DIY Field Trips

DIY FIELD TRIPS During the first year of Covid, when all of our field trips were cancelled, a group of dedicated field trip leaders went out on their own to describe destinations that our members and visitors could use to pursue Do-It-Yourself trips.  The results were posted on our website and are still available.  There are 28 of these excursions with all kinds of adventures for you to enjoy. ...

The mountains in East Lewis County are beautiful and majestic places to visit. Each place I list is free to access, though only the pullouts and scenic viewpoints are (mostly) ADA-friendly.

Deschutes Falls is a 155 acre Thurston County day-use park opened to the public in 2017. It is located at the end of Bald Hills Rd about 15 miles southeast of Yelm (25005 Bald Hill Rd.). There are a myriad of driving routes to the park, some very scenic, from the Olympia area.

Mission Creek Nature Park is a 37 acre city park nestled in northeast Olympia. It encompasses a wide variety of habitats, including wetlands, open grasslands and mixed forests.

In the northeast quadrant of Mason County, the long waterway of Hood Canal makes a sharp turn to the east, nearly surrounding a little-visited, bird-rich landscape with stunning Olympic Mountain views (weather permitting).

The Chehalis-Western Trail runs over 20 miles on an old rail bed from Woodard Bay to Yelm and Tenino. It traverses diverse habitats, from thick older-growth woods with both conifer and deciduous trees to open meadow and farmland.

Scatter Creek Wildlife Area is one of Thurston county's best birding destinations. It offers a variety of habitats as well as the chance to observe species that are seldom seen in Western Washington.

Take a walk on an easy trail through maple and conifer woodland, which sometimes becomes open scrubland. The trail borders the wetland which can be open water or simply water among the trees.

This scouting report from April 16, 2021, is for the Grays Harbor National Wildlife Refuge (aka Bowerman Basin) and Oyhut Wildlife Area (aka Oyhut Game Range), plus six additional sites in Ocean Shores and Grays Harbor County.

West Rocky Prairie is a state wildlife area managed by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and is one of three areas open to the public in southern Thurston County that protect significant remnants of native prairie.