Washington State hiking

Hi all! Well, the Mrs and I are about to move to the great state of Washington. I know there are miles of open backcountry around there, and I was wondering what some of the favorite places are. I know the Olympic National Forest is right there, but what are some of the other less known places? You know the ones, the kind that aren't crowded, even on holidays :) Also, I'm not sure about the permit situation out there as far as state parks/parking/etc, so if someone could fill me in on the basics, that'd be pretty awesome!

Welcome to Washington.  A good website is Washington Trails Association (just search on wta and washington), which references trails all over the state.  Very popular so depending on where you go, crowds can be an issue.  They are a great advocate of outdoor activities.  Another good reference is nwhikers website, which has both popular references as well as out of the way places!  Both are well worth looking into, as they have the freshest trail info.

The National Forest websites reference them as well!

Enjoy!

Trusty has given you wise counsel! Those sites have PAGES of hiking for all over the state! If you are moving to the west side, go to google and type in "hike of the week" -- their in house reporter does a nice job showcasing hikes. REI is also loaded with hike books. You can find about any skill level, length or area of Washington you want to go.

Washington has some of the best hiking in the world. Just don't tell anyone so we can keep the trails to ourselves ;)

You moving to the East or West or the state?

If it's the Eastern part, I can highly recomend this book, and maybe I'll see ya on the trail some day.

http://www.amazon.com/100-Hikes-Inland-Northwest-Washington/dp/0898869080

Welcome to Washington. As others have pointed out, there are lots of great resources, on line, and with groups. You might be interested in joining the Mountaineers, a long established club, where you'll have the opportunity to get your feet wet in hikes around the state. Washington has many great hikes and is quite diverse, everything from sagebrush and big horn sheep, to elk and big cedars in the olympics.

I'll be moving over to the Bremerton area, so West side of the state. Thanks for all the links and info, can't wait to get some serious hiking in!

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