Coastal regions, alpine wilderness, temperate rainforests, deserts, prairies and wetlands… with so many environments and habitats packed into one state, you can watch Washington wildlife by land, sea or sky. Every spring, three resident orca pods return to the San Juan Islands, one of the planet’s great whale-watching destinations. Washington is also smack-dab in the middle of a major North American migratory bird path, making it a fine place for bird watching. You’ll find an astounding variety of bird life in places like the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge, just north of Olympia, the state’s capital city. Or maybe you’d prefer to see a black bear in Olympic National Park. Or watch bald eagles line the banks of the Skagit River when the salmon spawn in the fall (“all you can eat” season for bald eagles). Even in Seattle, the state’s largest city, there are still active beaver dams in Lake Washington, marine mammals in Discovery Park, and osprey hovering and high-speed diving for fish in the waters off Alki Beach.
