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Situated on the Cowlitz River in the beautiful Cascade
Mountains of Washington, Maple Grove Resort offers the best of camping
accommodations and a variety of activities for your enjoyment. This
mountainous area is in the northern part of the Gifford Pinchot
National Forest, 1,299,546 acres of mountains, meadows, caves, canyons,
streams, and lots of beautiful scenery. Many varieties of animals
and birds, as well as salmon and trout, make their home in this
forest.
On the eastern edge of the forest is Mt. Adams, a glacier-clad,
12,276-foot peak with fields of wild huckleberries surrounding it.
Every year in the late summer, thousands of pickers visit the mountain
and forest. Located on the western rim of the forest is Mt. St.
Helens, the historic site of one of nature’s greatest catastrophes.
Once one of Washington’s snowcapped crown jewels, its eruption
in 1980 devastated the surrounding area and made access to it very
limited. Today, the crater at Mt. St. Helens can be seen from a
tour helicopter or airplane or through telescopes from the deck
of a visitor center facing the volcano.
To the north of the forest and the resort is a striking landmark
of the Pacific Northwest, extraordinarily beautiful Mt. Rainier.
The towering volcano, with a cap of glacial ice and 26 glaciers
extending down its mountainsides, makes up the largest single-peak
glacial system in the contiguous United States. Rising over 14,000
feet and often visible for 100 miles in any direction, the splendor
of the eternal snows on its peak and the cap of glacial ice make
it an extremely impressive sight.
Nearby Eatonville is the home of the Northwest Trek Wildlife Park,
where moose, bighorn sheep, wolves, bears, woodland caribou, cougar,
bobcat, and a herd of buffalo can be seen roaming freely in the
wilderness.
In Olympia, you’ll want to see Washington’s Capitol Building,
the fifth tallest all-masonry domed building in the world. While
in the capital city, be sure to visit the State Capitol Museum,
Farmer’s Market, Olympia Brewery, and the Nisqually National
Wildlife Refuge. |
