We’re blessed with a lot of natural beauty here in Western Washington, and no less than three areas close by that will offer free entrance this weekend: Mount Rainier, the Olympics, and the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. You can get to any of them within a few hours – and thanks to National Parks Free Entrance Day (which is being observed by some other nationally managed areas like the refuge), you don’t even have to pay the usual $15 fee to get in.
Mount Rainier National Park, of course, has picture-perfect panoramas, glaciers and snow; Olympic National Park has waterfalls, rainforest and Roosevelt elk; and the Nisqually refuge offers a view into the world of migratory birds and Puget Sound sea life from the end of its new saltwater boardwalk.
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