Activities in Cascades + Central Washington

Stop in for scrumptious homemade cookies (and pick up a kit for making gingerbread houses at home).

A fantastic mini-golf course.

The Mystery: The nine-foot-wide bottomless hole and former dump site on Mel Waters’s former property near Ellensburg, Washington, is awash in mystery,

This park has seen impressive regrowth since the 1980 eruption, but it’s still full of eerie landscapes and volcanic remnants. Stop at the Castle Rock

Visit the Nutcracker Museum, which displays more than 5,000 of the iconic toy.

Snow-capped Mount Rainier anchors 240 miles of hiking trails, ranging from wildflower-field nature walks to icy summit ascents. Stop at the Paradise J

Grab a picnic table: kids can sip old-fashioned root beer floats while parents enjoy Syrah.

The Mystery: At the base of Mount Adams lies an incredible hotbed of UFO activity: a wooded ranch-cum-spiritual retreat owned by James Gilliland. The

James Gilliland, the founder of Enlightened Contact with ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence (ECETI), has been hosting seekers at his ranch at the mountain’

Kids will love the authentic Native American costumes and the towering Winter Lodge (a replica of a traditional meeting house).