Tag Archives: Discovery Pass

Olmstead Place State Park

IMG_3031On my way back from visiting dear daughter, I stopped at Olmstead Place State Park outside of Ellensburg (921 Ferguson Road, Ellensburg, WA 98926). I was pretty excited to be able to use my Discover Pass, but I didn’t spend too much time since I was worried (rightfully so) about snow on the Pass. The park has 217 acres and plenty of pioneer artifacts. Perhaps my favorite part was the red winged blackbirds. There was an entire flock of them on the overhead wires. More information can be found here.

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Mima Mounts near Maytown

9541088065_2bc2dea785_bThe Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve is a designated National Natural Landmark near the Capital State Forest and Maytown. The 3′ to 6′ high mounds themselves are kind of cool, large, rounded hills. The Mima mounds appear in parts of Washington, Oregon, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and California, and also in Kenya, Mexico, Canada, Australia and China. Scientists don’t really know what caused them, but theories include pocket gophers, wind blowing around vegetation, seismic activity, shrinking & swelling clay and, my personal favorite, space aliens.

Fair warning, this park requires a Discovery Pass which can be purchased online here.

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