Discover Snohomish County with the Placemakers
Richard (left) and Nick (right) of the Snohomish County Placemakers Podcast
If you’ve spent any time exploring Snohomish County, you already know it’s the kind of place that sticks with you; snow-capped peaks, scenic backroads, waterfront towns and unforgettable local stories. In this episode of RV Out West, we sit down with the team behind Discover Snohomish County and the Snohomish County Placemaker’s podcast to dive deeper into what makes this region a compelling travel destination right here in the Pacific Northwest. From outdoor adventure and RV campground ideas to local culture and community-driven storytelling, this conversation highlights why Snohomish County continues to capture attention from RV travelers and locals alike.
We’re joined by Richard and Nick, the voices behind the Snohomish County Placemakers podcast, where they spotlight the people, places, and experiences shaping the region. This episode feels like a relaxed, insider conversation; packed with travel tips, behind-the-scenes insights, and inspiration for your next road trip through Washington State. Whether you’re planning an RV trip, looking for weekend getaway ideas near Seattle, or simply love discovering new destinations, this episode delivers value.
Tune in to hear why Snohomish County deserves a spot on your travel radar, what you really should check out, and everything you need to know before your next adventure.
SHOW NOTES
Discover Snohomish County with the Placemakers
Discover why Snohomish County is one of the Pacific Northwest’s most diverse and rewarding destinations. From coastal ferries to Cascade peaks, this episode dives deep into scenic drives, local eats, festivals, hikes, and the best places to basecamp.
Plan Your Trip
Scenic Drives & Routes
Marine Drive Scenic Route (Kayak Point access)
Ferry Experiences
Routes mentioned:
Mukilteo → Clinton
Edmonds → Kingston
Unique Experiences
Towns & Stops to Explore
Everett
Snohomish
Edmonds
Index
Skykomish
Arlington
Darrington
Restaurants & Food Stops
Coffee & Local Favorites
The Whiskey Muse (and coffee)
Campgrounds & Basecamps
Hiking & Trails
Festivals & Events
Things to Do
Build Your Perfect Day
Sample itinerary inspired by the episode:
Morning coffee in Everett
Drive U.S. Route 2 → explore Gold Bar, Sultan, Index
Lunch stop at Sultan Bakery
Afternoon in Snohomish (shops + riverwalk)
Sunset ferry from Edmonds
Dinner at Salt & Iron
Sponsor Mention
Camper Alerts (Find sold-out campsites)
Stay Connected With The Show
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Podcast Episode Transcript:
Discover Snohomish County with the Placemakers
Podcast Host: Discover why Snohomish County is extraordinary. Two locals share the secrets. So stay tuned. Welcome to RV out West. I'm Brooks, based in the Pacific Northwest. My family of four hits the road to explore the best of RV life out west. From hidden gems and epic destinations to helpful tips and real road stories. So grab your coffee and join the journey. Hey friends, I want to share some news because I'm excited to say that I just dropped a brand new destination travel guide all about Banff, Canada over on the website at rv dot com, and it's loaded with everything you need to plan an unforgettable trip. If the Canadian Rockies are even remotely on your radar, this is your sign in. Yep, it's completely free. Go check it out on the website and start planning your next adventure. Tucked just north of Seattle, Snohomish County feels like the kind of place where the pace softens a little and the scenery quietly steals the show. Mornings often begin under a soft grey sky, the kind that makes the evergreens look deep, richer, like they've been painted in layers by Bob Ross. Driving a little and you'll find yourself winding through farmland where barns have character and roadside stands. Promise fresh berries in the summer. Then, almost without warning, the land begins to rise, pulling you toward the Cascades, where the air sharpens and adventure starts calling your name. Spend an afternoon wandering through downtown Snohomish, where antique shops and riverfront views make it easy to lose track of time or head west towards Edmonds, where ferries drift across the Salish Sea and sunsets feel like nightly ritual out east in the mountains. Places like Index and Skykomish trade sidewalks for trail heads, offering up a rugged peaks, rushing rivers and that unmistakable feeling of being small in the best possible way. Snohomish County isn't loud about what it offers. It doesn't have to be. It's the kind of place that unfolds and rewards those who take their time. That's exactly what the team over at discovery, Snohomish County, is all about bringing those stories to life and helping people experience the region in a deeper, more meaningful way. And they don't just promote it, they live it through their own podcast. Snohomish County policymakers, they shine a light on the people, places, and passions that make this corner of the Pacific Northwest so special. Today's episode feels like sitting down with a couple of friends who know the area inside and out. We're excited to welcome Richard and Nick from the Discovery Snohomish County team to the show. Two guys who are not only passionate about where they live, but who are also incredible storytellers in their own right. They're here to share what's happening behind the scenes, what makes this county so extraordinary, and why it deserves a spot on everyone's list. Richard and Nick, welcome to RV Out West and thanks so much for joining us. Yeah, thanks for having us. Yeah. Thanks, Brooks. Let's jump kind of right into a little bit about an overview, in your opinion, on what you think makes Snohomish County just such a great spot for people to come and check out? The thing about Orange County is that we're the size of Delaware, approximately two thousand square miles. And so that gives a lot of room for people to explore. And the landscape changes dramatically from west to east. You have islands, Water, and then you get into cities and then farm towns and then foothills and then the peaks of the Cascades. If you're looking for one destination where you can go from the water to the mountains and the forest in between and explore small towns, there's a lot to do within a relatively small radius. Okay, well then from your perspective, what might be some of those lesser known cool spots in the county that most visitors miss that you think somebody is needs to see? There's a lot of hidden gems here and really cool stuff all across the region from like, you know, from the, from the Salish Sea all the way to the Cascade Mountains and, you know, started over with the Salish Sea side. We got as having been born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. Uh, I think when I, when people come here and visit, one of the things you have to do is ride a ferry. If you haven't taken one of the one of the Washington State ferries, you haven't visited Washington State. You know, we have we have two ferries running. We have one running from, uh, from Mukilteo and one in, uh, Edmonds. And they go across the sound and they go check out cool little towns. And, and it's really fun and just beautiful. You might see some whales jumping, which is pretty amazing. Let's see, we have a lot of, uh, a lot of, a lot of hiking over and over in the Cascades, some really cool hikes over there. And we got the, the mountain loop drive, which is four hundred and forty miles, which goes all the way around, you know, to Central Washington and back over to the coast. It's a really, really cool drive. Some of the other hidden gems that I think are pretty cool are, uh, yeah, one of one of my favorite hidden gems in, uh, in Everett is Jetty Island. It's like a, I believe, like a, like a, like a two mile, two mile long strip of, uh, of island. And it's like, it has like, it's a sandy beach off of Everett. You could take a little, a little in the, in the summer, you could take a little, a little, uh, foot ferry. That's like literally like a minute long ride and it's. And you get there. It's amazing. It's like, you know, like a like a. Ocean beach in the middle of. Everett. Which is pretty amazing. Let me ask you this about Jetty Island. Um, the float glass. Do they still do that? Like, I know that the shack Art center was doing a thing where they would work with glass artists who would blow up, like the old school glass floats that, you know, fishermen would use with their nets, and then they would leave them on the island. And it was a scavenger treasure hunt. If you found them, you got to keep them. Are you familiar with that? I vaguely remember, I vaguely remember that, and I don't I don't know if that's going on anymore, but that was pretty cool. And if if you're listening to this shack Art center, bring that back. Yeah, exactly. Bring that back. Yeah, that was pretty cool. Yeah. Something kind of related to that up in, uh, up in Stanwood, there's a, there's a, there's a big glass glass. It's called like glass quest, I believe and do same things like the handblown glass, and you do a scavenger hunt and go around the city and try to find it, and you can turn it in and win and actually get one of the balls. It's pretty cool. When I was a child, um, like ten years old, we went one time to the open house at the Pilchuck Glass School. And if you have never done that, the Pilchuck Glass School campus is incredible. It's beautiful. It's a gorgeous campus where artists and residents will go work on their various different glass techniques. And it's right there on the exit to go to Stanwood. And it's just incredible. Yeah, we've been trying to make it up there and I haven't yet. I'm not sure if you have yet, Richard, but, uh, it's high on my list to check out. Yeah, it's usually in early May is when they do their open house because it's a closed campus. And so you can't go unless you're an artist in residence there. But, uh, once a year, they open it up for tours. Yeah. Well, you had mentioned the Mountain loop highway, so let's go and talk about some cool scenic drives and byways in Snohomish County. Give me some details about these particular scenic routes or drives or byways. And they don't even have to be a particular designated scenic drive. But just tell me about some really fun drives that you think people should be checking out while they're here in Snohomish County. As I mentioned before, the county is, is, is large, and you can think of it as a large rectangle and sort of the two main east west routes are highway five thirty and state route two. And because they're east west, they take, uh, motorists and recreation Recreationalists recreationists uh, out into the Cascades. So yeah, so the mountain loop is one and it's a, as Nick mentioned, it's a loop. So it's fifty five miles and it will take you from the small mountain town of Granite Falls out into the Cascades almost to Glacier Peak, which is a snow capped volcano. Back into Darrington, another small former timber town. And along the way there are literally hundreds of hikes that you can do. There's many trailheads and the trails fork off from there and you can do climb up mountains or hike along river valleys. So Mountain Loop is one for our viewers. You definitely want to check out with some caveats. It's closed seasonally due to snow. Uh, they have a gate that they close, but typically it's open from spring to fall and the outermost reaches are not paid. So there are some potholes. Uh, so you want to proceed with caution. And then highway two that takes folks along. Richard real quick. Yeah, hold on before we go into highway two on that route with the potholes in the gravel road, could you do that in a sedan or do you think you need a more high clearance vehicle? How bad is that stretch of gravel road, do you know? Yeah, I've done it. I'm not suggesting somebody tows out there, but, like, do you need a Jeep or can you do it in a grocery getter, four door sedan? Yeah, that's a great question. I've done it in a sedan on tourism business. It's a little it's a little hairy, I'll be honest. Okay, sorry, but back to highway two now. Thank you for that. Yeah. For sure. Um, so highway two is the route from Everett, which is one of our main cities here. And it goes east west through the Skykomish and Snohomish River valleys all the way to Stevens Pass. And as you keep going over Stevens Pass, you get into Eastern Washington and Leavenworth. So it's very popular with motorists. Again, there's lots of opportunities and hiking opportunities along the way. Again, with the caveat, if you're coming westbound on a Sunday, be prepared for traffic because it's one lane highway. So I just want your listeners to be cautious about that because they can get stuck for a while. And then finally, I would say the, the other place you need to go is Kayak Point, which is on Marine View, excuse me, Marine Drive just south of Stanwood and north of Marysville. So it's a coastal drive. And then Kayak Point is one of the crown jewels of our county park system. It is a salt water beach with RV lots with hookups, spots to do, tent camping there, yurts, and then an entire waterfront where you can of course kayak but also throw crab pots. There's a boat launch, there's a picnic shelters. So I highly recommend that park for our viewers. Kayak point is one of my favorite county campgrounds. I go there at least two to three times a year. Just, you know, when I want to get out of town for a weekend, but I don't want to go far. Um, I just want to clarify that when we talk about hookups, they have just water and electric. They don't actually have sewer insights. So I'm just clarifying that with people listening. But you cannot dump your tanks there at the campground. Yeah. Another, another interesting thing about highway two is, uh, you know, it stretches, like Richard said, through Snohomish County. The, the, the, the, with the Snohomish County, but it also stretches two thousand five hundred miles in, in, uh, in total all the way to, from Everett to the Great Lakes. So you basically get from the Salish Sea all the way to, to the, to the Great Lakes. So any listeners in between that area go along for the ride if you want, and, and end up in Everett and check it out. Oh, wow. That's actually really cool. I didn't know that. Yeah, that is pretty cool. Yeah. Um, let's talk about other county parks and what are some of the activities that people can do and explore and check out when they're checking out some of the other county parks. And this doesn't need to be necessarily camping related. They could be cool day use parks or some of those other parks, County parks. The county has an extensive park system, and I think what's really valuable to people who are visiting and speaking as a resident too, is just the diversity of activities that there are to do. And there's all sorts of different parks. So for example, near where we live, there's Lord Hill Park in Snohomish. It's a twenty minute drive from Everett, but it feels like the middle of nowhere in a good way. So there's. Yeah it does. Yeah. So there's acres and acres of well graded, well managed, well maintained trails for equestrians, mountain bikers, Walkers, hikers, trail runners. I think there's something there for everyone and it feels like an escape from the city, but it's so close in proximity. You know what else is out there real quick? There's Geocaches hidden in North Hill Park. So if anybody is into geocaching, I used to do that with my kids and we would go treasure hunting out there at Lauderdale Park. Yeah, yeah, I didn't know that. That's cool. Yeah, it's pretty cool. Yeah. We talked a little bit about Lauderhill and the saltwater recreation there. There's also different parks with boating. Lake Goodwin is one, Wennberg is another, and there are places like River Meadows up in Arlington that also has camping and great river access. If you need to cool off in the cool off in the summer. And surprisingly, the Evergreen State Fair is also a counterpart. So if you happen to be in town from late August into early September, swing by the fair. They have good old fashioned carnival fun, speedway animals, and all the delicious, greasy fried food that you could want. We've already hit two epic drives, a quaint downtown, the Fair Trail's fried food, and more. But that's just the start. After the break, we're showing you how to spend the perfect day in Snohomish County and where to base camp and all of the best festivals. But first, if finding a campsite is a headache, check out our longtime sponsor, Camper Alerts. They'll help you snag a spot even when campgrounds are full. Visit camper alerts dot com and go ahead. Set your alert today. The seasons may have changed, but that doesn't make it any easier to find available campsites. Now you can get notified of sold out campsites when they become available with camper alerts. Choose your campground. Pick your RV specific filters and set an alert. It's that simple. Visit Camper Alerts today and start setting your alerts. Welcome back to RV out West. We're talking the perfect day in Snohomish County. Base camps, festivals and all the must see spots. So I got a question for both of you guys independently. If you had the opportunity to to talk to a first time visitor who's never been to the county and they only had one day to explore it, how would you suggest they spend that day? I gotta think on this one for a second. Yeah, let's see one. We'll see one. I'll do the same thing. I'll even chime in and recommend. I'll. Yeah, but you guys go. I don't want to. I don't want to taint. See, if I if I had to recommend one day to explore, uh, Snohomish County. Um, how would you spend it? Let's see. Or recommend somebody to spend it one, one day, one one thing we actually did in, uh, Richard and I joined a group or a group joined us in a drive on highway two. It was actually really fun and interesting. I recommend this to, you know, to people because you can do it all in one day because we did a test run of it is, uh, you can, uh, you can go along highway two. You can, you can check out some of the, some of the towns along there, like, like gold bar and, uh, and Sultan and index. Check out the, I'd recommend going to index and checking out the little area by the, by the bush, by the bush house. And, and you know, those cool little hikes along there and, and then get back on highway two. We went to the, uh, the bakery there. I think it's the, the Sultan bakery. We went to the Sultan bakery. Yeah. Really, really good food. Really good price. Yeah. Uh, so, so along the highway and then we went, went the other way and went back into downtown Snohomish, which is in the, which is an amazing little, little town, bunch of little red, red brick, red brick Buildings and, uh, like an amazing community there. A lot of like, uh, antique antique shops. There's a Riverwalk, there's some really cool restaurants and, uh, and a distillery. And then you get back on the highway and then you go into Everett and you check out, you go, you go to Funko. You know, the Funko headquarters is there. Cool place to check out. Got a fun little if you want to nerd out and check out some of the stuff there, it's nice. After you leave Funko and go, you go back. You go down south on I-5 for for a little jog, and then you go down to. Go down to Edmonds and go to the to the ferry and right over to Kingston. They got a cute little downtown over there. You can get some ice cream, uh, get a drink, get back on the ferry, go to Edmonds, go back to Edmonds, maybe go, uh, catch some dinner there. They got, like, a really good surf and turf place called salt and iron that we went to. That was awesome. And, uh, cute little downtown with a bunch of shops and, uh, yeah, so that's a monster day. Yeah, that's yeah, that covers, that covers an entire day. That covers a big. That's a lot. It's an aggressive day, but it's really fun and it gives you a great a great kind of view of like the county, its entirety, like from sea to mountains. And you get to see some, some of the greenery that's amazing over on the eastern side of the county. And then you get to catch some of the water and everything in between. It's amazing. I just learned about a really cool pizza restaurant I want to go check out in Kingston. It's supposedly incredible. It's called Sourdough Willy's. Yes. And so you can walk on from Edmonds and then just, you know, walk up when you get off at Kingston and walk up to this pizza place. So I think we're going to have to do a family trip because we're always on the quest for the perfect slice. Yeah. Sourdough Willy's, they it's the first stop. Yeah, the first, the first, uh, place right off the ferry. And it's, uh, okay. And it's, uh, yeah, they do slices in, you know, pies and it's really good. I took my kids there. Cool a little. Yeah, a little trip, and they loved it. I dig it, Richard. How about you, man? How would you recommend a first time visitor spend a day in Snohomish County? Yeah, I, I first just want to endorse Nick's itinerary. I think that's a really solid way to see the breadth of the county. Um, all great destinations I purchase from a little bit more of like a, if you want to, if you're in town for one day and you just want to get that quintessential northwest coastal experience, I'd recommend starting in Everett, which is my hometown. So I'm a little biased. I think it's a great place to visit. But, um, the, the Marina here, it's the second largest public Marina on the west coast behind, uh, San Diego, I believe. And it's walkable bikeable. It's lined with new restaurants. They developed it extensively. Um, the past few years. The Port of Everett has. And so the anchor there that would start, um, everybody on. No pun intended. Anchor. Marina. It would be the muse, which is an old Weyerhaeuser showroom. Warehouses are being the the timber company in the northwest. And so it's this old house that is been lovingly restored. And it used to be the showroom for this timber company. So it has all this incredible molding, window casings. Everything's really well maintained. And one half they've turned into a speakeasy by night, and the other half is a cafe by day. And it seems that they, the owners and investors have spared no expense in in all the interior detail. So I'd start off with coffee there because you can sit in this amazing old house that has these vintage Everett Pacific Northwest vibes and you can look out on the Marina, and sometimes you'll even see harbor seals or other herons start there and then travel on the coast to Mukilteo. There's an iconic lighthouse that you won't want to miss. And then really close to the Mukilteo beach, uh, is the Boeing factory. And aviation might not be for everyone, but it's definitely part of our local culture and heritage. So I would recommend taking the Future of Flight Tour, which is their museum that explores the history of aviation technology. It's really hands on. If you have kids and they're interested in Stem activities, you can walk inside a space capsule, do flight simulators, and then you have the option from there of taking the Boeing Factory tour, which boggles the mind to the scale of it. You're looking down at seven eighty seven. Excuse me. Nope. Not seven eighty seven triple sevens being built and they look like little toy airplanes. It's, um, the largest building in the world. And you can fit all of Disneyland inside of it. So I'd say that's that's an experience you won't get anywhere else. I can confidently say, I love it. You guys have two great ideas. I'm thinking I definitely would start in Everett with a cup of coffee. Um, maybe at the loft or a shoo Shoo bakery or at narrative. I would get a cup of coffee and, you know, a pastry or a bagel. And then I would recommend a day out at Lake Rosegger out there in Machias, out by Snohomish, and then I would say end up at Spud's Fish and Chips in Edmonds or Niles Peacock in Edmonds for a bite to eat. Or you can end up back in Everett for a bite to eat. And then, uh, yeah, maybe take the boat out to Jetty Island for the sunset, and then I cap off with a cocktail of blue water. Okay, let me ask you this, though. Let's talk about festivals and, you know, kind of those bigger annual activities that are really fun and cool things to do. So share with me some of the cool festivals and they don't need to just be music festivals, but just kind of those kind of annual events that are here in the county for people to check out. What do you recommend? So Brooks, one of the, one of the best festivals in the area, I know you said music or and otherwise, but but music. Start with music. The music one. Uh, Darrington. They have first of all, they have a whole bunch of music festivals there. Uh, you know what? No matter what you're into, they have, like, jam band stuff. They have classic rock. They have, you know, this little mountain town in the eastern in the northeastern part of the Cascades. Uh, little, little town. But they have a big music presence, but they're they're shining. They're shining. Jewel, I think for music is the Darrington Bluegrass Festival. And this year, this summer, they're actually gonna be celebrating their fiftieth year of it. So it's pretty, it's gonna be pretty a big one. And, uh, yeah, it's, it's amazing. You go, you know, to kind of set the scene you like, go right, right off the right off the highway, and you go to this, uh, to this big field park. And then you, then you walk to the, to the, uh, to the amphitheater arena area and, uh, not the arena, the little amphitheater. And there's just like, it's just like grass and kind of just like seats look kind of like a Greek style amphitheater. And you could just, you know, everyone's really chilled there. They don't serve alcohol there, but you could like bring it in if you have it. It's, uh, it's just super old school, very cool vibe. Everyone's having a great time. There's kids playing, they got a kids area. The camping is incredible. This would probably be great if you have have an RV or some kind of like kit, or do some camping, car camping or something. They have, uh, the stages there. And then right around it is just like, it's like a semi-circle of just like all the, all the campers like cars and tents and everything. And so people were like, you know, it's not like a usual festival style thing where you have to like, go in and stay in there and the music's separate. It's kind of like the campers are right next to the stage and people are going back to their site getting food or whatever. Coming back in. It's pretty amazing. It's, it feels very, uh, just very low, low, low stakes, low key, really fun. There's some amazing artists there. I will tell you this, Nick, I went and told my camper out there and stayed. Yeah. One there's nothing like listening to bluegrass music in the foothills of any mountains. It's like where the music was born from. So whether you're out in Appalachia or you're in the Cascades, like it's there's just like come to Jesus moment when you're listening to bluegrass in the mountains. I agree, Just like an epiphany and you're like, what is this? This is crazy. It's awesome. Yeah. But also, if you stay past and if you are camping tent, RV, it doesn't matter how you're camping, but if you are able to stay when the bands stop playing at ten p m, the music doesn't stop. Everybody goes and jam sessions are happening in the campground. I was in my camper, windows open, lying in bed, falling to sleep, to people just jamming and laughing and playing music. And you're just hearing like, people just playing for fun. Like it was such a cool experience and what a way to fall asleep. It was really cool. Yeah, it was a very unique experience. And it's yeah, I went there last summer for my first time and I really enjoyed it. And I think about it often and I'm definitely going to go back and maybe make a regular thing is, yeah, like you said, just hearing that kind of bluegrass music, you know, with the backdrop of the, of the mountains was kind of life changing. It's amazing. Yeah, it's pretty amazing. Yeah. It's cool. All right. Richard, what about you? Man, what kind of festivals or recommendations do you have? Yeah. Um, summer for me really kind of revolves around my home city of Everett. And sometimes I just like to walk or bike downtown with my family and see what's going on because it's got a pretty stacked events calendar. Um, one of my favorite things to do is Everett Farmer's Market on Sunday. And we have farmer's markets throughout the county. We do a roundup every spring. You can find it on our website discover dot com. But um, the Everett one I think is, is super solid. And one of the advantages we have here in Snohomish County is that it's not, it's not too developed. We have farmland in close proximity to the city. So you really get some amazing local produce flowers grown right in there, Right in the valley. Fresh baked bread. So that's something I would recommend. And then one of the big events that seems to get bigger every year has been the Everett three on three tournament. So folks come regionally to compete in downtown three on three tournaments. Basketball pickup games. And um, it's been really exciting to see that grow. I feel like the whole downtown is, is just full of people and activity. Um, and I think that's coming in late July this year, so I definitely recommend that. And then finally, if you're also an active person, um, be sure to check out the events at Snohomish running company does, and they, they do them in Everett, but they also do them in Snohomish and around. But I think for their flagship one is they do a Centennial Trail half marathon. I didn't mention the Centennial Trail earlier, but that's also our county park. It's a thirty mile trail. But so much running company. They do a yeah, they do a half marathon. And then it varies by years. Sometimes they do a five K or a ten miler. They can do different distances, but it's this rural trail that goes through the the river valleys of Summit County. Would highly recommend that. I actually just signed up for a for a one hundred k ul relay race on the Centennial Trail. That's going to happen this summer. I'm excited about that. Oh, that's pretty fun. That's cool. Yeah. Good for you. That's awesome. You know, the one thing we didn't really I want to circle back now. So. So people can come to Snohomish County and, and go to these music festivals or go to soda culture or come and explore each of these very different kind of communities from Darrington and Arlington and Snohomish and Everett and Edmonds and have all of these different kind of experiences. Let's talk about places where they can base camp out of and where should they camp? I know we talked about kayak point, but you know. Tell me about some of the other county campgrounds that you would recommend that people could stay at. Yeah. Um, one place that I think is really a good place to set up a base camp if you like outdoor recreation is River Meadows. I mentioned that earlier up near Arlington. It's a little bit off the beaten path. We'll definitely have to use Google Maps to, uh, navigate there. But, um, there's hiking trails there, there's river access recreation, and then you have access to downtown Arlington, which is another one of our. Nicole was talking about how Snohomish is like little red brick, walkable. Downtown Arlington is similar. It's got diners and coffee shops and little boutiques. So that's you could definitely spend a day there. And then you're within striking distance of the mountain loop, uh, the, the northern arm of the mountain loop. And if you're looking for a hike out in that direction, I'd recommend Boulder River. It's. It's kid friendly, but has a big payoff for the amount of effort. There's an iconic waterfall there. Um, you could check out. So that's that's up north, closer to the south side. I'd actually recommend staying at the fairgrounds, which is open to RV camping year round and has, has hookups as well. I don't know if you can reserve a spot during fair because I think that's reserved for people who are visiting vendors and whatnot, but you can use that as your base camp for highway adventure and all the fun that is to be had in the highway two corridor. Okay, you know what we didn't talk about? Let's talk about hikes. We haven't had a chance to really kind of talk about some hikes. So maybe can you guys share with me pretty quickly your top three favorite hikes in the county? My, my personal favorite hike is, uh, Japanese Gulch in Mukilteo. It's, uh, there's about four miles of trails and it feels kind of rainforest. And people also do some do some biking there, I think mountain biking. But uh, yeah, you know, there's a lot of cool little birds around. It's just feels very, just very, you know, it's just, it's just a nice place to be. It feels, you know, you're in this, you're in the urban area of Snohomish County, but you just feel completely disconnected and like you're in a different world. That's, that's my favorite place to hike in the county. Cool. What about you, Richard? Yeah. Yeah. Honestly, we have so many hikes. It's it's actually kind of hard to decide. So I'll tell you. I'll give you some, uh, some great places to go. Uh, my four favorite hike is Haybrook Ridge out past index. It's one thousand seven hundred feet in elevation gain. So pretty, pretty doable. And it's just over the course of, I think one point four miles, but there's a fire lookout tower that you can climb up and you get a view of the Skykomish River Valley. That's a great place to start. Another place near index is Bridal Veil Falls. Again, pretty doable with the family. And you hike up to a waterfall that's coming out of the mountain lake. Um, that's a favorite for a lot of folks. My second favorite hike on the Mountain Loop Highway is Mount Dickerman. Definitely more advanced. Lots of switchbacks, leaker accounts burning, but there are blueberry fields at the top. And it's one of those where you you're at the top and you get the full panorama of the mountains. Ridiculously photogenic, but you gotta you gotta sweat to get there. And then my all time favorite hike, I'm gonna, I'm going to keep to myself. That's a, that's a secret one. That's fair, that's fair. Okay, one other hike. Uh, they like to throw in there is the big four ice caves. It's about a little over two mile round trip. Uh, hike, and you get to see the beautiful caves. It's good. Nice to go. Like in the, you know, in the, in the winter, winter and spring time. But, uh, stay away from the caves. They're dangerous. And yes, stay away from the caves. I was admiring them from from a distance. Yep. Quick rapid fire answer. What is one thing about Snohomish County that surprises you the most? I think for me, I think just how accessible it is. You have the like I said earlier, you have access to to the to the sea, to the mountains, to like, you know, cities and towns. And there's just like you could be in one part of the county and one little part and it could be like a completely its own world. And you go to another and there's just all these different little microcosms and micro worlds within the two thousand square feet we have. And it's just, uh, yeah, it's just really cool. It's not, you know, it's not thoroughly shaved. That's coming from Arizona and it's beautiful down there. But every place looks kind of the same here. Here, it's not every it's just there's all these different climates and regions and really cool stuff. It's just it's incredible. And I feel so lucky to, to live here and to be from here. Yeah. All all second what Nick is saying and expand on it a little bit. I think the character here is really something that I'm surprised by. Also, when I travel, like I go to cities where it's strip malls in suburbia and I feel like our downtowns, especially, they are what they are and the people are genuine. And, um, it's really refreshing to come back home after I travel and get the also just the quality of air. Um, we live in such a beautiful place that we have trees and the ocean and other places. I, I, I come back and I can just feel how good it feels to be in the Pacific Northwest. Gentlemen, thank you so much. Where can people learn more about Snohomish County and where can they go? You come to our website at discover Snohomish County dot com. You can find us on Instagram and Facebook at discover NoCo. I also like to plug our, uh, our podcast also. Uh, Snohomish County Placemakers, which is on Apple podcasts and Spotify. Gentlemen, thank you guys so much for coming on the show. I really appreciate it. Thanks. Thanks, Brooks. All right, my friends, the conversation doesn't have to end here. If anything we talked about sparked your curiosity. Head over to RV outwest dot com and check out the show notes. We've got links to everything we mentioned so you can dive deeper, explore more, and maybe even start planning your next adventure. 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