Washington can be divided into four major natural regions, or physiographic provinces, each of which is part of one of the larger geographic regions, or physiographic divisions, of the western United States. These four natural regions are, from west to east, the Pacific Border province, the Sierra-Cascade province, or Cascade Mountains, the Columbia Plateau, and the Northern Rocky Mountains. The Sierra-Cascade province and the Pacific Border province are subdivisions of the Pacific Mountain System. The Northern Rocky Mountains are a subdivision of the Rocky Mountain System, and the Columbia Plateau belongs to the broad region between the Rocky and Pacific mountain systems known as the Intermontane Plateaus.

The Pacific Border province, in western Washington, includes the Olympic Mountains and Willapa Hills, which are the Washington section of the Coast Ranges, and the lowlands of the Puget Trough. The Olympic Mountains, located in northwestern Washington on the Olympic Peninsula, reach a maximum elevation of 2,428 m (7,965 ft) at Mount Olympus. However, because they rise from a dense coniferous rain forest just above sea level, they are among the most impressive peaks in the United States. The Willapa Hills, located farther south, are generally less than 900 m (less than 3,000 ft) in elevation, less densely forested, and less rugged than the Olympic Mountains.

The lowlands of the Puget Trough are part of a broad structural depression between the Coast Ranges and the Cascade Range. The northern part of the trough has been inundated by the sea to form Puget Sound; the southern part is occupied by sections of the Chehalis, Cowlitz, and Columbia river valleys.

The Sierra-Cascade province extends almost due north and south across central Washington. It has a general elevation in the north of from 1,800 to 2,400 m (6,000 to 8,000 ft), but several peaks in the south, all of them relics of extinct volcanoes, rise considerably above this level. They include Mount Rainier, which rises to 4,392 m (14,410 ft) and is the highest point in Washington; Mount Adams (3,742 m/12,276 ft); and Mount Saint Helens (2,550 m/8,365 ft), which in 1980 erupted spectacularly, tearing 400 m (1,300 ft) in elevation from the peak and sending billows of ash across the state and eastward into Idaho and Montana. The western slopes of the mountains are wet and heavily forested. The east-facing slopes are cut off from rain-bearing winds and are much drier. The higher elevations are covered by glaciers and permanent snowfields.

The Columbia Plateau is a rolling, semiarid, and prairie-like region in southeastern Washington. In the southeast, just north of the Snake River, is the large wheat-growing dunelike area of the Palouse River section. West of the Palouse lie the Scablands, or Channeled Scablands, an almost barren lava plateau that was channeled, or carved, into coulees, or deep canyons, by glacial meltwaters at the end of the last Ice Age, about 10,000 years ago. The largest of the canyons are Grand Coulee and Moses Coulee. Occupying the extreme southeastern part of the Columbia Plateau are the Blue Mountains, which range up to 2,100 m (7,000 ft).

The Northern Rocky Mountains, in northeastern Washington, average from 900 to 2,100 m (3,000 to 7,000 ft) in height and are mostly forested. The principal range of the Northern Rockies in Washington is the Kettle River Range. Its tallest peaks are Copper Butte (2,175 m/7,135 ft) and Snow Peak (2,165 m/7,103 ft).

Washington has an overall coastline of only 253 km (157 mi) and a detailed coastline, which includes the shoreline of all bays, indentations, and islands, of 4,870 km (3,026 mi). The principal indentation is Puget Sound, which is connected with the Pacific Ocean by the Strait of Juan de Fuca. More than 300 islands, including the San Juan Islands, and a number of rocky protuberances, stud the sound and confine navigation to defined channels. Other major indentations are Willapa Bay and Grays Harbor. Long sandy beaches border the southwestern coast between the bays. The ocean side of the Olympic Peninsula is bordered by rugged cliffs and headlands.

All of Washington’s rivers drain toward the Pacific Ocean. The most important is the Columbia River, which enters Washington from British Columbia. The river is navigable by oceangoing vessels as far upstream as Vancouver, and by barge to Pasco, with continued navigation on the Snake River to Lewiston, Idaho. Principal tributaries are the Pend Oreille, Spokane, Okanogan, Methow, Wenatchee, Yakima, Snake, Lewis, and Cowlitz rivers.

A number of smaller streams drain the western sections of the state. They include the Skagit, Stillaguamish, Snoqualmie, Skykomish, Cedar, Puyallup, and Nisqually, which drain into Puget Sound, and the Quinault, Chehalis, and Willapa, which drain into the Pacific.

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