Archive for the ‘Attractions’ Category

Monarch Contemporary Art Center is an 80 acre public sculpture park and a center for the visual arts. Classes, workshops, and international sculpting and ceramic symposia are held at the Center. When funds are available, scholarships and residency grants are offered to gifted young artists and professionals so that they may attend events or use the facilities at the Center.

The Park features over 100 contemporary sculptures, a Hedge Maze in shape of a butterfly, Fantasy Garden, Bird and Butterfly Garden, Japanese Garden, Sound Garden (Sculptural Musical Instruments), Nature Walk, Indoor gallery and is Handicapped accessible.

Art exhibit on the grounds open from dawn to dusk year round. Indoor Gallery open June 1st through September 4th or by appointment.

Park Hours: Dawn to dusk year round.
Entrance Fee: Free, but donations gratefully accepted.

For more information visit: Monarch Sculpture Park

Some 3,000 acres of salt- and freshwater marshes, grasslands, riparian and mixed forest habitats that provide resting and nesting areas for migratory waterfowl, songbirds, raptors and wading birds. The Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge is a truly beautiful place to go for eithe ra short of longer hike. There is a boardwalk, the Twin barns, the old dikes, McAllister Creek and the Nisqually River just to name a few of the highlights.

Make certain you bring your binoculars, as there is plenty of wildlife. Some of the bird life you will maybe see;

• Sandhill crane
• Peregrine Falcon
• Barrow’s Goldeneye
• Bald eagle (sometimes in vast numbers when the Salmon are running)
• Short Eared Owl
• Great Horned Owl

Open daylight hours; $3 per family. 100 Brown Farm Road (Exit 114 off I-5).

For more information call 360-753-9467 or visit: Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge

At 8:32 Sunday morning, May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted.

Shaken by an earthquake measuring 5.1 on the Richter scale, the north face of this tall symmetrical mountain collapsed in a massive rock debris avalanche. Nearly 230 square miles of forest was blown over or left dead and standing. At the same time a mushroom-shaped column of ash rose thousands of feet skyward and drifted downwind, turning day into night as dark, gray ash fell over eastern Washington and beyond. The eruption lasted 9 hours, but Mount St. Helens and the surrounding landscape were dramatically changed within moments.

In 1982 the President and Congress created the 110,000-acre National Volcanic Monument for research, recreation, and education. Inside the Monument, the environment is left to respond naturally to the disturbance.

For more information visit: Mount St. Helens