3 Best Sights in Southeastern Washington, Washington

The Coyote Wall trail, about 5 miles east of town off Highway 14, affords hikers unobstructed views of the Columbia River and the surrounding mountains, including Mt. Hood. The trail leads from a disused section of roadway up a gradual slope, through tall grass and wildflower meadows, from sea level up the side of a sheer cliff that rises to about 1,900 feet elevation. You can descend the way you came up or by looping back down through an intriguing valley of basalt rock formations (known as the Labyrinth)—the full round-trip is about 8 miles, but you could hike part of the way up the trail and back, taking in the impressive vistas, in less than an hour.

Just a 10-minute walk south of downtown, Vancouver's formerly industrial waterfront has been reborn as a handsome, contemporary mixed-use development flanked by a beautifully landscaped promenade and V-shape, cantilevered Grant Street Pier, which is suspended over the Columbia River by cable stays. The $1.5 billion project opened in 2018 and will expand over the years—potentially to include a public market. Other key features include a 7.3-acre Waterfront Park with imaginative public art installations, a sweeping grassy picnic area, a small urban beach, an amphitheater, and direct access to the Columbia River Renaissance Trail, an existing 5-mile paved multiuse track that connects additional parks, restaurants, and public art along the north shore of the Columbia River. Nearly a dozen prominent Washington wineries (Maryhill, Brian Carter Cellars, Pepper Bridge, Airfield Estates, and Barnard Griffin among them) have opened tasting rooms here, along with several restaurants and two hotels (an AC Hotel by Marriott and a Hotel Indigo). Especially when the sun is out, this festive district's restaurant terraces, pathways, and pier fill up with friends, families, and onlookers of all ages.