Things to do / Travel Guide
Northwest Washington and the Cascades is a region of contrasts. On the west there's the Pacific Ocean, while the Cascade Mountains are inland, meaning there are two different ecosystems that lend themselves to the contrasting the flora and fauna of the region.
Flora: Pacific Coast, Olympic Peninsula, and Inland to Seattle
The zone stretching inland from the Pacific coastline all the way to the Seattle metropolitan area is famous for being wet; i.e., there is lots and lots of rain in this part of the region. As a result of these rains, there are thick Douglas fir tree forests as well as year-round, snow-covered mountains. True to its nicknames of “America's Switzerland” as well as “The Evergreen State,” Washington's Olympic Peninsula features the stunning Olympic National Park, which is home to a temperate rainforest - the wettest area in the continental United States. This rainforest is dominated by dense timber and various mosses that climb up the barks and branches of fir and spruce trees.
Olympic National Park is home to a rugged, often fog-covered sandy beach that is immediately adjacent to forest land. Two rivers run through the park, the Hoh River and Quileute River, where two distinct Native American communities, the Hoh and the Quileute, live. The Ozette Loop, right along the coast, is the most popular stretch of coastline; so popular, in fact, that the park requires visitors to make reservations before going on an excursion.
Flora: Cascade Mountains
The Cascade Mountains, too, are mossy, green, and wet, marked with large fir trees and evergreens, (hence the state's nickname: “The Evergreen State”), as well as Sitka spruce tree, maples, oaks, red cedar, and Western hemlock. The eastern slopes of the Cascades are drier, and are home to Ponderosa and Lodgepole Pine forests.
Fauna: Pacific Coast
With thousands of square miles of trees to nest in, many different kinds of birds make their home in the region. Stellar jay birds, ravens, crows, and hummingbirds nest throughout the forested areas, while woodpeckers can also be seen banging their beaks into the forests' trees across the region. Some common streamside birds include belted kingfishers, blue herons, ducks, and loons. Along the Pacific Ocean coastline, seagulls, cormorants, and white puffin birds can be viewed swooping through the air.
The San Juan Islands have been set aside by Congress as a wildlife refuge, where seabirds, bald eagles, and marine mammals can live undisturbed. Several of the San Juan Islands have high cliffs and grassy slopes where seabirds such as cormorants, pigeon guillemots, and gulls prefer to nest. Bald eagles, that airborne symbol of the United States, are known to build their nests high in the large trees of the forested islands and can sometimes be seen diving into the surrounding waters to catch fish. Other seabirds in and around the San Juan Islands include nearly all species of North American waterfowl, such as Harlequin ducks and Trumpeter swans, Peregrine falcons, black oystercatchers, wandering tattlers, surfbirds. There are also many different species of gulls, including marbled and ancient murrelets, as well as pigeon guillemots, rhinoceros auklets, tufted puffins, hummingbirds, Pacific-slope flycatchers, the “Sooty” fox sparrow, golden-crowned sparrow, and the red crossbill.
Whidbey Island is home to Deception Pass State Park, which is home to various birds, including bald eagles, crows, ravens, doves, pigeons, ducks, gulls, hawks, pheasants, quail, wild turkeys, woodpeckers, herons, hummingbirds, ospreys, owls, jays, and wrens flock and gather around the Deception Pass Bridge, which is about 200 feet off the water and is considered one of the most scenic places in the region.
Land-based life in the region takes form in the many forest dwelling mammals, including grizzly bears, elk, and mule deer. Many animals call the Mt. Rainier National Park home, and, although they are rarely seen, there are cougars and black bears living in the wooded areas. Many of these animals like the forested areas around Mt. Rainier, while others, such as grizzly bears, wolves, lynx, bobcats and wolverines, prefer the more remote areas of the north Cascades.
The Pacific Ocean and the rivers and lakes scattered about the land teem with sea life as various types of fish, like trout, salmon, bass, halibut, and perch, swim in the region's waters. There are also tide pools lining the seashores of ocean waters that act as the home for starfish, mussels, hermit crabs, and sea anemones. Other creatures near the region's Pacific coastline are the semi-aquatic mink, beavers, otters, seals, and sea lions.
Springtime visitors can also travel out to sea to go whale watching, as Humpback whales pass through the area while migrating north from Hawaii to Alaska. Black and white killer whales, more colloquially called “Orcas,” can sometimes be seen in the waters around San Juan Island from May-October. Just north of Sequim sits the longest natural sand spit in the United States, located on the Strait of Juan de Fuca, called the Dungeness National Wildlife Refuge, or Dungeness Spit. This is a place that is home to over 200 species of birds and harbor seals that raise their young in the area encompassing the spit.
Nature Spots in Seattle, Tacoma, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Rainier, Washington and The Cascades
Nature-Wildlife
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