In April 2022, Mount Rainier was named one of the best US national parks for kids by TripAdvisor. There are 63 national parks in the country.
Events, camping
There are more than 5,600 state park campgrounds, according to Sarah Dettmer, communications manager for the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission.
If tent camping isn’t your thing, there are plenty of alternatives. Campgrounds operated by the state parks agency contain more than 200 cabins, 60 vacation homes and eight recreation centers.
In terms of activities, campgrounds across Washington are incredibly diverse, Detmer says.
“You can watch birds and wildlife, explore miles of trails, try to identify the trees and plants around you, visit our museums, explore the shorelines of fresh and saltwater beaches — and swim when the weather is warm, explore tide pools, go on a ranger-led walk to learn more about the area, explore our interpretive centers (and) crawl around historic military bunkers,” Dettmer wrote in an email.
While Washington is well-regarded for its breadth of outdoor opportunities, some of its most famous national parks are notorious for visitor deaths. According to a recent NBC News report on the nation’s 10 national parks with the highest fatality rates from 2007 to 2021, Mount Rainier National Park ranked 10th.
