Mountains to Sound Greenway - I-90
a day / 98 miles / 3 hours 15 minutes
Drive east from Seattle on I-90 through pastoral valleys, lush forests and a dramatic mountain landscape. Visit historic towns and scenic spots for forest walks or challenging hikes. Cross the Cascades into a drier climate where coal mining built pioneer towns on the way to the Columbia River.
Day 1
9:00 - 0.4 miles / - 9:00
Founded in 1869, Seattle is America's 14th most populous urban region; just under three million people call this area home. Mild winters, cool summers, and relatively slight average rainfall of 36 inches further enhance the livability of this Pacific rim city. Though relatively young, Seattle's history is ever-apparent along the cobblestone streets of historic Pioneer Square and in the depths of the Pike Place Market, America's oldest working public market.
9:00 - 5.5 miles / 11 minutes - 9:11
Mercer Island is a lovely historic island in Lake Washington that is home to 21,000 people. Historic buildings like the Roanoke Inn, the V.F.W. Hall, and the Luther Burbank Park create a charming atmosphere on the island, and gave it acclaim for its historical significance.
Due to ingenious engineering, the island is accessible from the mainland by bridge-- a more convenient route than by the ferries that used to transport Mercer Island citizens to and from Seattle. The bridge was open for usage in 1940-- twenty years after its proposal, and has continued to boost the economy and population of the island.9:56 - 8.0 miles / 16 minutes - 10:12
Once the gathering place for different Indian tribes, Lake Sammamish is now popular for water sports. The word Sammamish comes from the Indian Samena, meaning hunter; and as you might expect, the fishing is excellent.
11:12 - 1.5 miles / 3 minutes - 11:15
At the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery, you can learn more about the fascinating salmon that swim through Issaquah Creek on their way to spawn. While here, watch them fight the currents and lay their eggs each year; a favorite educational experience for kids.
To keep the salmon population alive and growing, hatchery personnel retrieve the eggs from the females on spawning days and fertilize them with milt from the males. The juvenille salmon are released and make their way up the Issaquah Creek to Lake Sammamish, the Sammamish River, Lake Washington, Lake Union, the Lake Washington Ship Canal, Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, and finally the Pacific Ocean.
Thousands of tours are given at the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery each year to teach young people about salmon, answer their questions, and teach visitors how to respect the natural workd around them. Take a trip to the Issaquah Salmon Hatchery and discover amazing facts about this fascinating species.11:45 - 82.5 miles / 2 hours 44 minutes - 14:30