Originally established as a mining and logging town, Packwood, WA, sits in a beautiful pocket of farmland to the west, mountains to the east and Mt. Rainer hovering in the background to the north. Visiting Packwood, about 2.5 hours from Seattle, is always a breath of fresh air, literally and figuratively, serving as a much needed reset.
The last couple of years we’ve made the trek to the Packwood Flea Market, held every Memorial and Labor Day weekend, from Friday to Monday. The flea market is the perfect mix of warm and fuzzy feelings from a bygone era, treasure hunting and the chaos of a carnival. There’s a little bit of everything for everyone. We’ve gone both Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends, and each time, we’ve picked up some fun finds. There are also hidden treasures to discover along the way since a lot of homes, both in Packwood and neighboring towns, capitalize on the increased traffic for garage and community sales.
It’s best to get to Packwood on Thursday, if you can, to check out the market on Friday before the crowds hit. While sections of town transform into paid parking lots, it can be a challenge to find street parking along the narrow and dead end streets. There’s very few roads that connect through town aside from Highway 22.
We usually book a place through Airbnb and this time we stayed at the Peak Motel. Recently renovated, and while some amenities are still a work in progress, the motel adds to the already chic mountain vibes of Packwood, with curated comfy furnishings and trendy decor. Our room was clean and modern, which made for a nice place to hang at the end of the day.
Packwood Brewery, a local staple, serves up tacos, nachos, quesadillas and rice bowels, with picture perfect outdoor seating and live music. There’s food trucks dotting the streets during the flea market and other local mainstay eats like Cruiser’s Pizza are busy too. Nothing fancy. Just good food and a good time.
Packwood is also a short drive to viewpoints of Mt. Rainer and surrounding mountains along with the Steven’s Canyon entrance of Mt. Rainer National Park.
But more than anything, the best part of Packwood is being in the mountains and taking in the relaxed atmosphere. It feels a little bit like home before home was overdeveloped, creating a tinge of nostalgia. Sitting in the park, watching Atlas play with a truck in the dirt with no playground equipment besides a big tractor tire, harkened back to much simpler, easier to disconnect, times. It seems like we could all use more of those moments these days.
Check out the links below for Packwood.
Packwood Brewery – packwoodbrewingco.com
Cruisers Pizza – cruiserspizza.com
Peak Motel – thepeakmotelpackwood.guestywebsites.com
Packwood Flea Market – https://packwoodfleamarket.com
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