Olympia Attractions and Sites

Be Young at Heart

FREE Community Festivals. Check our list for information.

Heritage Park Fountain. Splash in Olympia's Heritage Park Fountain at 330 5th Avenue SW in downtown Olympia (closed Wednesdays). Bring a picnic lunch. Enjoy scenic views of the Capitol dome to the south and the Olympic Mountains to the north. Public restroom are located across 5th Avenue at Heritage Park which is maintained by the State of Washington.

Olympia's Hands on Children's Museum. Consistently voted the "Best Place To Take Kids" in regional and national polls, the Hands On Children's Museum is one of the Northwest's premier youth museums! Designed for children and parents to enjoy together, the Museum features four major exhibit galleries with hundreds of interactive exhibits, a Young at Art Studio, and the TotSpot Early Learning Center designed for children ages birth to four. Visit Hands On for the day or the weekend and discover why Olympia is ranked as one of the best places in the nation to raise a family! Check the Museum's website for hours. Small admission fee.

Water Education & Technology Center (WET). The LOTT Clean Water Alliance new WET Center provides a fun, hands-on opportunity for people of all ages to learn about water, where it comes from and how we use it, clean it, and recycle it. A visit to the WET Center will also help people in our community learn ways to conserve this precious resource and protect our environment. Located at 500 Adams St. NE, Olympia, the Center is open to the public from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm, Mondays through Saturdays, except holidays. Special activities will be available for families on most Saturdays. Find out more at www.lottcleanwater.org/education.htm.

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Experience Olympia's Public Art

Downtown Art Benches. Enjoy a cup of locally roasted coffee while resting on one of downtown Olympia's art benches. View a Google map of the downtown Olympia art benches sponsored by the downtown Parking and Business Improvement Association (PBIA). Thank you to PBIA members David Rauh of radio station Mixx-96 and Matthias Eischler owner of downtown Olympia lifestyle product store Einmaleins for creating and maintaining the map.

Public Art Waterfront Tour. Saturdays at 11:00 a.m., July 10 - September 25, 2010. Tours leave from the corner of 4th and Water Street by the mural of the big waves and head west over the bridge. Tours take about 1.5 hours. Presented by the Olympia Arts Commission.

Public Art Collection. View Olympia's Public Art Collection.

Salmon Run Exhibition and Dale Chihuly Glass. Be awed by the Salmon Run art exhibition in the lobby of The Olympia Center, 222 Columbia St NW, in downtown Olympia. Each sculpture was handcrafted by a local artist or group. While at The Olympia Center, reflect on the beauty of Dale Chihuly's Spectra Yellow Macchia with Turquoise Lip Wrap. The Olympia Center is home to the City of Olympia Parks, Arts and Recreation Department and the Olympia Senior Center.

Waterfront Art Self-Guided Tour. Each piece of art on Olympia's mile-long, waterfront Percival Landing boardwalk has a red sign noting a phone number you can call from your cell phone for a recorded message about the piece.

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Explore the Tradition of Washington State Government

State Capitol Building and Campus. As Washington State's capital city, Olympia is home to one of the last great domed capitols built in America. Set on a bluff overlooking Puget Sound, it stands 28 stories high. Forty-two broad granite steps lead up to the entrance which symbolize Washington's place as the 42nd state in the Union. 

A team of thirty artisans spent five years carving the building's details in sandstone, marble, and wood. Stone ox skulls circle the base of the dome in a frieze that commemorates Washington's ox-cart pioneers. Elaborate plaster ceilings, rich with eagles and gilded rosettes, crown each legislative chamber. Interior railings and doorknobs bear the official state seal. Louis Comfort Tiffany in the last of his major commissions, designed the building's floor lamps, sconces, and chandeliers. His five-ton Angels of Mercy chandelier, centerpiece of the rotunda, hangs from the dome on a massive 101-foot chain.

For tour information, check the State Capitol Visitor Information webpages, or call 360-586-8687.

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Savor a Taste of the Northwest

Olympia's Farmers Market. Your visit to the Capital City isn't complete without a stop at the largest farmers market in Washington State, the Olympia Farmers Market. Picturesquely located at Olympia's waterfront, foot of Capitol Way. Open April thru October - Thursday thru Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.; November and December - Saturday and Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

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Step Back in Time

Bigelow House Museum. Visit the Bigelow House Museum, Olympia's oldest wood framed residence. The Bigelow House was built in 1860 by Oregon Trail pioneer Daniel Bigelow and his wife Ann Elizabeth Bigelow. The Bigelow House displays original family furnishings, Victorian-era artifacts, and reproduced wallpaper patterns and carpeting. Address: 918 Glass Street, Olympia.

State Capital Museum. Explore two floors of regional Native American and Olympia history exhibits at the State Capital Museum. The elegant C.J. and Elizabeth Lord mansion in Olympia's historic South Capitol residential neighborhood is home to the Washington State Historical Society's State Capital Museum. Address: 211 West 21st Avenue, Olympia.

Tumwater's Crosby House. Learn about early Tumwater pioneer Nathaniel Crosby and his wife Cordelia Jane Smith Crosby (grandparents of famed singer Bing Crosby) with a tour of Tumwater's 1858 Crosby House. The Crosby House is one of the oldest wood framed houses in Washington State. Its furnishings include a grand piano that was shipped around Cape Horn. Address: 703 Deschutes Way SW, Tumwater.

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Unwind for the Day

Ellis Cove Trail and Priest Point Park. Descend from forest to salt water along the Ellis Cove Trail at Priest Point Park. Site of ancient Squaxin Island family vilages, now characterized by towering trees and nesting osprey. The tidal shoreline trail crosses watersheds before ending on the Puget Sound shore; gravel beach and mud flats at low tide. Opportunities to see waterfowl and waterviews. Location: 2600 East Bay Drive NE, Olympia, at Priest Point Park. 2.4 mile trail, mixed surfacing including boardwalks and steps. East side of park has shorter trails.

View a list of City of Olympia Parks and Trails.

Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. Bring your binoculars and explore the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge on the Nisqually River Delta. Three thousand acres of salt and freshwater marshes, grasslands, riparian, and mixed forest habitats provide resting and nesting areas for migratory waterfowl, songbirds, raptors, and wading birds. One (1) mile and 5.5 mile trails. The 1 mile Nisqually River Trail is ADA accessible and runs through a wooded plain with views to the scenic river. The Visitor Center is open Wednesday through Sunday, 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Location: 100 Brown Farm Road, Olympia (Interstate 5 at Exit 114 - follow the signs).

Percival Landing Boardwalk. Moor your boat and stroll along Olympia's one mile waterfront boardwalk , Percival Landing. On a clear day, enjoy scenic views of the Olympic Mountains. Restaurants, shops, playground and restroom facilities line the walkway. Viewing tower at the north end within the Port Plaza. Location: downtown Olympia along the waterfront.  A portion of Percival Landing will be reconstructed in 2010-11 ... watch the progress.

Watershed Park. Enjoy forest solitude in Olympia's Watershed Park. Hike the 1.5 mile, mixed surface trail loop (including boardwalks and steps) that winds through a portion of the 153 acre park - temperate rain forest, springs, and Moxlie Creek. Home to owls, deer, and salmon. Location: Trailhead parking lot on Henderson Boulevard, south of Interstate 5 in Olympia.

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The attractions listed on this page are located on or in municipal, state or federally owned or maintained properties. Admission charges may apply.

You will find these and other Olympia area attractions on the Central Cascades website developd by the Washington and Oregon Departments of Tourism in cooperation with the National Geographic.