Top places to photograph in Puget Sound in 2024

Whatcom Falls is a short, but impressive, waterfall on Whatcom Creek. The falls are located in Whatcom Falls Park, which also hosts a fish hatchery, several miles of trails, and a couple of smaller waterfalls. Immediately downstream from the falls is a scenic stone bridge built by the Works Projects Administration in 1939 using Chuckanut sandstone from a burned-out building in downtown Bellingham.

The annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, during which millions of daffodils and tulips blooms in fields east of Mount Vernon, is held each April. The fields offer riotous color each spring until they are “topped” (flowers cut off) to promote healthy growth of the bulbs. Washington Bulb Co. is one of two major growers of flowering bulbs in the area. In addition to their flower fields, they operate a 5-acre display garden. The Roozengaarde display garden contains over 250,000 bulbs and features more than 90 types of tulips as well as many other flowering bulbs, including daffodils, crocus, and hyacinths. Each year, the garden is redesigned and replanted to offer unique designs. The photos accompanying this spot were taken courtesy of Washington Bulb Co., Inc.

The Deception Pass Bridge is in the middle of Deception Pass State Park. The bridge is actually two spans, the main span extending from Whidbey Island to Pass Island over Deception Pass and a shorter span extending from Pass Island to Fidalgo Island over Canoe Pass. In total, the picturesque bridge is about a quarter-mile long and stands approximately 180 feet above the rip-tide filled waters below. There are pedestrian walkways on both sides of the bridge and stairs down to Pass Island (where you can cross under the highway). Deception Pass State Park encompasses over 4,000 acres and has more than 75,000 feet of saltwater shoreline and another nearly 34,000 feet of freshwater shoreline on three lakes. The park is full of scenic beaches, rocky coves, lakes, and forests. The best viewpoint of the bridge is on the north side on Fidalgo Island.

Deception Pass State Park encompasses over 4,000 acres and has more than 75,000 feet of saltwater shoreline and another nearly 34,000 feet of freshwater shoreline on three lakes. The park is centered around the picturesque, quarter-mile long Deception Pass Bridge, though it cannot be seen from West Beach. The park is full of scenic beaches, rocky coves, lakes, and forests. West Beach is sandy and rocky, three quarter-mile long (it continues further outside the park to the south), and lined with driftwood. East of the beach is Cranberry Lake.

Snoqualmie Falls is one of the largest waterfalls in Washington State. Here the Snoqualmie River cascades 270 feet off a vertical cliff. There is a 2-acre park run by Puget Sound Energy adjacent to the east side of the falls with several viewing platforms. There is also a lower viewpoint at river level near the base of the falls accessed by a 0.7-mile trail from the upper park. This lower platform is also accessible from a lower parking lot.

The Pacific Bonsai Museum contains over 150 bonsai trees, displaying 60 trees at a time in an outdoor setting amongst towering Douglas fir trees. The museum features trees from Japan, China, Taiwan, Korea, Canada, and the United States. Each bonsai is individually displayed, mostly outdoors, in an “art-gallery” fashion.

This park is part of a series of parks and public land running along the shoreline of Commencement Bay adjacent to Ruston Way. Together, over three miles of shoreline are open to the public. This series of public access and parks contains numerous viewpoints and historic sites. Chinese Reconciliation Park contains Chinese gardens, an arched footbridge over a small tidal grotto, and the Fuzhou Ting, an ornate Chinese pavilion.

This spot provides a great view of the Tacoma Narrows Bridges and the Olympic Mountains.

The Washington State Capitol (or Legislative Building in Olympia) is the home of the government of the state of Washington. The fountains, sculptures, gardens, memorials, and buildings of Washington State Capitol campus grounds are a photographic treat, especially the Legislative Building with its tall stately dome.

The Holy Rosary Catholic Church was built in 1920. From this viewpoint on 27th Street, the iconic church steeple lines up with Mount Rainier.