Things To Do
Olympia Farmer's Market
Open Thurs-Sun, 10am-3pm What you’ll find: fresh local fruit and veggies, delicious baked goods, fine crafts, and more, plus a variety of restaurant stall options. Plus live music! On Wedding Saturday, if you’re one of the first 25 people who say, “We’re in town for Lily and Nat’s wedding,” you’ll get a free whole-grain chocolate-chip cookie from our friends at the Baker/Potter bakery stand!
Budd Bay Boardwalk (Percival Landing)
What you’ll find: 10-minute, ½ mile stroll for people-watching, boat-ogling, and public art. At the North end, check out the views from on top of the wooden tower, and the Farmer’s Market (plus Anthony’s if you want fresh oysters). At the South end, check out the Kissing Statue, Childhood’s End Gallery, and Traditions (crafts & whole food cafe).
Washington State Capitol Building and Campus
What you’ll find: Beautiful grounds for strolling, featuring various memorials and beautiful old trees. The Capitol building can be explored with or without an official tour. Official Capitol Building Tours: 50-minute tours available from 10 to 3 on weekdays, 11:30 to 2:30 on weekends; reservations recommended.
Downtown Olympia
What you’ll find: Great local restaurants and shops (toys, books, tarot, fun). Highlights: [heading counterclockwise from 4th & Capitol]: Archibald Sisters (quirky gifts & fun), Radiance (crystals & magic), Captain Little’s (world class toy store), Painted Plate (for some reason the 2nd best ice cream in town), McMenamin’s Spar Cafe (historic diner with great food); plus plenty of other fun & deliciousness along the way and nearby! Explore!! Extra tasty credit: Head up to 222 Capitol for The Bread Peddler (French bread and pastries – the real deal) and Sophie’s Scoops (best ice cream in town). (Also fresh oysters at Chelsea Farms Oyster Bar.) Also nearby for bibliophiles: Browser’s Books (classic) and Orca Books (pure Olympia).
The Capitol Lake Loop
Where it is: At the southwest edge of downtown (and along the foot of the hill up to the Capitol Building) What you’ll find: A mostly paved (some gravel), level, 1.5 mile walking loop all around scenic Capitol Lake. If you do “The Loop” once, you can consider yourself a local.
Watershed Park
Where it is: In Olympia, about halfway between downtown and the wedding venue. What you’ll find: 1.4 mile walking loop through forests and over streams. Peaceful and green. Unpaved, mostly flat-ish, with some slopes.
Tumwater Falls Trail
Where it is: 2.5 miles south of the Capitol building on Capitol Boulevard. What you’ll find: Fun, paved
Squaxin Park
Where it is: Just a mile north of downtown Olympia, along East Bay Drive. Also the location for Friday night welcome dinner! What you’ll find: Miles of trails through forests and down to the shore of Budd Bay. Highly recommended: Ellis Cove Trail. Hilly and steep in places; access to the shoreline at all but the highest tides. (A great loop is to follow the shore on the overland trail, then return along the beach, if the tide is low (as it will be around 1pm on the wedding weekend).
Burfoot Park
Where it is: 8.5 miles from downtown Olympia, out East Bay Drive (past Squaxin Park), almost to Boston Harbor. What you’ll find: Another great hike through local forests and down to a secluded, peaceful shoreline. This can also be a kayaking destination from Boston Harbor! (see below for kayak rental recommendations!)
Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge
Where it is: 14 miles north of downtown Olympia on I-5 (take exit 114 and follow the signs). What you’ll find: 5-mile roundtrip hike, mostly on a boardwalk over a restored tidal estuary. Flat. Small admission fee. Interpretive Center and Gift Shop available. Pretty much guaranteed sightings of Great Blue Herons, Bald Eagles and a wide variety of ducks and shorebirds.
Tugboat Annie's Kayak Rentals
Where it is: 5 minutes from downtown. What you’ll find: Standard kayaks in a sheltered urban/suburban setting. What you’ll see: Great views of the Capitol, sea creatures up close, and seals for sure (if they’re resting on logs in the water, please don’t disturb them – they’re resting for a reason!).
Boston Harbor Marina
Where it is: 15-minute, 8-mile drive north from downtown on East Bay Drive. What you’ll find: High-quality kayak rentals, in a glorious rural setting. Open water is right there, but you can also stay close to the park-like shore. Call ahead for reservations! What you’ll see: Seals for certain; porpoises rare but not unheard of; whales really rare, but, hey, what if today is the day? Heads up: Tides, currents, and weather can change suddenly and dramatically. You should have at least one experienced kayaker in your group if you are beginning your adventure from this location.
South Sound Kayak Tours
Where it is: Olympia waterfront and sunset tours leave from Swantown Marina, right downtown. What you’ll find: 1.5 to 2-hour guided kayaking tours for beginners, with all gear provided. If you are new to kayaking and want a great taste of one of the best experiences our region has to offer, this is your ticket. Book ahead online. Note: While we have not worked with these folks personally (unlike all the other resources listed here), their reviews are uniformly spectacular. Don’t think you’ll go wrong.
Road Biking
For road biking, check out this curated list of The Best Road Biking Trails in Olympia. For a short trip (2-10 miles), try the Karen Fraser Woodland Trail, starting right downtown. For a longer trip (up to 20 miles each way, with connections to other rural trails), try the Chehalis-Western Trail (passes close to the wedding venue). The two trails cross near Trader Joe’s in downtown Lacey, WA, if you need supplies.
Mountain Biking in Capitol Forest
Some of the best mountain biking in the state of Washington can be found in nearby Capitol Forest (20 miles/40 minutes from downtown Olympia). Be sure to talk to Nat directly for specific trail intel.
Olympic National Park
Dayhikes such as the steep-but-worth-it climb up to Lena Lake are just over an hour away. Pushing across to the other side of the Olympic Peninsula, world-class adventures await at sites like Third Beach and the Hoh Rain Forest. Both are less than 3.5 hours drive away.
Mount Rainier National Park
The entrance to the Park is just over an hour away – and the trip is worth it just for the beauty of that drive! Just 15 minutes inside the park, historic Longmire Lodge is near a range of gentle hikes and stunning views of the mountain up close. From there, you’re only a half hour from Paradise! Take the road that climbs up to 5400 feet in elevation at the Paradise Lodge and Henry Jackson Visitor Center, starting point for a wide range of spectacular alpine day hikes. Major warning: The lines to get into the park (and the parking at Paradise) can get nuts! Plan to arrive before 9am on weekdays, or before 7am on weekends, or else after 3pm any day (don’t worry about starting a trip at 3pm: at that time of year, the sun won’t set until 8, with plenty of twilight until 9).
The Pacific Shore
For less wilderness and more of a traditional beach scene, you can head just two hours west from Olympia to the beachfront tourist towns of Long Beach or Ocean Shores for everything from surfing to fudge to ocean-going fishing charters. Trips to either of these destinations will take you right through the faded logging town of Aberdeen, where you can still smell the teen spirit of Kurt Cobain’s hometown, and even pay your respects at Kurt Cobain Memorial Park.
