If you already have a “lake place” – your own or your parents,’ your friend’s grandparents or cousins, or your Uncle Bob’s – then you likely already have your favorite lake. But for the rest of us, any of the dozens of Inland Northwest lakes can be ours for the loving. To feel the cold […]
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The Mission Mountains make a familiar sight to travelers between Missoula and Flathead Lake, their serrated, snow-draped peaks, crowned by 9,280-foot McDonald Peak and its dozen or so neighbors in the 9,000-foot club. Despite appearing impassible to travel, the Missions boast some of the most easily rewarding, high-country day hiking in the Northwest. They have short, shallow-grade trails accessing hundreds of high-elevation tarns with one of
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With over 260 miles of hiking trails, Mount Rainier National Park offers campers plenty of ways to keep active. Mount Rainier has five main campgrounds located within park boundaries. The largest campground, Ohanapecosh, is located on the southeast side of the park in beautiful old-growth forest along the Ohanapecosh River. Although there are no showers
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June 4 is National Trails Day – go for a hike! Check out Indian Painted Rocks, a 6.8-mile round-trip loop trail within the Riverside State Park Little Spokane River Natural Area. wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/little-spokane-river. June is Great Outdoors Month and National Camping Month. In fact, June 25 is National Backyard Campout Day – an easy “staycation.” Play
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Home to the University of Montana in the whole-foods-and-hiking-boots heart of the state, Missoula is a community of fit free spirits—consider it a cross between Bend and Bellingham. In recent years, the city’s running and river surfing communities have put it on the adventure-sports map, but hiking remains king here. But full parking lots belie
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The heart of summer is short: only 13 weekends. Try to fit in some community festival fun in with your outdoor adventures. Here are some of our favorite regional festivals worthy of a road trip or local staycation. ArtFest (June 2-4, Spokane) Free outdoor festival, organized by the Northwest Museum of Arts & Culture,
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This is a fun little 8-mile run if you and your quads are locked in a death-feud. The starting line is at a pastoral grassy spot near the shore at Liberty Lake Regional Park. Apparently this location was chosen, I can only guess, to give a delusion of upcoming peace and enjoyment. Congenial Trail Maniacs
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Most years there are plenty of places to find snow-free singletrack in the Spokane area come March, and sometimes even all winter long, but this year you may need to travel a bit to find ridable early-season dirt. Or maybe you’re bored with your go-to late-winter riding routes and want to get out of town
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When people think of vacationing in North Idaho, they often think of the big lakes. But stretching from Mica Peak to the north are the Selkirk Mountains, a range that provides many opportunities for vacation adventures. The American Selkirks are bordered on the west by Priest Lake, and the east by the Purcell Trench near
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Upon arrival, you first inhale deeply, as your eyes absorb the panoramic view – blue water reflecting sun rays, green trees, brown and gray rocks under your feet, or maybe sand, and perhaps distant mountain peaks. You exhale and then you feel it: burdens lifting, stress dissipating. And whatever encumbering metaphorical baggage you had been
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