morestore with gear for Sea Kayaking ....

Fort Steilacoom Park just has so many amenities that sometimes you have you're go here several…read moretimes to see what all of those amenities are and even then you might have missed something. Unfortunately for our dogs they aren't socialized well and don't really want to be friendly to strange dogs. Sometimes they aren't even friendly to each other and another episode of dog Dynasty is unfolding then. Such drama queens but with Chihuahuas what do you expect? Anyway Steve and I have strolled through here a few times and if your dogs aren't like ours it's really a nice, wide and spacious leash free park to run your dogs. Outside of this area is you need your dog leashed and the park is still a good outing for them in that regard. But to really let your doggo run hard this is an excellent option to take them to.

Wow, a dog's paradise with running space for even the most ants of breeds. Just take dog to park,…read moreget passed closed gate and set them free. Agility course, trees to send P-mail and smaller area for those floofs that are shy or too small. Go your dogs will love you for it.

Matt is an exceptional guide, adept at reading the crowd and ensuring everyone's experience is…read morefulfilling. If you're aiming for an unforgettable adventure, he will deliver it in full measure. Grant stands out as a remarkably talented photographer--investing in the memories he captures is an opportunity you simply cannot miss. Hillary excels at prioritizing safety while confidently leading the group forward. Together, they create an unforgettable journey marked by expertise, care, and vibrant energy.

Nate, Hilary and Grant absolutely killed it! Had an absolute blast, couldn't ask for a better time…read moredefinitely give it a visit.

This entire experience was terrible. I bought a groupon (who actually has great customer service…read morebtw) for class 3 and 4 white water rafting. We booked the rafting trip one month in advance through email communication with Captain Dave. The day before our rafting trip, I emailed him to confirm the meeting location. He emailed back saying the trip was cancelled. Well, gee, thanks for telling us before we drove an hour to Index, WA. That should have been a red flag right there that this was not a reliable company. But I really wanted to go white water rafting as I have never been before. So I scheduled out another trip for a date a month in the future. I again emailed the day before to confirm the meeting location. I received an email back saying the meeting location had changed, to a location that was two and a half hours from where I lived. Well, once again, thanks for letting me know in advance! I'm just glad I had the common sense to email and check both times. I should have taken that as the second red flag. But again, I really wanted to go white water rafting. So we get to the meeting site today, and are told that there is no white water left anywhere in the state of Washington. Well, okay. But then five minutes later, another tour guide told us it's because they don't have the permits to go up the river where there might be white water. Why are you running a company for white water rafting if you don't have the right permits?? I was told through email that the trip would be 3-4 hours long, which is good because I had a meeting I had to get back to in Seattle at 3:30pm and the trip should end at 1:30pm at the latest. We ended up floating on a river for 6 hours in the hot sun. I missed my meeting, was starving since no warning was given it would be 6 hours and no food or water was provided, and my boyfriend was very sunburnt since, once again, didn't expect to be floating on a river for 6 hours in direct sunlight. tldr; stay away from this company because they will cancel trips the day before, lie to you because they don't actually have white water rafting when they say they do, and float you an extended amount of time without warning or food or water. The tour guides are really great though and I'm sorry they have to work for this kind of company

Peaceful floating down the river. Weather was fine. Little windy on the river…read more Nice views, saw so.e birds.