13 Best Sights in The Olympic Peninsula and Washington Coast, Washington

Anchoring 25-acre Railroad Bridge Park, a beautifully serene Audubon Society preserve bisected by the Dungeness River, this stunning nature center reopened in 2022 following a dramatic expansion and redesign that features informative natural history exhibits as well as a bookstore, a coffee bar, and a pavilion and rain garden. The center is adjacent to a lacy, 730-foot-long ironwork bridge that was once part of the coastal rail line between Port Angeles and Port Townsend and is now a popular multiuse path for hiking and biking. On warm days, the grounds are lovely for picnicking, and you can watch live performances in the amphitheater. There are free guided bird walks and other nature programs year-round.

This distillery decorated with old tools and other memorabilia from the building's previous life as a hardware store offers informative tastings and, by appointment, entertaining tours. For a small operation, Hardware has developed a big following for its fruit-and-honey Bee's Knees liqueurs (the fig variety is a standout) as well as spicy Cardamom Aquavit and herbal-accented Dutch genever–style small-batch gin. A couple of doors down, the beer garden at Potlach Brewing is a nice place to sample locales ales, including some aged in Hardware Distillery whiskey barrels.

The Long Beach Peninsula consists of 28 continuous miles of broad sandy beach, which fills with kite flyers, sand-castle builders, sunbathers, bicyclists, horseback riders, and drivers during summer months. Watch out for horses, cars, and other motor vehicles as you drive on the sand—some sections are open for driving year-round, while other parts don't allow it in summer. The beach has seven official access points, and bonfires are allowed. Bring a windbreaker—strong gusts are common near the water, which remains consistently frigid throughout the year. Amenities: parking (free), toilets. Best for: solitude; sunrise; sunset; walking.

You can learn all about this Victorian-era seaport, one of only three such places on the register of National Historic Sites, at this striking contemporary building on the waterfront; it's the center of operations for the Wooden Boat Foundation, which stages the annual Wooden Boat Festival each September. The center has interactive exhibits, hands-on sailing instruction, boatbuilding workshops, a wood shop, and a pilot house where you can test navigational tools. Engaging history and wildlife cruises ($22) of Port Townsend Bay are given on summer Saturdays on the Admiral Jack catamaran. You can launch a kayak or watch sloops and schooners gliding along the bay from the boardwalk, pier, and beach that front the buildings. There's also an excellent gift shop, The Chandlery, and a cheerful coffee bar, Velocity.

A lovely gazebo sits in the center of this gem of a city park, perched atop a bluff overlooking Admiralty Inlet. The six well-maintained acres are perfect for picnicking and encompass a pond, a footbridge, a playground, and a whimsical, trellis-covered pathway that teems with blooms in spring. The Port Townsend Summer Band performs concerts here (and at nearby Fort Worden). Access the sliver of beach below via a short footpath.

Learn about the cranberry cultivation that's taken place since the early 1900s in coastal Washington by taking a self-guided walking tour through the museum's bogs (open daily), and then check out the museum with its historical photos and advertisements and antique harvesting and processing equipment. Enjoy a dish of cranberry ice cream and pick up some cranberry products to take home.

Created to memorialize Lewis and Clark's explorations here in 1805–06, the 8½-mile Discovery Trail, which is paved or runs over boardwalk and is accessible to bikes and pedestrians, traces the explorers' steps from Ilwaco to north Long Beach. Along the way it passes plenty of sandy dunes and beaches. People can access the trail from the beach parking lots on Sid Snyder Drive or Bolstad Street in Long Beach. Parking is also available at the Beard's Hollow lot in Cape Disappointment State Park.

At the western end of Port Angeles, this 3½-mile-long natural sand spit protects the harbor from big waves and storms. The Hook is a fine place to take a walk along the water and watch shore- and seabirds, and to spot the occasional seal, orca, or gray whale. It's also a popular dive spot.

The ½-mile-long wooden boardwalk runs through the dunes parallel to the beach, and is a great place for strolling, bird-watching, or just sitting and listening to the wind and the roar of the surf. It runs between Bolstad Avenue and Sid Snyder Drive.

At this facility with a picturesque setting on the Tsoo-Yess River, near Shi Shi Beach, visitors can view chinook salmon as they make their way over fish ladders to the hatchery's spawning area. Spawning months are October through November, and the salmon are released in late April. Smaller numbers of coho and chum salmon as well as steelhead trout also populate the hatchery.

If you're traveling with kids, or you simply have an appreciation for seaside kitsch, drop by this quirky museum and bric-a-brac emporium that has been around since 1921 and is best known for "Jake the Alligator Man," a mummified half-man, half-alligator. 

Six miles of wide, sandy beaches line a peninsula trimmed by the Pacific Ocean on the west and Grays Harbor on the east. With five access roads, it's usually possible to find relatively secluded spots on the sand, despite this being the state's most-visited public beach destination. Highest tides occur in July and December, the latter when winter storm watching is at its peak. Motor vehicles are allowed on City Beach, a popular place for clam digging and kite flying. Ocean City State Park, a 257-acre oceanfront park 2 miles north, has year-round camping; note that this beach charges $10 for parking. Numerous hotels and resorts line the beach. Amenities: food and drink; parking (free); showers ; toilets. Best for: sunrise; sunset; walking.

With modern, funky, and intriguing exhibits by new and emerging artists, this small, beautifully designed modern museum is inside the former home of the late artist and publisher Esther Barrows Webster, one of Port Angeles's most energetic and cultured citizens. Outside, Webster's Woods Sculpture Park—open daily dawn to dusk—is dotted with oversize art installations set against a backdrop of the city and harbor.