Washington
Olympic Peninsula & Methow Valley
About This Destination
Washington State offers two entirely different fly fishing worlds. The rain-soaked rivers of the Olympic Peninsula — the Hoh, Queets, and Quinault — carry wild winter steelhead through one of the only temperate rainforests in North America. The Methow Valley on the east side of the Cascades offers a completely different experience: sun-drenched ponderosa pine country with crystal-clear streams holding wild cutthroat and the occasional summer steelhead.
Temperate rainforest with old-growth Sitka spruce and western redcedar (Olympic Peninsula); dry ponderosa pine steppe and sagebrush (Methow Valley); snow-capped Cascade peaks throughout.
What to Expect
- Wild winter steelhead on Spey rods in old-growth rainforest
- Some of the last truly wild steelhead rivers in the lower 48
- Olympic National Park — a UNESCO World Heritage Site as your backdrop
- Wild cutthroat in intimate, lightly pressured Methow streams
- Extraordinary biodiversity and wilderness immersion
Destination Details
- Target Species
-
- Wild Winter Steelhead
- Wild Summer Steelhead
- Cutthroat Trout
- Bull Trout
- Season
- November – March (winter steelhead); June – October (Methow and summer runs)
- Skill Level
- Advanced
- Travel Notes
- Fly into Seattle-Tacoma (SEA). The Olympic Peninsula is a 3–4 hour drive including the ferry from Kingston. The Methow Valley is 3.5 hours east of Seattle over the North Cascades Highway (Highway 20, seasonal closure in winter).
Plan Your Washington Expedition
We design Washington trips around your goals, timeline, and experience level. Tell us what you're imagining.
Start Planning