On the many days it is raining in our moody Northwest, I find it even more important to get outside. When the sky is above you, instead of your living room ceiling, the world becomes reassuringly bright. On the days that it is sunny, experiencing the luscious slices of nature out and about is like living in paradise.
So, here I have collected some of my favorite walks accumulated across 20 years of living in Olympia, Washington. Our special corner of the world encompasses salty shorelines, tawny prairies and lush rainforest. Walk Olympia is my quick list of nearby places you can get up and go to for a quick, interesting jaunt into these great environments. Some of the walks are short and sweet, some are a little more adventurous with great payoffs.
Most likely you are well versed in several of these walks already. My hope is that there are a few new gems for you to try. So, take the kids, take your dog, take your grandmother…go walk Olympia, and let me know how it went.
– Ryan
Walk Olympia 
Katie
Great information! Thank you for creating this.
Steve
Nice work. Keep those walk guides comin’, like Priest Point Park, the TESC campus trail to the beach, Cap Campus, The Fetid Lake of Doom (Cap Lake), the SPSCC campus, and some urban alternatives for folks who do not have vehicles. Thank you for creating this site.
ryanjhollander
Thanks for the kind words and ideas, Steve. You definitely named some locales on my ‘to-do’ list. Appreciate the input!
Eli Sterling
Wow! Totally cool Ri-Fy… very nice layout, captivating pics, thoughtful writing and overall a wonderfully placed invitation to go out and be in our rambunctious Salish Shore garden. As soon as I return from New Zealand I am going to make the rounds so as re-stain myself with this breath and breeze land. All the finest, Eli
Susan Heath
Can you tackle a similar project for the Portland or Lake Oswego area??? That might be an aggressive assignment, but I’m throwing it out to you anyway. Or narrow the scope and do something like the interesting “Stairway Walks” of San Francisco.
ryanjhollander
Hi Susan…thanks for visiting my site! I don’t know if I will expand to other cities. In the meanwhile, here is the book on Portland walks that my Mom loves: “Portland City Walks” by Laura Foster
Aspergers Girls
thank you 🙂
Sarah
Love this! We just moved to Olympia from the east coast, and I’m loving the woods out here. This is a great intro to get me acquainted, thanks!
ryanjhollander
Sarah, you are so welcome! Both for the site content, and ‘welcome’ to Olympia. I’m from Connecticut myself, originally.
Deborah
This is a wonderful site! I hope you can continue to keep it up! The City should support you!
ryanjhollander
Well, thank you very much Deborah! With our somewhat sunny weather back upon us, I wouldn’t be surprised if I knock out a few more entries pretty soon.
amieg521
Just wanted to say thanks for this great info, I have already done most of these quick hikes. It was a huge help being able to review your site first. Thanks Again!
ryanjhollander
Thank you for the kind support!