500 tons of “Fire Breathin’ Steam Spewin’ Iron Beasts” and railroad equipment is on display at Camp 6 Logging Museum in Tacoma. The museum takes visitors back in time to the 1880’s when horse and ox teams hauled timber, up through the 1940’s, the last days that steam powered “Donkeys” and railroads worked the woods. See first-hand what life was like in the logging camps of Western Washington through equipment demonstrations, artifacts, historic buildings, photographs, and paintings. The museum is located inside Point Defiance Park. Admission to the Museum’s grounds is free year-round. Outdoor exhibits are accessible during regular park hours as long as the park is open. Indoor exhibits are open April through October, Wednesday — Sunday and most holidays from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. (summer hours are extended). The P.D.Q. & K. Railroad operates Logging Train Rides on weekends, April through September, with departures starting at noon. The Camp 6 Santa Train operates the first three weekends of December. Call Metro Parks at 253-305-1000 weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to verify park hours.
Tour a working lumber mill in Everett and experience the industry that first put the Northwest on the map. The Buse Timber & Sales mill, originally built in 1960, now produces 50 million board feet of lumber and timber cuttings each year. The company sells cut lumber, wood chips for paper, sawdust, beauty bark for landscaping, and dry shavings. Call 425-258-2577 a week in advance to schedule a 90-minute tour.