Cascade Loop
Leavenworth Bavarian Village, WA

This town has an interesting history. A dying timber and rail town, it successfully converted itself into an alpine Bavarian village in the 1960s. The community used the backdrop of the surrounding Alpine hills to their advantage and completely renovated the downtown, along with instituting a series of festivals.

The town hovered on the brink of extinction for more than thirty years, but today, it sees more than a million tourists annually. This is also a great place to hike, mountain bike, cross-country ski, and snowshoe.