Hidden prairies, dragon boats and tide pools. TNT’s top outdoors stories

From secret prairies behind military gates to guided beach walks at low tide, the South Sound is packed with outdoor adventures this spring. Here’s a roundup of recent outdoors coverage from The News Tribune to help you plan your next excursion.

• Outdoor enthusiasts can access approximately 90,000 acres on Joint Base Lewis-McChord for hunting, fishing, hiking and horseback riding by purchasing a permit through jblm.isportsman.net, opening up the largest and most intact Salish Lowland Prairies in the South Sound.

• Parks Tacoma’s free guided tide-pool walks return this weekend at Owen Beach and Titlow Beach, with naturalists from Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium and Tacoma Nature Center leading hands-on discoveries of crabs, sea stars, shrimp and anemones.

• The Rainier Dragon Boat Festival returns to the Thea Foss Waterway on May 16, hosting 44 teams and over a thousand paddlers in one of the first and largest regattas in the Pacific Northwest. The Tacoma Dragon Boat Association practices nearly every week of the year on the Thea Foss Waterway and welcomes anyone to join for free, with veterans and first-timers paddling side by side.

• Mount Rainier National Park offers plenty of kid-friendly options beyond mountaineering, including the 0.7-mile Trail of Shadows loop near Longmire, where bubbling springs and wildlife viewing make it accessible for young children. The Nisqually Vista Trail in Paradise is a 1.2-mile paved loop accessible for strollers and wheelchairs, with views of Mount Rainier, the Nisqually Glacier and summer wildflowers.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by senior editor Adam Lynn. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by journalists.