Washington’s Best State Park Isn’t What You Think

Reader's Digest just released its picks for the best state park in every state, and Washington's winner comes with a built-in punchline. Cape Disappointment State Park sits in the far southwest corner, right where the Columbia River empties into the Pacific. Despite the name, there's nothing disappointing about it.

Cape Disappointment State Park Photo by AMANDA CHAPMAN on Unsplash

Gray whales breach offshore during the right season, and you can see them from the rocky coastline if you time your hike well. The park's real showpiece, though, is the lighthouse — built in 1865, still standing watch over one of the most treacherous stretches of coastline in the country, nicknamed the "Graveyard of the Pacific" for good reason.

Our PNW Neighbors Made the List Too

Idaho's pick was Ponderosa State Park, a 1,500-acre peninsula jutting into Payette Lake about two and a half hours north of Boise. Swimming, beach volleyball, and a hike out to Osprey Point for a lake view that stretches the length of a good afternoon.

Ponderosa State Park (McCall, ID) Photo by Jeff Heaton on Unsplash

Montana went underground for its winner. Lewis and Clark Caverns, the state's very first park, dedicated back in 1941, holds one of the largest known limestone cave systems in the Northwest. Guided tours only, and bring a jacket — it sits at a steady 48 degrees inside, no matter how hot it is on the surface.

Oregon's Silver Falls State Park earned its reputation the hard way, with ten separate waterfalls strung along a 7.5-mile hiking loop called the Trail of Ten Falls. One stretch takes hikers directly behind a 177-foot sheet of falling water.

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Worth the Drive From the Wenatchee Valley

None of these four parks sit right next door, but all of them are reachable in a long weekend from Central Washington. Cape Disappointment makes for a solid coastal getaway if you haven't done the ocean side of the state in a while. Silver Falls is close enough for a day trip if you're willing to leave early.

This year marks the nation's 250th anniversary, and these parks — unlike the crowded national parks getting all the headlines lately — tend to be cheaper, quieter, and a lot easier to actually get a campsite in. Worth remembering before the next long weekend rolls around.