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Suggest a Feature →South Puget Sound & the Cascades
The most dramatic geography of any military assignment in the continental US.
Joint Base Lewis-McChord sits in what is, objectively, one of the most geographically spectacular settings of any American military installation. Mount Rainier is visible from the flight line on clear days. Puget Sound is a short drive west. Mount St. Helens is 90 minutes south. Olympic Peninsula and its temperate rainforest is across the Sound. The Cascade Range forms the eastern horizon. You are surrounded by volcano, rainforest, glacier, and ocean. On a clear day, you can see four volcanic peaks.
Tacoma has been quietly becoming something interesting — the arts scene has outgrown its underdog status, the food is genuinely good, and the lakewood-tacoma corridor has shed some of its seedier reputation. Seattle is 30-40 minutes north on I-5, and if you're not using it, you're leaving one of the great cities of the Pacific Northwest on the table.
Must Eat
The spots worth eating at before you PCS out.
El Gaucho (Tacoma)
"Pacific Northwest beef. A room with something to prove."
El Gaucho is a Pacific Northwest legend, and the Tacoma location sits in the Hotel Murano with a view of Commencement Bay. Tableside Caesar salads. Steaks finished with clarified butter. A wine list that takes the Pacific Northwest seriously. This is where you take someone important.
The chateaubriand for two is carved tableside. Worth every dollar of a big special-occasion dinner.
Asado Cucina Argentina
"The surprising answer to "what should we try in Tacoma?""
Asado serves Argentinian food in a warm, candlelit room in downtown Tacoma. The empanadas are textbook. The chimichurri is house-made and aggressive. The beef — sourced with intention — is cooked the way Argentinians cook beef, which is not the way anyone else does it. This is the restaurant that makes you realize Tacoma is more interesting than you assumed.
Tacoma Farmers Market
"Pacific Northwest produce is not comparable to other regions. This is evidence."
The Saturday Farmers Market in downtown Tacoma is one of the finest markets in the Northwest. Dungeness crab, Pacific salmon, morel mushrooms, Rainier cherries, Walla Walla onions, Hood River pears. The seasonal produce of the Pacific Northwest is in a class by itself. Go in June when the strawberries hit. Go in August when the peaches arrive. Go whenever you can.
Outdoor
Get outside. The land around military installations is usually the best reason to be there.
Mount Rainier National Park
"An active stratovolcano. 90 minutes from the gate."
Mount Rainier is 14,411 feet of glaciated stratovolcano and it dominates the eastern skyline on clear days. The Park has over 260 miles of trails ranging from easy wildflower walks to technical summit climbs. The Paradise visitor area (5,400 feet) has snow into July and wildflower meadows in August that will make you stop walking. The Skyline Trail is one of the great moderate hikes in the American West.
Annual pass is worth it if you're stationed here. Sunrise area is less crowded than Paradise and more dramatic for photography. Check road opening dates — some roads don't open until July.
Olympic Peninsula
"Three ecosystems on one peninsula. Ferry or drive."
The Olympic Peninsula is one of the most biologically diverse places in North America — temperate rainforest (the Hoh Rainforest gets 12+ feet of rain per year), glacier-capped mountains, and 73 miles of wild Pacific coastline. The Hoh Rainforest, with its cathedral-like tree canopy draped in moss, is one of the most surreal landscapes in America. The ferry from Tacoma or Seattle to the Peninsula saves significant drive time.
Hurricane Ridge in Olympic NP for mountain views. Ruby Beach for dramatic sea stack coastline. Hall of Mosses in the Hoh for the rainforest experience. Each is in a different direction. Plan accordingly.
Culture & History
Places with stories. Most military towns sit on deep history — dig in.
Museum of Glass (Tacoma)
"Dale Chihuly's home city. A museum worthy of it."
Tacoma native Dale Chihuly is arguably the most significant glass artist in American history, and the Museum of Glass in downtown Tacoma was built to honor that tradition. The hot shop amphitheater — where you watch molten glass being worked in real time — is extraordinary. The Chihuly Bridge of Glass connecting the museum to downtown is itself a major work of public art.
The free Bridge of Glass is worth experiencing even if you don't pay museum admission. Walk it at multiple times of day — the light changes everything.
Family
Stuff to do with the kids. Rated by people who have brought actual children.
Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium
"Consistently rated one of the top regional zoos in the country."
The Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium has the advantage of being inside one of the country's great urban parks, which means the animal habitats are set against genuine forest and waterfront. The beluga whale exhibit, the Pacific Seas Aquarium, and the tiger forest are the anchors. Military discount.
Day Trips
When you need to remember there's a world outside the gate.
"One of America's great cities. Your commute away."
Pike Place Market. The Space Needle. The Capitol Hill neighborhood. Fremont (with its outdoor sculpture and Canal). Ballard (with its Scandinavian history and the best new restaurant scene in the city). Pioneer Square (the underground city beneath the modern streets). The Museum of Pop Culture. The Seattle Art Museum. Lake Union seaplanes. The ferry to Bainbridge Island. You will never run out of Seattle.
"The mountain that blew its top in 1980. It's still erupting."
Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, removing 1,300 feet from its summit in minutes and reshaping 230 square miles of landscape. The Johnston Ridge Observatory looks directly into the crater at close range. The volcanic moonscape — where forest is returning 40 years later — is one of the most instructive geological environments in the world. The eruption story is told with extraordinary clarity at the visitor center.
The grey is real. Vitamin D supplements are not a joke. UV lamps help in winter. Acknowledge this before month three.
Clear days come suddenly. When Rainier "comes out," drop what you're doing and look at it. They say "the mountain is out" for a reason.
The Tacoma Narrows Bridge toll runs east to west only. Keep it in mind.
I-5 between post and Seattle gets brutal during commute hours. Timing matters.
The Command Museum on post (at McChord Field) has one of the best collections of WWII-era aircraft in the Pacific Northwest. Free. Undervisited.
REI flagship store in Seattle rents mountaineering gear. You are 90 minutes from Rainier. Connect those dots.
Seasonal Affective Disorder is clinically documented in the Pacific Northwest. The grey from October through May is relentless. Have a plan before winter hits.
This guide is built by people who've been stationed here. If there's a spot we got wrong or a gem we missed, tell us.