I know you’re all here for one thing: to ask me questions about Mazama. I’m good with that. It’s one of my all-time favorite places and we try to go there about twice a year until we build our dream cabin and retire in the Methow forever.

I wrote about Mazama a few years ago when my DMs started getting blown up with questions about this magical place in the mountains. They call The Methow area of Washington State the US version of the Swiss Alps. When Highway 20 opens for the summer and you can drive through North Cascades National Park, getting there becomes a huge part of the magic. How often can you say you drove through one of the most truly awesome parks in America to get where you’re going?

I’ll start by answering the questions you all ask me the most: I am not a happy camper, so I do not camp. I rent us cabins via Methow Reservations, the main rental company in the area (way bigger selection and better customer experience compared to Airbnb and VRBO). Our favorite cabins are Asa (small and the owners have amazing taste in decor + products, which really matters to me) and Adventure Outpost (bigger, walking distance to the Mazama Store, but IKEA + Dove shampoo vibes).

Mazama itself is right off the Pacific Crest Trail (remember Wild?) and it’s a haven for hippies and misfits, which few places in North Central Washington can claim. The main place to get food is the Mazama Store, which is an experience itself. They make the most delicious salted baguettes that sell out every morning and sell Cold Smokes by the singles. If they’d let me move in, I would.

But more than baguettes, beers, and epic views, this area is the cross-country skiing capital of the world. They have community and fancy-ish trails all over the valley. I don’t cross country ski, but I might someday, and I love that in the 70s, the locals fought off a resort trying to come in and make them the next Aspen so that they could stay just the way they are. We’ve snowshoed in the winter, mostly, but I can see myself getting in on the cross-country game now that I’m more of an athlete than I figured myself to be.

In the spring, summer, and fall, we are ALL ABOUT our mountain walks. Some call this hiking. I don’t do more than 4 mile loops TOTAL, so I do not consider myself a hiker either. Keep this in mind. There are SO MANY GOOD TRAILS around and many of them require different kinds of passes, so be sure to do your research on that.

Mostly, we go to Mazama to recharge, spend less time on our devices, and take it all in. The nature of my work keeps my screen time higher than I’d like, so running away to the mountains with my books, a few Netflix things downloaded on the iPad, lots of food and wine, and a puzzle is exactly the twice-a-year check in I need with myself.

I’d love to help you plan your adventure over the mountains, so hit me in the comments with anything I missed!