Just a 45 min trip from where we were at in Seattle area. Beautiful waterfall and not a commitment…read morewith any long hike to see it (kid friendly). The parking lot gets full and you may have a hard time finding a spot, but you might just get lucky. There is a small gift shop attached to a coffee shop near the entrance. I recommend adding this place to your Seattle itinerary.

For my 750th Yelp review, I wanted to write about a place that truly means something to my…read morefamily--and I can't think of anywhere more deserving than these falls. We've visited countless times over the years. Our youngest child is fascinated by waterfalls. I don't know whether it's connected to his autism or simply his love of nature, but the joy on his face when he's here is unlike anything I've seen anywhere else. There is a sense of peace and calm that this place brings him that is incredibly special to witness. I also remember one visit when several neurodivergent adults were enjoying the falls. Seeing the same sense of wonder and happiness on their faces was a beautiful reminder that places like this can mean so much to different people in different ways. We've experienced the falls in every season--from the gentle summer flow to the powerful waters during winter flooding--and visiting here has become a tradition, especially on our son's birthday. If you're coming for the first time, we usually park across the road and walk across the railroad bridge (it's a short trek), and I also highly recommend visiting the Lower Falls Road viewpoint for a completely different perspective. We are incredibly fortunate to live close to a place of such breathtaking natural beauty. No matter how many times we visit, it never loses its magic.

One of America's most majestic peaks, Mount Rainier towers over the Washington landscape like a…read morebeacon, easily visible on clear days from downtown Seattle, 70 miles to the north. Close up, the mountain's 14,000' peak often disappears behind treetops and fog, playing a game of hide and seek with visitors traversing the winding roads of its sprawling national park, craning their necks for a glimpse of the summit. But a visit to Mount Rainier National Park is like a game of chance. You can leave Seattle, as we did recently, under clear morning skies, with the mountain looming far in the distance, and then watch the clouds slowly close in as you near your destination. Weather conditions can make all the difference here, so make sure you pay close attention before setting out. Mid July through early September provide the best window to see the mountain in all its summertime glory -- come earlier in the year and you may find an environment decidedly less accommodating for the casual hiker. Rainier offers dozens of hiking trails, waterfalls, lakes and scenic vistas, and the ideal visit requires multiple days to experience it all. If you're coming for a day trip from the Seattle area, arrive early to beat the traffic at the entrance and prioritize easily accessible spots like Narada Falls, Reflection Lake and Paradise Meadows, where parking spots quickly disappear by noon. We arrived at the South Entrance on a weekday around 9 a.m. and drove right up to the entrance gate, but the lines to enter during peak season, especially on weekends, can be notoriously long. A highly recommended stop is the Longmire Visitor Center, where the rangers will advise you on road and trail conditions and help you plan your day. The park's showstopper is the popular Skyline Trail, a moderately challenging 5.5-mile loop that climbs 1,500' from the parking lot at Paradise Meadows to the spectacular Panorama Point Overlook. In summer, the trail meanders through a breathtaking sea of wildflowers and offers views of glaciers and waterfalls as it works its way across Rainier's southern slope. But on our recent visit, in early June, we found out that a even a light rain can makes the park's spectacular Skyline Trail a dicey expedition. The cold drizzle we encountered at the trailhead quickly evolved into an icy mix of sleet and snow as our family neared Panorama Point, making the narrow trails dangerously slick. Despite coming equipped with winter jackets, warm gloves and sturdy hiking boots, the conditions forced us to retreat before reaching the trail's famous overlook, which was already shrouded in dense fog. Despite not being able to enjoy the views and scenery we had hoped for, our visit to Mount Rainier was an unforgettable experience -- a challenging but highly rewarding winter hike on snow-covered trails surrounded by glaciers, icy peaks, and furry marmots who bounded around us like giant squirrels posing for candid photos. It was also a reminder that any visit to a national park is subject to the grace of Mother Nature, and inspired us to plan a return trip to this spectacular place -- hopefully when we can see Rainier's summit against a blue Washington sky.

1. This review is for Skyline Loop which was a ~5.7 miles round trip that took ~4 hours to…read morecomplete. This was a strenuous, popular and crowded hike with stunning views from beginning to end in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington. Starting the loop counterclockwise; trail was paved at the beginning and end of the loop. Furthermore, trail was mostly a narrow rocky dirt path. Plenty of steep inclines and declines! Large parking area at the trailhead, however most were filled up by 7am. Additional parking on the side of Paradise Rd. Restroom available at the parking lot. Possibly the most crowded hike I have ever done thus far with most people doing the loop clockwise. Short video of the hike for those interested! https://youtu.be/wqZbrcfw_7Y 2. This review is for Bench & Snow Lakes Trail which was a ~2.3 miles round trip that took ~1 hour to complete. Located 12 minutes away from Skyline Loop, Bench & Snow Lakes Trail was a short hike with a stunning view of Snow Lake in Mount Rainier National Park, Washington. Trail was mostly a narrow dirt path with rocks and roots. Furthermore, there were a mix of inclines and declines with stairs. Small parking area at the trailhead. Additional parking on the side of Stevens Canyon Rd next to the parking lot. No restrooms at this location. For the purpose of the AllTrails route, there was a viewpoint with Mt Rainier and Bench Lake from the top with the option to detour to the bottom of Bench Lake. In addition, there was a sign for Snow Lake Camp (left) and Snow Lake (right), both will take you to the opposite sides of the lake. Short video of the hike for those interested! https://youtu.be/fOkP6l29UKE

The company that changed the world. Iconic. Windows, Office, Azure, CoPilot to name of few of…read morewhich gave rise to a ton of competition - competition is good. No company is perfect including MSFT. Come here to see some relics, the origins, the present, and the future. From Xbox, to Minecraft, Surface, merch and much more. Some of the merch though is spendy, spendy as in tourist spendy which I'm a bit sad about. Make things a bit more accessible for everyone, not everyone can afford a normal looking $90 fleece etc. Come here, learn about a company that was pivotal to move humanity forward. Take a photo next to the iconic Microsoft sign. And make yourself better 1% today, and everyday. :)

9/4/2025 - Thus is my first time visiting Microsoft Visitor Center. It is open to the public…read more The display of Apple's Macintosh with Microsoft Office for Apple OS to Microsoft 365 and Copilot attractting the visions' attention, which proves that Microsoft has achieved a brilliant feat of modern technology. The daily Visitor Center schedule is Monday through Friday, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, but call to confirm the time because it sometimes will close the center due to other event(s) occuring. The free guest WiFi is available for public to use.

Gorgeous place! We were able to go snowshoeing for free! Plenty of parking on the side of the road…read more Highly recommend bringing hiking poles since it's super icy this season!

Definitely arrive early because the lot with fill up fast! A NW Forest pass is required for…read moreparking. This trail is very rocky so make sure to have good hiking shoes and trekking poles. There was also lots of bugs on this trail so definitely pack bug spray as well. The view is beautiful, a little crowded but I came around 7:30am so it wasn't too bad.

After having read/heard about the snowshoe walk that Snoqualmie Falls Park offers, a group of us…read morefinally went and had our chances to snowshoe for the first time at Snoqualmie Falls Park. The rangers at the Snoqualmie Falls Park Visitor Center were very friendly and helpful. You could tell they love the nature and love showing off how amazing and beautiful the nature in the Pacific Northwest is! Our 90 min (the walk was actually free, but with a suggested donation of $15/person) snowshoe walk was scheduled at 10am and the weather happened to be perfect! It was sunny, not too cold...and clear sky! :) Very beautiful! The walk itself was not too strenuous...as it was just a mile walk (although it involved going up and down the hill a bit...so if you are taking someone senior, make sure they are comfortable with walking...a couple people brought their own snow/walking poles too!). There was so much snow (and even a thick, fresh layer of snow when we went!) even though it was already getting into Spring in early March. From what we found out, the walk that we did was on the snow that was 5-6 feet above the ground...how amazing was that! We started off the walk with how to put on snow shoe, then did a little race to get us more oriented into our snowshoe, did some nature walk and ended with time for some photo / snowball fight opportunities. If you are interested in the snowshoe walk, I highly recommend calling and making reservations ahead of time. They only offer free walks on weekends and only in Jan-Mar and even though we called almost a month ahead of our scheduled, the tours were very much booked (although there may be a few spots open up because of last min no-shows if you happened to get lucky). This snowshoe nature walk is a great, very fun experience for anyone (family and/or friends) and a good, short trip away from Seattle!

Did the photo snowshoe hike led by Chuck Davis on Feb 15 . http://alpinescenes.net/biography.html…read more The snow was coming down pretty hard and the cloud cover was low so not great photo ops but Chuck was terrific and prepared with thoughtful lessons on composition, histograms, etc - he covered a lot of territory and was very knowledgeable. He was warm , friendly, entertaining,and professional. His walk really had a great blend of nature, photography and safety education. He took us off trail a little which was great and we tried to find the elusive snowshoe hare. The caboose ranger was Hailu who was very nice, friendly and professional. I always felt safe and able to ask any questions or let them know if I was cold or working too hard. They were very aware of how people were feeling and ensured a pleasant time by keeping a good pace. The staff in the office was also terrific - all of them. I called several times in advance with questions and if it went to voice mail, they ALWAYS called me back - WOW! Don't get that much anymore. You can tell they love what they do and want the best for the patrons. If you have never tried snowshoeing before they'll provide you with free snowshoes, poles and only ask for a donation. It is a great safe environment to go tromping including younger ones. Highly recommend for beginners or not. http://snowshoeingsnoqualmiepass.wordpress.com/ Our trip was in Commonwealth Basin and I think it was about 3 mi roundtrip - pretty easy exercise, but some uphill. I think it ended a little early because we were getting a little chilled. The photo walk is not very aerobic so be prepared with layers to do some stopping for discussion, lunch and picture taking.

First time visitor to the Yakima Valley, and stopped in looking for info on visiting points of…read morehistorical interest, particularly Indigenous heritage. I didn't get his name, but the attendant was very helpful, and he made some additional recommendations for the limited time we had. But the highlight was the array of souvenirs. We had struck out everywhere else we looked, but found a nice array of shirts, caps, and other goodies. Our family was very happy with the souvenirs we bought them. From the outside the place looks like it's closed, but it's a must visit!

I've never written a review for a Visitor's Center, but this one deserves a special nod. The…read moreemployees were as nice as nice can be. And helpful! Apparently this facility was recognized as the best Visitor's Center in the Pacific Northwest. It's a cute looking place, offering gratis coffee and donuts (which came at just the right time of day for me.) If you plan to visit vineyards in Zillah, you might purchase the "Wine Trail Passport" for $10. You'll get free entrée to several wineries and a number of discounts on purchases.

I really enjoyed this visitor center and the surrounding area. It was a bit of a drive because I…read morewas staying in Packwood, but it was worth it. It took me over an hour to get here. I wanted a different view and perspective of Mount Rainier after spending time on the Skyline Trail the day before. Sunrise is the highest point that can be reached by vehicle at Mount Rainier National Park at 6,400 feet. The visitor center has some nice exhibits and a gift shop. Park rangers are available to answer questions. There is a larger gift shop with food and snacks in the building next door. The nearby nature trail around the visitor center has picnic tables for eating and relaxing. Mount Fremont Lookout Trail is next to the Sunrise Visitor Center and is a popular trail to hike. The views are gorgeous from this location. The parking lot is huge, but does fill up during the day. Sunrise is only open in the summer months.

This is a really nice NP visitor center. It's not quite as big as the main one at Paradise, but it…read morehas a good size gift shop, educational area, and in a separate building nearby they have a little cafe for snacks. There is a bathroom there but I didn't have a chance to use it since they were cleaning right when I got there. I think it has running water though, it looked like it would. This visitor center has a nice big parking lot just like the one in Paradise but don't be fooled - it'll still fill all the way up. By the time we were leaving around noon, people were parking in non-spot areas along where the trail and the road run along each other.

The views are incredible and the staff at the gift shop were friendly and patient despite the long…read morelines. Unfortunately, this administration decided that funding the national parks was unimportant therefore there were minimal staff and maintenance. Fortunately, it appeared that most patrons were very respectful and mindful of the need to pick up after themselves.

When you go to Mount Rainier, this is one of the main stops you want to go to. This is the large…read morevisitor center in Paradise and is one of the most visited locations. If you want to let the kids out to stretch, use the bathroom and get a bite to eat, you can do it here. The parking lot will be full but if you keep circling around, you'll eventually find someone leaving. The chicken tacos with rice and beans were actually pretty good. Worth trying if you're needing a bite to eat. The top floor of the visitor center has a lot of different exhibits that tell about Mount Rainier and the wildlife in the area. Would recommend stopping if in the area.

I wanted to review the tours I went on separately. This review is for the Olympic National Park Day…read moreTour. I went on this tour on 5/13/2026. I cannot say enough amazing things about this Olympic National Park tour experience. From start to finish, this was hands down one of the best guided experiences I've ever had and one I will remember for a long time. We visited Hurricane Ridge, the Elwha area, Lake Crescent, Marymere Falls, and several additional scenic stops throughout the day, and every single location was absolutely breathtaking. The landscapes were stunning, but what truly elevated this experience was the way the entire day was curated and paced. Nothing ever felt rushed. We had time to really take in the scenery, walk around, take photos, learn, and fully experience each stop before moving on to the next. Our guide Evan was phenomenal. Incredibly knowledgeable, engaging, thoughtful, and genuinely passionate about the ecosystem, history, geology, and ecology of Olympic National Park. Listening to him explain how the landscapes were formed, how the ecosystems function, and the history behind the region made the entire experience feel so much deeper and more meaningful. It honestly made me want to continue learning more after the tour ended. What also stood out was how well he created an atmosphere for the group. During the drive, everyone introduced themselves and shared a little about where they were from, which made the group feel comfortable and connected. On the ride back, he had everyone share songs that had personal meaning to them, and we talked about why we chose them. It turned what could have just been a long drive into a genuinely memorable and human experience. Even the lunch setup was beautifully organized and thoughtfully presented. Every detail throughout the day felt intentional and well done. The ferry ride, the mountains, the forests, the rivers, the waterfalls, the lakes, it was all unforgettable. Olympic National Park is stunning on its own, but having such an incredible guide and such a well-executed tour made this experience truly exceptional. I would absolutely recommend this tour to anyone visiting the Seattle/Olympic area. Easily a 10/10 experience.

This review is waaaaaaaaaaay overdue!! Easily the highlight of our Seattle trip back in January…read more2025 was taking the Olympic National Park Tour with Evergreen Escapes. Martin W. was our tour guide on this expedition and he was exceptional!!! Friendly and down to earth and extremely knowledgeable as well. He really did add another layer to this trip and made you feel comfortable and well-taken cared of. My daughter was a little apprehensive about going as she didn't know what to expect, however, this was also the highlight of her trip as well. I truly wish we had more time to explore what Olympic National Park has to offer, however, if you are on a time crunch and are unfamiliar with the area, this is easily the best way to get a taste of the park. In addition, they also pick you up right from your hotel and also provide coffee, drinks and an exceptional catered lunch! After picking us up and taking the ferry across to Bainbridge (a cool experience itself) it's a bit of a drive to get over to the Port Angeles area where we stopped at the Visitor Center, however, there is lots to see and learn on the way. Fortunately the road was open to get to Hurricane Ridge and we got to experience some snowshoeing (first time we had ever done this) and it was awesome! Not too tiring and for those who might struggle you are given the choice to stay back if you had wanted to (BUT WHY WOULD YOU!!!) We then headed down the mountain and stopped off for some sightseeing and another little walk to stretch the legs and then we headed to our next stop. Wish I can remember the name of the place, however, it was an incredible spot to explore as Martin set up for our catered lunch. It was located right next to a river that had some cool atmospheric mist slowly creeping through. There was also an easy little trail which took you through lush vegetation & moss covered trees to a free-flowing waterfall. It was just stunning and honestly you didn't want to leave. Eventually we headed to our final stop at Cresent Lake. Just wow!! The lake had a bit of a moody feel, however, it was just beautiful and the hike through to get there was just insanely gorgeous and just magical. Words and pictures alone can't do this place justice. It's just something you have to EXPERIENCE!!! One of the other highlights was the trip back on the ferry. It offers up an impressive and unique view of the Seattle cityscape all lit up as you relax and reminisce on the day. Truly wish we had more time in Seattle, as I would without hesitation want to book all of the tours that Evergreen Escapes offer and I imagine each experience is unique depending on what time of year you go as well.

The sales woman Kathy was absolutely so fun during the shopping experience here at Carousel. She…read morewas so friendly and enthusiastic but not overly so. Like a good friend having a good time. What an absolutely adorable gift store in Snoqualmie. Multiple types of gifts to choose from. From wine, champagne, sauces, cards, gift items and more. I do think that there is a lot of value in this place. The different items available to purchase varied in price. I didn't look at the prices of the Christmas decorations but they were so cute and I think I might go back for the holidays and purchase some. Plenty of parking in the area. Come here and see for yourself! As always, SYOY.

Adorable little home décor and gift shop specializing in jewelry, wine, candles, apparel, and other…read moreassorted goods, such as stuffies, hot sauces and condiments, and local flair. We stopped in twice and purchased a Snoqualmie sticker for our travel scrapbook, and a stuffed hamburger toy that our toddler son was obsessed with. The staff/owner was warm and welcoming (both times) and even remembered us from our visit the day before! Definitely worth a stop in while shopping and browsing on Railroad Ave!