West Cascades
Pacific storms hit the west slope of the Cascades and unload their moisture for nine months of the year. Historically confier giants made up the forests. Now much of the habitat has been cut over. Snoqualmie (I-90) and Stevens (Rt. 2) passes give acccess to higher elevation forests. Three volcanoes, Mt. Rainier, Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Adams, dominate the skyline to the south. Mt. Rainier National Park has excellent alpine habitat around Paradise and Sunrise. More from Birdweb.

Birding Trail Maps

The eastern portion of this map extends into the west Cascades:

Birding Sites

  1. Federation Forest
  2. Mt. Rainier - Sunrise
  3. Naches Peak
  4. Mt. St. Helens = Johnston Ridge

Camping

Lodging

Snoqualmie Pass, at the northern edge of this region, is just an hour from Seattle. On the east side, the small cities of Ellensburg and Yakima are fairly close to this region. All of these have many motels which can be found using the large travel websites.

Smaller towns in the region which have some accommodation are:

Mt. Rainier Naitonal Park has two lodges run by concessionnaires.