Will be in WA for a couple weeks, with 5-6 of those days spent at a cabin up Twisp River Road the first 5 or 6 days of August.

Went to Grand Coulee Dam 2 years ago during the wild fires...  Ended up being evacuated before we could do a lot of hiking and sight see'n.

Other than hiking, which we will do, what else will I be missing out on that I don't know about?

Muchassgrassyass...

IM sent. You will love Harts Pass.

If you go up to Hart's Pass, make sure you drive all the way to the top of Slate Peak.  There is an amazing view from up there.  Oh, and you'll want to bring plenty of mosquito repellant in August.

Also, Winthrop is a scenic little town just down the road that has some nice shops and restaurants. I've heard there are good campsites in the area, too.

If you travel farther west on SR20, up into the Cascades, there are a couple other fun places to visit.  One of those places is Diablo Lake.  There is plenty of hiking to be had around the lake and you can even go on a boat tour on the lake.  You have to drive across a very tall dam in order to get to the boat tour and some of the hiking trails.

If you drive another 15-20 minutes west of Diablo Lake, you come to the town of Newhalem.  It is completely owned and run by Seattle City Light.  They are responsible for managing three hydroelectric dams in the area.  They have a small visitor center in the center of the town, across from the general store, that is staffed by a ranger who can tell you plenty of info on the area.  

There is a pedestrian bridge in the town that spans the Skagit River and leads to a short walking trail called the "Trail of the Cedars."  That trail is less than a 1/2 mile loop, and on the far end of the loop is an old mill, that, I believe, is now a historical site.

On the east side of the town, there is another pedestrian bridge that spans the river and leads to the Gorge Power Station.  During certain times of the year, you can see thousands of salmon in the river from that location.  At the rear of the power station, there is a door that leads to another visitor center that displays old photos that show the history of the construction and operation of the dams.  You are also able to view the power generating station in operation from up there.  

There is a short walking trail behind the Gorge Power Station there that leads up to Ladder Creek Falls.   In the summertime, there are colored lights on falls at nighttime.  It's kinda nice.

That's probably way more than you wanted to know, but if you make it that far up the Cascades, it's a nice place to visit.  And of course, there are tons of hiking trails and campsites in the area.

David

The Hart's Pass road is closed right now.  Big slide up at Dead Horse Curve. May or may not be cleared by then.  A really awesome drive is Gold Creek to Manson over Chelan Ridge.  Take lunch and make a day of it.

       




The big slide was cleared on Hart's pass, heard it had another small slide last night, hopefully to be cleared faster then the last.


http://www.methowvalley.com/bb/punbb/viewtopic.php?id=53330


Sweet Grass Butte and Buttermilk Butte are good day drives with nice views.


Lots of geocaches to go look for in the Methow Valley area.
 
 

Here are some ideas:
Mountain biking - lots of great trails around Winthrop, Mazama and Sun Mountain
Flyfishing the Twisp or Methow rivers for cutthroat trout
Float the Methow River in inner tubes
Old Schoolhouse Brewery - good burgers and best IPA around
Rifle range above Pearrygin Lake

Great info!  Thanks all y'all for the tips and suggestions so far...

The cabin is stocked with a couple deer guns...may have to visit the range too...

For a close alpine lake, good drive, but the burn scares are still pretty bad from the past two summers and I haven't been up there in years.
Black Pine Lake - from Twisp River to Poor Man Creek, then come down the backside on Libby Creek into Carlton.

For a water fall:
Falls Creek
http://www.waterfallsnorthwest.com/nws/falls.php?num=4555

For another falls and cliff jump if the kids have been maintaining the dam and the water is still high enough:
http://www.waterfallsnorthwest.com/nws/falls.php?num=4556

Pub in Winthrop good food and local beer, 1800's next door for decent Mexican, in Twisp go to La Fonda.

If you want to play in bigger lakes from Twisp River take Elbow Coulee to Patterson Lake, stay away from Perrygin, it's the dirty tourist lake.    And if you do Patterson, might as well go spend too much money on a fancy dinner and a view at Sun Mountain Lodge.

Of course like the other guys said, Highway 20 to Ross and Diablo Lake.

The trip was a success.  Currently de-hopping my system of many IPA's.

Took a salmon charter out of Anacortes, the fishing sucked.  Ran the guys pots and ended up with 5 keeper crabs at around 60 dollars a pound when it was said and done.  They were tasty though...

We hiked Helitrope Ridge and Skyline Divide on the west side.  Ate pizza and drank beer at Chair 9.  

Ate breakfast at Diamond Jims (Bellingham), stepped over a bum to get to car, drove 20 to Twisp, stopping at Diablo and the pass.

At the Twisp River cabin we bush wacked our way to the top of the ridge, shot AR's and did a bit of exploring, Last years fire came close to the Cabin.  Hiked Lookout Mountain and had a picnic in the shadow of the fire tower, great views...

Was told by locals not to take our jap rental to Harts Pass, so we loaded up some guns and went to the range by the lake in Winthrop.  Shot a 16 inch RRA, Savage 10 6.5 Creedmoor and a custom 375 RUM all at around 300+.  Someone left clay pigeons at the 300, thanks.  Those were fun.

The Twisp Pub is closed down, that was disappointing, was looking forward to drinking by the river in town.

Got ran off Goat Mountain by lightening and ended up drinking beer all day in the rain on Tuesday.

Hiked up Twisp Pass on Thursday, beautiful scenery.  Skeeters were deadly at the pass though, didn't stick around long in fear of contracting Squatch Zika...

Nice vacation, beautiful state, thanks again...

Oh and SeaTac blows ass...

Really great fly fishing at this time in those parts.