DISCOVER NORTHWEST
White Pass Scenic Byway From late September through October, the vine maples, high elevation huckleberries, and tamaracks on White Pass Scenic Byway (US-12) transform the route’s geologic variety show into a 119-mile technicolor pageant of reds, coppers, and golden yellows. Leaving the Salkum Plateau, US-12 travels past lakes and floodplains, ascends foothills to an alpine pass, and then descends into riparian canyons surrounded by volcanic cliffs. Fall and its foliage aren’t the only reason or season to make this road trip. Year round there are recreational opportunities galore, history, mountain town festivities, craft beer and coffee, good eats, and plenty of accommodation options for a multi-day adventure. It all begins at Exit 68 on I-5 south of Chehalis. Six miles east of the exit make a pit stop at the historic Lewis and Clark State Park and the nearby John R. Jackson
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3rd Act magazine | fall 2021
A mountain trifecta awaits on this epic drive BY ANN RANDALL
House, both located on the north spur of the Oregon Trail. The park includes a half-mile walk through a rare stand of old growth trees, while the 1845 Jackson House provides a glimpse into the multifaceted life of the area’s first non-Native settler whose cabin housed the area’s first post office and state’s first federal courthouse. Look for glimpses of the mountain trifecta: Rainier, Adams, and Hood, before arriving in Mossyrock, located between Mayfield and Riffe lakes. Both lakes have shoreline parks and water recreational opportunities. In their beds lie the former towns of Riffe, Kosmos, Mayfield, and the Cowlitz tribal community of Nesika, all thriving prior to 1946 when www.3rdActMag.com
