Olympic National Forest, Washington

If you know anything about Western Washington’s Olympic National Forest, you know it’s a rugged, insanely beautiful landscape. If you don’t know anything about it, boy, are you in for a treat. Roosevelt really did the nation a solid when he declared this area a national park. This isn’t just any old forest; it’s a striking landscape covered with lush rainforests and moss-covered boulders, where waves crash on sandy beaches and snow-capped mountains give way to sprawling meadows. Being an isolated peninsula, the forest has many plants and animals found nowhere else in the world. The mountain range that cuts the peninsula off from the land to the south is home to those beautiful snowy peaks you see when looking out across the bay from Seattle. Access to the forest isn’t exactly the easiest, with only a few roads leading in and none penetrating too far into the wilderness. But an unforgettable experience awaits those who venture there. Olympic National Forest is like something out of a fantasy novel, except it’s not fantasy at all. It’s right there waiting to be explored. So, what are you waiting for?