Sequim Bay State Park

The Olympic Mountains don't just create the rain shadow — they break it open over Sequim Bay, where the park's 92 acres and nearly 5,000 feet of saltwater shoreline sit in one of the driest microclimates west of the Cascades. The name itself carries a correction: for a century "Sequim" was translated as "quiet waters," until a tribal linguist determined the Klallam word actually means "a place for going to shoot" — a hunting ground, not a refuge. The bay is calm, the air is dry, and the trail connects to the 120-mile Olympic Discovery Trail.