With over two million visitors a year, Tacoma’s Point Defiance Park can lay claim to being one of the Pacific Northwest’s greatest spectacles,  popular with naturalists, anglers, diners and children of all ages.

Like several of my fellow AAA bloggers, I am fascinated by botanical gardens. Point Defiance Park’s entrance road passes by a contemplative pond that lies beside a series of gardens rich with floral delights – roses, irises, fuchsias and herbs are prominently displayed.

Public tennis courts are found across from the rose garden and just uphill you’ll find a statue honoring Francis W. Cushman, the Congressman responsible for bringing the park under local authority in 1905. The 702 acres were originally preserved as a military outpost by President Andrew Johnson in 1871, but it was never used in that capacity.

Just around the bend from the roses, visitors can discover the Pagoda (complete with traditional Japanese garden) and the Lodge, the park’s oldest building. Constructed in 1899, the Lodge served as the park superintendent’s residence for over 80 years.

A couple hundred yards ahead is the entrance to the park’s historic Boathouse Marina, a haven for folks who enjoy chasing fish, squid and crab through this serene section of Commencement Bay. Boats with and without motors are available to rent by the hour, while a bait and tackle shop delivers the slimy goods to anglers. Across the shallows from Anthony’s Restaurant (next door to the marina) is a Washington State Ferry terminal that connects Point Defiance with Tahlequah on Vashon Island.

Further up the park road is one of my favorite spots for a spring Sunday stroll, Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium. Nearly 600,000 visitors a year enjoy featured exhibits such as a newly-built Asian forest sanctuary (complete with Sumatran tigers and Asian elephants), an Arctic tundra setting with polar bears and reindeer, and a 240,000-gallon lagoon showcasing seven different shark species. It’s not uncommon to spot peacocks traipsing (or is it parading?) around the zoo’s café.

Inside the Kids’ Zone, the Marine Discovery Center provides children with hands-on encounters with sea stars, sponges and other docile aquatic creatures. During the holiday season, the zoo covers itself with half a million lights for its popular Zoolights Festival.

The park’s main loop continues northwestward into forested lands as Five Mile Drive, chugging past several picnic areas with overlooks on Commencement Bay. Owen Beach is a place for those keen on dipping their toes in the sand to sit and take in nature (or a good book). The beach features kayak rentals as well as a promenade that leads all the way back to the marina.

After Owen Beach, hang an easy right to continue the journey to the tip of Point Defiance. Past this point Five Mile Drive is open to cars from dawn to dusk daily, except on weekends prior to 1pm when bicyclists and pedestrians get the road to themselves. The forest teems with wildlife and deer and raccoons are frequent sightings – some of the raccoons may even chase you!


There are over seven miles of marked nature trails to enjoy. Several turnouts off the road provide views of Vashon Island, Gig Harbor and the bridges at Tacoma Narrows (site of the famously-filmed Galloping Gertie suspension bridge collapse in 1940). 

After about ten minutes the drive arrives at Fort Nisqually Living History Museum. This is a great stop for families as visitors are whisked back in time to 1855 by volunteers who re-enact life in this premier Hudson’s Bay Company trading post. Originally sited in the town of DuPont twenty miles south, the fort was relocated to Point Defiance and opened as a museum in 1933. The site has a dozen buildings that cover all aspects of frontier life (including two original structures), including a smithy, a general store and the impressive doctor’s home.


The last mile of the park’s main road passes the Camp 6 Logging Exhibit, featuring a replica of a working logging railroad, and a native plant garden. Back at the Pearl Street entrance, a go-kart track and batting cages provide a return to 21st-century pursuits.

The park is directly accessible from Highway 16 via Pearl St, or from I-705 via the Ruston Waterfront. Click on the map to see detail and get driving directions.