Seattle's position in the Pacific Northwest places it within reach of extraordinary landscapes. Mount Rainier National Park is 90 miles south — on clear days the volcano is visible from the city. The Olympic Peninsula begins just across Puget Sound. To the east, the Cascades rise steeply and contain some of the best hiking and skiing in North America.
Mount Rainier is the defining day trip: a 14,411-foot stratovolcano with glaciers visible from Seattle, a two-hour drive south on SR-706. The Paradise area at 5,400 feet has visitor facilities and trails open from late June.
Tacoma is 30 miles south on I-5 — often overlooked, but worth a visit for the Museum of Glass (Dale Chihuly is a Tacoma native) and the recently revived downtown waterfront. Half a day is enough.
Snoqualmie Falls is the most accessible dramatic waterfall in the region, 25 miles east on I-90, dropping 268 feet into a gorge. The viewing platform is directly accessible from the car park; the trail to the base takes 20 minutes. Twin Peaks was filmed partly in the area.
Leavenworth is a Bavarian-themed village in the eastern Cascades, incongruous but popular, particularly in summer and winter. The drive through Stevens Pass is excellent in its own right.
