If you have a family that enjoys animals, check out the Olympic Game Farm. Stop in first at their gift shop/store and buy bread to feed to the animals. Next, hop in your car and follow the drive thru path. Warning: only lower down as much of the window as you need to, as the animals have been known to stick their head all the way in or lick you (I learned this the hard way). Also, please note, you may want to drive your car through the car wash when you've finished!
This is just one of many lavender farms in the area, but it is certainly one of the most picturesque! Enjoy a low-key morning or afternoon picking lavender in the fields and check out the gift shop before you go!
This one pretty much goes without saying, but the crown jewel of the Olympic Peninsula is Olympic National Park. For those staying in the Sequim or Port Angeles area, we recommend checking out the cool visitor center before deciding on your destination for the day. There are some fantastic hikes of all lengths up the road at Hurricane Ridge. (A lot of visitors often compare the views at the ridge to the Alps of Europe.) There are also some great family-friendly trails at Lake Crescent, such as the Marymere Falls loop or the Moments in Time walk, down by the lodge along the lake's edge. If you want to journey a bit further on, La Push, Cape Flattery and the Hot Rain Forest are a couple of hours to the west, but totally worth the trek. Enjoy a day on the water or in the hills. Either way, this is one of the most beautiful places to visit if you have the time.
About 45 minutes to the east of Sequim, Port Townsend is a beautiful Victorian town with a lot of historical charm. It is a great place for window shopping and the restaurants and ice cream parlors are hard to beat. One of our favorite places to visit here, however, is Fort Worden State Park. This historic fort has been well preserved and includes a variety of historic buildings to tour and admire, as well as countless hiking trails, a very cool science center down on the water and of course hundreds of concrete bunkers just waiting to be explored! There is also a beautiful beach area and a lovely white lighthouse to top off the view.
For those wanting to explore our coastline a bit more, the Dungeness Wildlife Refuge includes some walking trails and picnic areas along the bluffs. There is also a trail down to the beach (3 dollars per group, in support of the wildlife refuge), which eventually leads out to the historic Dungeness Lighthouse. The walk down to the beach is only about a quarter mile. There is a lot of driftwood to play with and on a clear day you can see Vancouver Island across the water as well as the community of Port Angeles to the west. For those really wanting to stretch their legs, you can journey to the lighthouse and picnic at the end, take a tour and visit the gift shop before heading back. Warning: It is 5 miles to the lighthouse, 5 miles back. No bathrooms along the way. Still, incredible views and really cool lighthouse at the end.
For those with kids, or for those simply wanting to learn a bit more about our marine wildlife, this science center provides exhibits and touch tanks to explore. Depending on the time of year, you may be lucky enough to see their resident octopus! The science center is located on the pier along the Port Angeles waterfront, right next door to the ferry, which takes travelers to and from Victoria B.C.
This is one of our beautiful local parks, which gets it's name from the old railroad bridge that still spans the Dungeness River. The park includes our local Dungeness Audubon Center, an outdoor amphitheater and picnic area, as well as the Olympic Discovery Trail (great for both hiking and biking). This is a great place to take a walk and photograph the beautiful outdoors!
This is a great park to explore with the whole family. Out front is the small Japanese garden that created in honor of our sister city in Japan. Near the north entrance are a series of soccer fields as well as a small fishing pond. The rest of the park includes an outdoor amphitheater, bathrooms, walking trails, a dog park, play toys and a skate park. There are also baseball fields and newly installed pico ball courts.
For those planning to stay a while, Victoria B.C. is accessible by ferry from our neighboring town of Port Angeles, and makes a great day trip (or even two day trip). Vancouver Island itself is beautiful, and Victoria boast a beautiful Parliament building, the famous B.C. museum, Craigdorrach Castle, and a fun historic downtown. (Due to COVID-19, the border is currently closed at this time.)
If you want to learn more about the history of our little town, check out the newly renovated museum and arts center, located across the street from the high school.