Cities
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Pierce County
[edit]- 1 Tacoma is the county seat and the third largest city in Washington. Here you can find one of the largest zoos in the country, Point Defiance, as well a surprisingly variety of history and art museums.
Most other cities in the county can be considered bedroom communities of Tacoma:
- 2 Bonney Lake
- 3 Buckley — The last major town on the way to the northwest corner of Mount Rainier National Park.
- 4 DuPont
- 5 Eatonville — In the foothills of the west side of Mount Rainier, on the way to Paradise on the southside of Mount Rainier.
- 6 Fife — An eastern suburb of Tacoma, contained within the Puyallup Indian Reservation.
- 7 Gig Harbor — Its strong Scandinavian and Croatian heritage that has influenced its nautical lifestyle and fishing-village character, specialty shops, creative boutiques, art galleries and waterfront restaurants. It is the first stop after the Tacoma Narrows in the Kitsap Peninsula.
- 8 Greenwater — A small town on the north side of Mount Rainier, near Crystal Mountain ski resort.
- 9 Lakewood
- 10 Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) — An amalgamation of the United States Army's Fort Lewis and the United States Air Force's McChord Air Force Base. It was merged in 2010 on recommendation of the Base Alignment and Closure committee. It is home to 62nd Airlift Wing and I Coprs.
- 11 Parkland — Home to Pacific Lutheran University.
- 12 Spanaway
- 13 Puyallup — Home to the Washington State Fair, the state's largest fair.
- 14 Steilacoom — The oldest incorporated town in Washington. It has 4 individual buildings and sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places, including the oldest Catholic Church in the state and the first Protestant Church north of the Columbia River.
- 15 Sumner
Thurston County
[edit]- 16 Olympia — The county seat, as well as the capital of Washington. It is a breeding ground for alternative culture in the Pacific Northwest.
- 17 Lacey
- 18 Tumwater
- 19 Yelm
Other destinations
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- 1 Mount Rainier National Park - A park protecting the alpine wilderness of the volcanic 14,410 ft (4,390 m) Mount Rainier, the most prominent peak in the continguous 48 states.
- 2 Anderson Island
- 3 Ketron Island
The following are in the remote southern region south of Purdy, in the Key Peninsula, a sub-region of the Kitsap Peninsula, in Pierce County. The communities in Key Peninsula are not incorporated as their own cities or towns:
- 4 Fox Island is a 5.2 square mile island off the south end of the Kitsap Peninsula. Semi-rural with bridge access; near Gig Harbor and across the "Narrows" from Tacoma.
- 5 Home — this quiet seaside community was once one of the more radical and socially progressive areas in the state.
- 6 Key Center — this small town is the largest on the Key Peninsula.
- 7 Lakebay — one of the last mosquito fleet era docks still in operation.
- 8 Longbranch — home to the southern-most marina on the Kitsap Peninsula.
- 9 Vaughn — once served by the mosquito fleet, this area is home to the Key Peninsula Museum.
Understand
[edit]Get in
[edit]By car
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The major highway is Interstate 5 (I-5), running north-south from Tumwater through Olympia, Lacey, Fort Lewis, Tacoma and Fife in the South Sound, on its way from Portland towards Seattle.
US Highway 101 (US-101) goes along the east edge of the Olympic Peninsula through Shelton to I-5 in Olympia.
State Route 8 (SR-8) comes from Aberdeen and Grays Harbor to meet US-101 a few miles west of Olympia.
State Route 16 (SR-16) connects I-5 (exit 132) in Tacoma to Bremerton via the Narrows Bridge, Gig Harbor and Port Orchard.
State Route 18 (SR-18) connects exit 142 at I-5 in Federal Way to exit 22 at I-90 west of North Bend. It is a way to connect traffic from the South Sound towards Spokane in Eastern Washington without going through Seattle. It passes through Auburn, Maple Valley, Covington and Issaquah.
By plane
[edit]Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, (SEA IATA), is the nearest commercial airport, with connecting flights to all regions of the U.S. and the world, especially with frequent transpacific routes but, also to Europe, Mexico and the Middle East as well. Competition is fierce and fares are low on service to the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California with multiple airlines.
By boat
[edit]- Washington State Ferries (WSF) operates the following between Pierce and King Counties in the South Sound:
Point Defiance in Tacoma and Tahlequah in the southern tip of Vashon Island. There are no additional ferries from Tacoma to Bremerton, Seattle or anywhere further north.
- All Washington State ferries are for both vehicles and passengers.
Get around
[edit]By car
[edit]The following branch from I-5 to reach additional areas of the South Sound:
State Route 512 (SR 512) goes east towards Puyallup via Parkland from exit 127 of I-5 in Lakewood. It goes around Puyallup and curves north towards Renton as SR-167.
State Route 7 (SR-7) goes through South/East Tacoma as Pacific Hwy. It can be accessed from I-5 via Exit 133 or from SR-512 in Parkland (see above). It is the route that connects Tacoma towards Morton at US-12 through Mount Rainier.
State Route 167 (SR 167) goes east towards Puyallup along the south shores of the Puyallup River from Tacoma as River Road. It continues north from Puyallup towards Renton through Sumner, Pacific, Auburn, and Kent.
State Route 410 (SR-410) branches from SR 167 north of Puyallup, up the hill onto Bonney Lake and to Buckley. From Buckley it curves south and goes by Mt. Rainier at Sunrise before heading east across Chinook Pass towards Yakima. During winter, the section of SR-410 closes at Crystal Mountain due to snow.
Traffic congestion is a major problem in the Puget Sound area on all freeways and major roads. Avoid traveling during rush hour if you can, particularly along I-5.
Orientation
[edit]The area's roads are more or less on a grid system, numbered based on their distance from Tacoma's city center. Nearly all streets run with the compass directions. "A" St, one block east of Pacific Ave (SR-7), divides east from south while Orchard St divides south from west. 6th Ave and Division Ave divide north from south. The numbered roads run east-west, parallel to 6th Avenue, while the named roads run north-south. The addresses in Gig Harbor & Key Peninsula all have northwest (NW) designations and Lakewood and Steilacoom are in the Southwest part of town with SW addresses. This also applies to much of the extended areas of unincorporated Pierce County, though the addresses in places like Fife, Milton, Puyallup & Sumner have their own numbering system and are not based on Tacoma's numbering system. Some of the same streets will change names when it crosses from one city/municipality to the next.
By public transit
[edit] Pierce Transit, ☏ +1 253 581-8000, toll-free: +1-800-562-8109. Operates local and regional public transit bus routes in Pierce County. Communities within the county served by this operator's routes include Fife, Gig Harbor, Lakewood, Puyallup, Steilacoom, Tacoma. Adult $2, youth $0.75 and is part of the regional Orca payment system. 
The number of the route also tells you which area of the county it serves:
- Below 100 - Tacoma, Fircrest, Parkland, and University Place. The single digit routes (Routes 1-4) serve as cross-town routes between on longer routes across Pierce County via multiple stops.
- 100s - Northwest Pierce County: Route 100 between Tacoma Community College (TCC) and Purdy P&R, through Gig Harbor, is the only route in this category. There are no public transit services beyond Gig Harbor to Key Peninsula or to Fox Island in Northwest Pierce County.
- 200s - South/Southwest Pierce County: Lakewood, Steilacoom and Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM).
- 300s - (Not used)
- 400s - East Pierce County: Puyallup, Bonney Lake, South Hill, Sumner and Auburn
- 500s - Connections to King County: Federal Way via Fife on routes 500 and 501. Sound Transit routes operated by Pierce Transit are 560, 574, 577, 578, 586, 590, 592, 594, 595, 596 for travel to King County and within Pierce County.
- 600s - Connections to Thurston County: Intercity Transit Route 620 between Lakewood and Olympia is the only route in this category.
Sound Transit, toll-free: +1-888-889-6368. Has regional public transit routes including Sounder trains, Link light rail, and express bus in King County (e.g. Bellevue, Federal Way, Kent, Renton, Seattle), Snohomish County (e.g. Everett, Lynnwood) and Pierce County (e.g. Puyallup, Tacoma).
- Link Line T light rail operates in Tacoma, traveling traveling between Tacoma Dome Station and St Joseph Hospital in Hilltop via Downtown Tacoma and Stadium District. Plans are underway to connect this to Link Line 1 in Federal Way. Construction is underway to extend Link Line 1 from the Angle Lake Station in SeaTac to Federal Way.
- Sounder commuter rail service, operating weekday rush hours only, connects Seattle to Lakewood via Tacoma, Puyallup, Sumner, Auburn, Kent and Tukwila on the 'S' Line Train.
- Sound Transit has many convenient express bus routes that travel South (to Tacoma), East (Redmond, Bellevue), and North (Bothell, Lynnwood). Outside of the immediate Seattle-Bellevue area, many routes operate only during weekday rush hours. Check your schedules in advance, and beware of holiday service cutbacks. All Sound Transit routes have route numbers that are in the 500s.
Intercity Transit, ☏ +1 360-786-1881. Operates local buses in Olympia, Lacey, Yelm and Tumwater as well as a single express route (620) to Lakewood from Olympia.
See
[edit]Tacoma houses several of the most popular museums in the state, including the Museum of Glass and LeMay – America’s Car Museum.
This part of the state is a great spot for wildlife watching. Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma is highly popular, or tour the Wolf Haven between Tumwater and Tenino. Mount Rainier National Park is one of the most accessible alpine environments anywhere. With luck and perseverance, you may even catch a glimpse of the highly-elusive sasquatch, America's most famous cryptid.
Watch the government in action in Olympia. The State Capitol Building, a replica of the original in DC, is surrounded by scenic parks.
This was one of the first parts of Washington to be settled by Americans, and many historic buildings remain from that period. Tacoma has created a living museum of Fort Nisqually, originally a Hudson's Bay Company outpost. Steilacoom, the oldest city in the state, has preserved its historic downtown. You may have seen archival video footage of the original Tacoma Narrows Bridge, which had a famously brief and bumpy existence.
Do
[edit]Mount Rainier National Park and the surrounding National Forests are a premier destination for hiking and wilderness backpacking.
The South Sound is littered with islands and narrow bays that make great destinations for boating and sea kayaking.
Crystal Mountain, past Greenwater on the east side of Mount Rainier, is the largest ski resort in Washington.
The Puyallup Indian Reservation operates a tribal casino and event center near Fife.
The Washington State Fair, affectionately known as "The Puyallup", occurs every September.
Eat
[edit]Drink
[edit]Stay safe
[edit]Go next
[edit]- King County — to the northeast, including Seattle, the largest city in the Pacific Northwest.
- The Kitsap Peninsula — to the north, including Gig Harbor, Bainbridge Island, Kingston, Port Orchard and Bremerton in the west.
- The Olympic Peninsula — to the northwest, centered around the Olympic Mountains and Olympic National Park, one of America's most undeveloped spaces.
- Southwest Washington — to the south, including Centralia and Chehalis, is a heavily-forested rural area stretching to the Columbia River and the sandy beaches of the Pacific Coast.
- Columbia River Plateau — to the east across Chinook Pass or White Pass and the Cascade Mountains. The Columbia River winds its way through the region, irrigating fertile farmlands such as the Yakima Valley.