Issaquah, Mountain valley city in King County, US
Issaquah is a city located in a valley between three mountain ranges in King County, Washington. The downtown area sits roughly 15 miles (24 km) east of Seattle and features low-rise buildings along Front Street with forested slopes rising on all sides.
The town gained official status in 1892 after miners and loggers settled in the valley. Over the following decades, the economy shifted away from coal mining toward lumber production, which supplied timber to growing Seattle.
Local residents often hike the nearby mountains on weekends, treating the trails of Tiger Mountain as a backyard extension. Coffee shops and small eateries downtown serve as morning gathering points before people head into the hills.
The downtown area is walkable and most trailheads for the surrounding mountains lie within a short drive. Public buses connect the town to Seattle, with stops located near Front Street and along the main highway corridor.
The local hatchery allows visitors to watch salmon return each fall, swimming upstream through viewing windows installed along Issaquah Creek. Interpretive panels explain the fish lifecycle as they navigate shallow channels on their way to spawn.
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