Washington has it all, rain forests, deserts, cities and islands and mountains, even active volcanoes. It has the major city of Seattle plus three national parks - Mount Rainier, Olympic and North Cascades.

I divide Washington (also Oregon) into four guidebooks, north-south slices following the topographic and climatic progression of coast, valley, mountains and desert. The first guidebook covers the Olympic Peninsula and Southwest Washington, featuring Olympic National Park. Then Seattle, Tacoma and Puget Sound which actually extends north to the San Juan Islands and south down the lowlands to the Columbia River. Next comes the guidebook to the Washington Cascades with both North Cascades and Mount Rainier National Parks, plus Mount Saint Helens; and finally aridEastern Washington, half the state.