The Fab 5 Of Fall Adventures

A BIT OF AUTUMN is in the air, calling all late-season outdoors types to get out and breathe deeply. Hiking and camping can be particularly good, with kids in school and black flies out of the way.

Let the games begin.

For once, the rules are on your side.

Washington's outdoor lands, crammed like the press box at Busch Stadium in St. Louis since summer kicked off three months ago, are taking a long, well-deserved deep breath.

Kids are back in school. Tourist gapers are back in Baltimore. Roads are clearing. Nights are crisp. Leaves are falling. Campgrounds are becoming reservation-free. And the smarter outdoors folks - those who reserved enough vacation time to spend it when it counts - are gearing up for glorious late-season adventures.

It's the best of seasons in the Northwest, and, to help you out the door, we offer our annual fabulous five fall getaways, each of which comes with a field-tested guarantee to provide an autumn rush you simply can't get by raking leaves.

Fort Casey State Park

It's a hit any time of the year. But in the autumn, the old fort on a bluff west of Coupeville is downright magical. Crisp breezes hustle off Admiralty Inlet, stretching the flag at the stately Admiralty Head lighthouse, one of the most picturesque in the West. The sprawling, open fields in the park's day-use area are deliciously vacant, providing prime kite-flying territory.

Best of all, the small but delicious beachfront camping area displays a rare open site or two. The camp, with only 35 sites, is on the water, next to the Keystone ferry terminal. As such, it's very exposed to the wind and other elements. Fall overnight trips here are more enjoyable for the RV set, who can sleep in heated comfort. But hearty tent-clad souls can and do make it just fine here. (Campsites cannot be reserved.)

If neither is in the offing, Fort Casey is a perfect daylong, clear-sky getaway from the Seattle area.

Methow Valley

Like so many other mountainous regions of the state, the Methow is at full glory in the fall, when local foliage paints the hillsides auburn, yellow and crimson, and the valley enters a peaceful slumber between summer and ski season.

The coming weeks offer a prime chance for mountain biking, hiking and camping in the Methow, Twisp and Chewuch river drainages, all of which are noted for crisp, clear weather and topography that's more reminiscent of Montana or Colorado than soggy Washington.

Mountain-biking destinations are limitless on the Methow Community Trail system, the 175-kilometer wonder that turns this region's string of quaint villages into an interconnected, cross-country-ski heaven during winter months. The Methow Valley Sport Trails Association, which maintains the trail system, encourages its offseason use by mountain bikers. The Methow's annual Mountain Bike Festival, on the first weekend of October, draws thousands of fat-tire enthusiasts, including racers who compete on trails in the Sun Mountain area. Novices and intermediates can't miss with the lower-valley (mostly flat) Community Trail between Mazama and Winthrop (about 14 miles.) Call the Sport Trails Association, 509-996-3287, for details. Rental bikes and valley maps are available at Methow Mountain Sports, 509-996-2886.

Camping choices in the Methow area are many. Pearrygin Lake State Park, six miles out of Winthrop, is a pleasant spot with 85 sites (30 with full hookups, 27 with water only), a 48-person group camp, good picnic sites, a swimming beach and bathhouse and a boat launch. It's open until mid-November, and reservations can be made through Reservations Northwest (800-452-5687).

Many U.S. Forest Service campgrounds also remain open in the fall (until they're blocked by snow, usually mid-November), including scenic spots in the Chewuch River Valley north of Winthrop, the Twisp River drainage and the Mazama/Early Winters area. Call the Methow Valley Visitor's Center, 509-996-4000, or the Forest Service in Twisp, 509-927-2131.

Heather Meadows

The Meadows, perhaps the most beautiful place in the Northwest you actually can drive to, cling to a ridgeline between Mounts Shuksan and Baker in the jagged North Cascades. It's a busy spot in the summer, when tourists flock here to take in an alpine environment with zero expended energy. But it's doubly delightful in the fall, when temperatures dip enough to zap the region's pesky biting black flies.

The parking lot at Heather, 56 miles east of Bellingham on the Mount Baker Highway 542, is a spectacular place. But trails fanning out from here are the real attraction. They take visitors to scenic vistas at Table Mountain, the Chain Lakes Loop, Ptarmigan Ridge and Lake Ann. The latter is a grand, eight-mile round-trip backpack route in the fall.

Overnighters can pitch tents or worm their RVs into sites at Douglas Fir, a Forest Service campground two miles east of Glacier. It's open until mid-October.

Ohanapecosh River

A gorgeous fall retreat in Mount Rainier National Park, the Ohanapecosh drains the southeast slopes of the mountain and offers a wealth of good late-season hiking and camping.

The Ohanapecosh Campground, near the park's Stevens Canyon (southeast) entrance, is the largest at Rainier, with 232 sites nicely spread along the Ohanapecosh, one of the Cascades' clearest rivers. From the campground, great day-hiking trails lead to spectacular Silver Falls (three miles, round trip) and on up the river to the peaceful Grove of the Patriarchs nature trail. The nearby Eastside Trail is a pleasant, nine-mile one-way hike along the river. Call the park at 360-569-2211 for campground and trail updates.

White Pass

One of the state's most scenic cross-state highways is U.S. 12, the White Pass corridor, which connects Southwest Washington and the Yakima Valley, snaking between Mount Rainier and Mount Adams.

And some of the best fall hiking and camping can be found right at the summit, near White Pass Ski Area. The Pacific Crest Trail crosses near here, providing a southerly route to the Goat Rocks Wilderness, home of some of the most spectacular scenery on the 2,600-mile PCT. Day hikers and backpackers can make a quick trip up Hogback Ridge, where good campsites are found at Shoe Lake (about 6.5 miles). Hikers heading north enter the William O. Douglas Wilderness. The 29-mile PCT stretch between White Pass and Chinook Pass has many good campsites at Deer Lake, Sand Lake, Snow Lake and Dewey Lakes - all spectacular, but bug- and people-ridden during summer months. Most backpackers take three days to walk this route one way. Keep your eyes and nose open for ripe huckleberries and blueberries.

Overnighters can stay in White Pass Lake Campground. The small, pretty campground has 16 sites (no hookups; maximum RV length 15 feet) on the east side of Leech Lake. A larger campground on the west side of White Pass is La Wis Wis, which has 118 sites on the Ohanapecosh River, about seven miles east of Packwood. It's open through September.

Special note: October drives along Rimrock Lake Reservoir and the Tieton River drainage are spectacular, affording a rare opportunity to see golden larch trees in full autumn color.