Yvette Brown Kennewick, Pasco, and Richland are three interconnected cities that make up the Tri-Cities region, along with other nearby towns. Even West Richland and additional neighboring towns are included.
This lovely city is well-known for its cozy parks, significance in both culture and history, and numerous museums that are packed with priceless artifacts. You can be sure to find a ton of enjoyable and lovely galleries, historical sites, markets, artifacts, and other interesting things in this city in Washington State.
Please take the time to carefully read this article if you want to learn about the interesting things to do in the tri-cities.
Tri-cities, Where Are You?
Richland, Kennewick, and Pasco, collectively known as Tri-Cities, are situated in southeast Washington State, where the Snake, Yakima, and Columbia Rivers converge just north of the Washington/Oregon border.
Where Are Tri-cities Located?
The Tri-Cities are reachable by car, train, or airplane. Tri-Cities can be reached by car in 3.5 hours from Seattle or Portland and in 2 hours from Spokane.
On its route to Portland, the Empire Builder of Amtrak makes a stop here. You can take a train from Portland or Spokane to get here, but NOT from Seattle unless you pass through Portland or Spokane first.
Seattle, Salt Lake City, Denver, Las Vegas, and a few other cities have nonstop flights to the Pasco airport.
What Is The When Should You Visit Tri-cities?
Every season is a great time to visit Tri-Cities! The best seasons to travel, in my opinion, are spring and fall. Everything on this list is a safe bet during the spring and fall seasons because of the predictable sunny weather that never gets too hot.
Because of the gorgeous wildflowers, you can see on hikes, I favor spring slightly. It’s the perfect time of year to escape Seattle’s gloomy, rainy spring days and enter a taste of summer, after all!
Summers can be scorching hot and winters can be very cold.
Interesting Attractions To Go In Tri-cities
Tri-cities Howard Amon Park
This multi-use recreation area on the banks of the Columbia River in Richland is a must-visit if you’re in Tri-Cities; otherwise, your exploration will be lacking.
In addition, Howard Amon Park is blessed with a playground and a concert venue that you wouldn’t want to pass up while in this amazing location.
The main attractions that keep people coming back for fun and enjoyment are the paved bike path, the Riverfront Trail, and the entire length of the park. Four tennis courts and a half-court for basketball are among the park’s sporting facilities.
Aside from that, this wonderful park in Tri-Cities is a nice and secure place to go for water sports. A small, lovely, and well-built pool is also located in the park’s southern section.
Reach Museum
You would be impressed by the Museum’s visually stunning facade even before entering. When you enter, this interactive museum will introduce you to the factors, such as the Manhattan Project and the Ice Age Floods, that shaped the Tri-Cities and its surroundings.
You can feast your eyes on exhibits in one rotating gallery and four permanent ones.
You can see performances that depict Tri-Cities history at the museum’s outdoor performing arts venue, which has a 500-seat amphitheater.
Chamna Natural Preserve
The Chamna Natural Preserve, which is 276 acres in size and is close to the Yakima River, provides a fun activity for the whole family or a group of friends.
Over 200 different bird species can be found in this preserve, including pelicans, waterfowl, cranes, owls, hawks, and more. The preserve is home to a variety of wild animals, including minks, river otters, and coyotes, in addition to birds. You can also see several different species of butterflies there.
You only need to immerse yourself in this preserve’s luxuriant vegetation. Use the various plants to your advantage because they make the ideal backdrop for your souvenir photos.
An 11-mile trail is accessible for biking, hiking, and horseback riding. Fun water activities are accessible because Chamna Natural Preserve is located on a riverbank. The Yakima River offers opportunities for canoeing, kayaking, and fishing.
Even in the snowy months, there is always something new to discover. You can try cross-country skiing and snowshoe if you’re in the area during the winter.
Wsu Master Gardener Demonstration Garden
You have the chance to learn various gardening methods here that you can apply to your landscape. You will also discover which shrubs, trees, and other plants are best for your area at any given time of the year.
You would be able to appreciate the garden more because of the park’s tranquility. WSU has over 24 specifically themed gardens that change periodically. For the younger ones, there is a 2-acre Children’s Garden, which is fantastic for teaching them to appreciate gardening at a young age.
Tri-cities Gesa Carousel Of Dreams
If you visit, the various concessions will undoubtedly transport you back to your childhood. In contrast, there is a lovely park in Tri-Cities where children can play unrestrictedly all day without worrying about getting hurt.
They have excellent facilities, and the staff closely supervises the children.
In addition, this lovely park seems like a nice place to enjoy nature and have a picnic. a circumnavigating walking path around the sports complex, a tiny but lovely playground, and more!
There are countless enjoyable things for visitors to discover there. Don’t forget to rent their bikes while you are at Gesa Carousel of Dreams during the summer. They are conveniently located and affordable.
Tri-cities 9/11 Memorial Pools
You’ll be amazed at the amount of money spent on the reflective pool, which honors those who died in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Anyone interested in American history will undoubtedly find this location in Tri-Cities to be a silent, sensitive, quiet, serene, and reflective one.
You would have a very difficult time understanding the magnitude of the tragedy if you visited, I assure you! Without visiting these pools or the museum, no trip to Tri-Cities is complete. It will produce an incredible experience that is undoubtedly worthwhile!
One of those locations where you might spend a very long time before realizing both the size of the buildings and the incredibly horrific incident that occurred there that day.
Tri-cities Badger Mountain Centennial Preserve
They have one of Tri-Cities’ best-hiking facilities, so if you’re an experienced hiker or just enjoy it, that’s a plus for you!
Additionally, the trails are always in fantastic condition, and the staff is amazing!
In addition, they frequently serve a lot of gifts and have a small play area where your kids can keep themselves occupied.
Unless you don’t want to have a fun-filled stay here, do not leave without exploring their lovely garden. You can easily come with two kids for just $20 because the admission price is so low!
Coyote Canyon Mammoth Site
Mammoth remains that were once present in the area were left behind by Ice Age floods that shaped the Eastern Washington landscape we see today.
You can take a tour of the Coyote Canyon site, where a paleontology dig is being conducted to uncover some of these mammoth bones, and learn all there is to know about paleontology and the local Ice Age. You must schedule your visit in advance, so this requires some advance planning.
Manhattan Project National Historical Park
The first full-scale nuclear reactor was the Hanford B Reactor, which was constructed close to Tri-Cities during World War II. The atomic bombs the United States used to bomb Japan in 1945 were made there. The location is now inactive and a part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, along with two other locations in different states.
The REACH Museum, which is where you can learn more about the B Reactor, also offers open tours on the weekends. It takes four hours to complete the tour, which also includes the time it takes to get from Richland to the location of the B Reactor. During the tour, you will learn about the history and science of the reactor as well as some of its effects on people.
Bechtel Planetarium
There is a fantastic planetarium at Columbia Basin College that is accessible to both the general public and college students. Regardless of the weather, planetariums are a fantastic way to learn about the night sky! They hold public shows to teach people about the night sky twice a month on the weekends.
Moore Observatory
Additionally, Columbia Basin College has the Moore Observatory on its grounds. When the 16″ telescope is available to the public, the area’s dry climate makes it an excellent location for stargazing. The observatory, which is frequently accessible to the public, is typically used by the college’s astronomy students.
Ligo Observatory
One of the two gravitational wave detectors in the United States is located in Tri-Cities. This location will amaze you if you’re a serious space nerd. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) can pick up the gravitational wave blips produced when various objects in space pass one another.
This makes it possible for scientists to detect signs of otherwise invisible objects and activities in space. Due to the fact that gravitational waves move at the speed of light, it even permits a glimpse into the past!
By the time the wave reaches the observatory on Earth, it might have originated from an event that took place millions or billions of years ago!
You’ll need to schedule your trip around it if you want to see it for yourself because open tours are only provided on the second Saturday of every month.
Pasco Aviation Museum
The chance to view vintage aircraft and learn about the Tri-Cities region’s aviation heritage will be a hit with aviation enthusiasts. The museum is situated at the former control tower from one of the US Navy’s busiest naval aviation facilities during World War II, close to the Pasco airport.
If you’re wondering why this inland area was the center of naval activity at the time (prior to the creation of the Air Force in 1947), it was because the Navy was where the military’s aviation operations were conducted.
The military relocated from Seattle to Pasco because there was more land available there and because it was farther from the city, where an attack might occur, according to the theory.
Interesting Things To Do In Tri-cities
Swimming
For cooling off on those sweltering summer days, Tri-Cities’ riverside swimming holes are ideal.
For swimming in the river, Richland’s Howard Amon Park and Leslie Groves Park both have designated swimming areas. If splash parks and other public pools are more your styles, those are available as well.
Bird Watching
Excellent bird watching is possible at the meeting of three rivers and the estuaries that separate them. The Chamna Nature Preserve, Bateman Island, and McNary National Wildlife Refuge are great places to spend some time spotting or just admiring birds.
Even though it is 65 miles north, close to Potholes State Park and Moses Lake, the Columbia National Wildlife Refuge is also a great location for birding.
Ride A Horse Through A Vineyard
If you’ve always wanted to try horseback riding, why not do it with a fantastic guide through Washington’s renowned Red Mountain AVA vineyards and then return for wine tasting and s’mores by the fire??
If you think that sounds amazing, you should visit Red Mountain Trails for a guided horseback ride (my trip here was my first time riding a horse, and it was wonderful!). If a tour on a horse-drawn wagon or a bike through the vineyard sounds more appealing, those options are also available.
Try Local Craft Beverages
Washington Wine Tasting
The Tri-Cities is in the center of Washington’s world-class wine region, where there are countless casual, enjoyable, and delicious wineries. You won’t run out of places to try and buy wine with more than 200 wineries within an hour!
A few of my favorite places are:
- You can sample Kitzke Cellars’ wonderful wines in the vineyard while taking in views of both Badger Mountain and Candy Mountain (conveniently located nearby).
- Red Mountain Trails: As I mentioned above, they also have really great wine in addition to fun activities like horseback riding and biking.
- Richland’s Longship Cellars is incredibly convenient, right next to the Columbia River Trail, and it has a fun tasting room with excellent wine.
- There are three excellent wineries here along the river in Kennewick, as well as food trucks, as I also mention in the section below about food, which is called Columbia Gardens. If you want to sample a variety of wines all at once, come here!
Craft Beer
In the Tri-Cities, you are undeniably in the center of wine country, but there are also a ton of fantastic breweries nearby!
In Richland, Bombing Range Brewing is my personal favorite (the food is also fantastic), and I also adore Moonshot Brewing. Only a taproom, Moonshot welcomes dogs both inside and out and frequently features a delicious food truck.
In addition to White Bluff Brewing, Atomic Brewing, and many others that are constantly opening, Ice Harbor Brewing is also extremely well-liked.
Solar Spirits Distillery
Being completely solar-powered makes Solar Spirits stand out in Washington’s inventive craft spirits sector. They are making great progress with solar technology and are aiming to run the distillation process entirely on solar energy.
All Washington-sourced ingredients are used to create vodka, gin, and other alcoholic beverages. In Richland, you can visit their tasting room and partake in a tasting or a cocktail.
Step Back In Time At Fascinating Historical Sites
There are numerous opportunities to learn more about the Tri-Cities region’s long history as a center of human activity, in addition to the REACH Museum and Manhattan Project National Historical Park mentioned above.
In 1996, a complete human skeleton that was among the oldest ever discovered was discovered in Kennewick. It dates back about 9000 years.
For those who want to delve even deeper into history, Franklin County’s Pasco and Benton County’s Kennewick each have two small but excellent local history museums.
Sacagawea State Historical Park
The confluence of the Snake and Columbia Rivers is where this park, which also has a small museum, is today’s Pasco. It’s a lovely location for a stroll or a picnic.
Native Americans have gathered here for fishing and trading for thousands of years. In honor of Sacagawea, a Shoshone woman who worked for and traveled with the Corps of Discovery, this land was designated as a Washington State Park after the Lewis and Clark Expedition passed through it in 1805.
Gesa Carousel Of Dreams
Its exquisite horses were a major draw when the carousel first opened in Michigan in 1912! Since then, it has traveled to numerous locations across the nation; however, Kennewick was the most recent.
To add some Washington flair, a cougar and a husky have been added to the original horses’ exquisite carvings. For children and adults who want to feel like children, this is a great place!
