The richly textured Pacific Northwest landscape tumbles from misty, majestic mountains into valleys draped with lush forests, making this a superb place to enjoy nature and strike a balance between work and play.

East County offers something for everyone. Whether you enjoy shopping, hiking, art, sports, or just pure relaxation, the communities of Elma, McCleary, Montesano, and Oakville can provide it! Look through windows to the past, enjoy vast recreational activities, and glimpse some of the most beautiful scenery in the country.

East County boasts a modern utility infrastructure, ready access to transportation and an excellent quality of life. While this area has long built its prosperity on agriculture and timber, new commercial and industrial opportunities are now driving development and expansion.

Elma

Elma, a friendly and vibrant community, was first established in the 1860s as a trading center for settlers in the Chehalis River Valley. It is believed that James Waldrip, the town’s first postmaster, named after Elma Austin, the daughter of an early homesteader. Originally a logging and farming town, Elma has become a haven for an ever-increasing number of commuters and retirees. Elma strikes the perfect balance between honoring the traditions of its past and reaching enthusiastically into the future.

The East County Industrial Park and the Satsop Development Park, both near Elma, are attracting business and industry. The development park is an award-winning, mixed-use business and technology park with 440 acres of pad-ready land and buildings, surrounded by 1,200 acres of forested buffer lands. The Park connects companies to the world of business with world-class infrastructure and superior technology.

Downtown, two dozen historic murals bring buildings to life, depicting the colorful history of the community and its logging heritage. One of the most striking murals portrays Main Street in 1900, while others show woodsmen felling, trimming, and transporting massive logs in the late 1800s.

Wandering through downtown, shoppers will unearth an abundance of hidden treasures, from antiques to crafts to just good, old-fashioned bargains. Unique shops provide patrons with hours of viewing pleasure and the opportunity to pick up truly one-of-a-kind items.

Recreational offerings abound in Elma, including a golf course, a bowling alley and several parks. Vance Creek Park provides a paved trail for walking, biking, or jogging as well as lovely covered or open picnic areas with barbecue grills, a playground, fishing spots, and a public swimming area with changing facility. Smith-Murray Park offers multi-sports fields, covered picnic areas, and a community-built playground that includes a unique enchanted fortress.

Another popular place to play is the Grays Harbor County Fairgrounds, home to the Grays Harbor County Fair. The 68-acre site includes 15 major buildings and barns, two outdoor stages, and parking for over 1200, making it an ideal location for almost any event.

Elma also offers many other events over the course of the year. In January, the Elma Chamber of Commerce presents the first Wine & Seafood Festival of the year at the Grays Harbor Fair Pavilion. The festival features live music, food booths, wines from more than 20 Northwest wineries, and unique souvenir vendors. The Heat on the Street Car Show comes to town in the summer, filling Main Street with custom cars and motorcycles, live music, food, prizes, and sidewalk shopping. In September, on Labor Day Weekend, the annual World of Outlaws brings car racing to town, and includes a parade of cars and drivers through Elma’s downtown, as well as a city-wide garage sale.

McCleary

McCleary, a charming little town nestled into the foot of the Black Hills, is definitely more than meets the eye. Founded as a logging camp in 1898, McCleary’s local mill expanded quickly, and by 1923 was churning out enough lumber to fill six railway boxcars a day. The McCleary Museum at Carnell House provides a window into the city’s early history as well as logging throughout the county.

In 1912, Henry McCleary, the town founder, built the McCleary Hotel, a picturesque building still standing today. All the hotel’s rooms contain original furniture and fixtures, and most have private baths. This remarkable landmark provides a historic setting for weddings, receptions, dinners, and other memorable occasions.

Beerbower Park, on seven acres located in the center of town, is home to a locomotive purchased by Henry McCleary in 1905. The locomotive was donated to the town in 1962 and has been prominently displayed ever since. The park also offers tennis and basketball courts, a large fenced playground, a barbecue and kitchen area with picnic tables and a lighted baseball field.

The McCleary Bear Festival, held the second weekend in July, has been the community’s pre-eminent summer festival for over half a century. Norman Porter, the editor of the McCleary Stimulator (once the hometown newspaper), dreamed up the three-day festival in 1958 and it launched the following year. Since then, the Bear Festival has been enthralling residents and visitors alike with its famous bear stew lunch, and events including a parade, softball tournament, and street dance. A life-sized bear statue on top of City Hall remains throughout the year as a nod to the town’s famous festival, which celebrated its 50^th anniversary in 2009.

For those looking for blood-pumping action, Straddleline ORV Park, just east of McCleary, offers an outdoor experience the whole family will remember. This off-road vehicle park sports 150 acres of bike trails, MX tracks, flat track, a four-wheel-drive obstacle course, a sand drag strip and a kids’ mini MX course. Park-goers find a forested campground with firepits, showers, shelters, picnic tables, onsite concessions and a 3,000 square-foot meeting hall with kitchen facilities.

Montesano

Meaning “healthy mountain” in Spanish, Montesano became the county seat of Grays County in 1860, and grew as a trading center for regional farming and lumber businesses. The Satsop Valley, east of Montesano, was settled in the 1860s and 1870s by French Canadians and Germans, including the locally-famous Schaefer family. In 1941, Weyerhauser chose the town as the site to establish the Clemons Tree Farm, making Montesano the birthplace of commercial forestry’s tree farming system.

Nearly 150 years after its inception, Montesano is a charming town filled with attractive homes in both new and historic neighborhoods. Montesano abounds with opportunities for recreation, adventure, and enrichment. It is home to the Festival of Lights, a community-wide event that pushes back the darkness every December.

The Grays Harbor County Courthouse, an architectural marvel, stands in the heart of Montesano. This handsome three-story courthouse was constructed in 1912 for just $125,000 using sandstone, marble, granite, wood and stained glass. Murals inside the building tell the county’s rich story including Captain Robert Gray’s discovery of Grays Harbor in 1872. Damaged by the Western Washington earthquake in 1999, the courthouse underwent a $7.4 million restoration, and will soon celebrate its 100^th anniversary in all its restored glory.

Another opportunity to learn about the area’s history is provided by way of the Chehalis Valley Historical Museum. The museum’s building, once a church, was constructed in 1906. Historical photographs and accounts as well as early logging equipment document the role of the area’s forest products industry.

For those who love the great outdoors, Montesano has much to offer. Friends Landing, donated by the Friend Family in 1988, is a haven for nature lovers of all mobility levels and ranks as one of the very few handicapped accessible recreation areas in the country. Located along the Chehalis River, with a 32-acre man-made lake, Friends Landing entices with hiking, camping, fishing, picnic areas and boat launches.

At the north end of the town, Lake Sylvia State Park offers a secluded camping area, swimming, fishing (good for trout and bass), hiking, cycling and picnicking. The lake was formed in 1868 by damming Sylvia Creek for log ponding and power production. The site of the park was once an old logging camp, and evidence of its previous life can be seen in the huge old-growth stumps scattered throughout. Sylvia’s terrific half-mile interpretive trail is suitable for persons with limited mobility. The adjacent, city-owned forest covers 4,946-acres and provides more opportunities for outdoor recreational activities, including a two-mile interpretive trail.

There is excellent fishing on the nearby Satsop River, with healthy runs of salmon, steelhead and cutthroat trout.

Oakville

Named for the scrub oak trees found in the area, Oakville was incorporated in 1905, and thrived first as a center for logging and a boarding place for railway construction workers. As the trees disappeared, timber camps and forests were replaced with small farms and dairies.

In addition to the dairy farms, today Oakville is home to some exotic farms, including farms housing herds of American buffalo and llama. Oakville calls itself a “turn of the century timber town,” and delights visitors with an old-fashioned small-town atmosphere and antique shops that are a treasure trove of discoveries.

Infamously, the Oakville National Bank was robbed several times in the 1920s and 1930s. The robbers were almost always apprehended, except for the last time. The horsemen took to the hills and were never captured. The legendary robbery is resurrected right after the Independence Day Parade every Fourth of July, when the “Last Horseback Bank Robbery” re-enacts the hold-up. After the masked actors and horses are done, everyone gets a chance to vote for their favorite bank robber.

Nearby Capitol Forest is alive with eagles, hawks, deer, coyote and black bear, and has terrific places to camp, hike, mountain bike, canoe and fish throughout its 91,000 acres.