Recreational Facilities
There are numerous events held yearly on the Kitsap and Olympic Peninsula.
Kitsap County and the entire Kitsap Peninsula offer a number of cultural events. The KitsapSun newpaper lists these events in a weekly supplement. The Olympic Peninsula also hosts a number of events all year around that you'll want to investigate.
Area attractions include Seattle Center, featuring the Pacific Science Center, Key Arena, Space Needle, and Art Museums. The Seattle Art Museum (SAM) is located in downtown Seattle. The Air and Space Museum at Boeing Field is popular with airplane enthusiasts. The Seattle waterfront is a popular place to visit, featuring restaurants, shops and the Seattle Aquarium. Uphill from the waterfront is the famous Pike Place Market featuring the "flying salmon," fresh produce, fresh seafood, and many unique shops and stalls with a wide variety of arts and crafts for sale.
Kitsap County has several communities worth exploring any time of the year. Poulsbo is a picturesque waterfront town that treasures its Scandinavian heritage. Best explored on foot, the two main tourist goals are the main street lined with gift and speciality shops, and the waterfront.
Bremerton's waterfront includes the retired destroyer USS Turner Joy which is open for tours, harbor tour boats take visitors past the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, the foot ferry to Port Orchard makes the trip across Sinclair Inlet easy, where visitors can browse in many shops, antique malls, and restaurants.
Other places to visit in Kitsap County include Suquamish, site of the grave of Chief Sealth (also known as Chief Seattle) and the Suquamish Museum, the only museum in the area devoted to historical and cultural materials of the Puget Sound Salish Indian culture. Bainbridge Island is the site of Bainbridge Island winery and is home to many shops and galleries and is a one half hour ferry ride away from Seattle.
The Puget Sound region abounds with recreational activities for everyone. Fishing, hunting, hiking, camping, boating, swimming, and mountain climbing are just some of the activities you will find here. The base MWR has an outstanding program of recreational activities year round. Two National parks (Mount Rainier and Olympic National Park) are within two hours' drive from the base. Skiing is available within an hour and a half. Many state and county parks are available for camping, hiking, picnics, and swimming.
Naval Base Kitsap - , Bangor has a Morale, Welfare and Recreation program that strives to meet the needs of the Sailors, Marines, and families assigned to the base. A wide-range of programs, services and facilities exist on the base. Facilities are open to all active duty, retirees, DoD civilians, and their guests.
Information on current activities may be found in the base newspaper, "Northwest Navigator," a weekly publication for Puget Sound Naval bases. The local parks and recreation departments sponsor events for kids of all ages. The NBK-Bangor youth center, "City Limits," offers trips, sports, dances, and many other activities throughout the year. For a directory of Youth and Teen services,"The 2004 Youth Yellow Pages," contact the Naval Base Kitsap - Bangor Fleet & Family Support Programs at (360) 396-4115 or 1-800-542-3301. Youth religious education program is available at the Subase Chapel. Program offers classes, trips, "lock-ins" and more! Be sure you connect with the Information, Trips and Tours Department at both Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor and Bremerton to purchase discount tickets for many of these adventures!
Developing personal interests, making friends, and getting enough exercise are important to mental and physical health. Organized creative and physical activities are a fun way relax, develop new skills, and make lasting friendships with people who like to do the same things.
Recreation and Sports programs are available through various county organizations.
Yearly activities in May include the annual two week long Armed Forces Festival, including the nations largest and longest running Armed Forces Parade; the Port Townsend Rhododendron Festival; the Poulsbo Viking Fest; the Hood Canal Shrimp Fest in Brinnon; and the Forest Heritage Festival in Shelton. In June, the Medieval Fair and Midsommarfest are held in Poulsbo and the Little Britches Rodeo is at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds (East Bremerton) and the Boomerfest at the Naval Base Kitsap - Bangor. The month of July usually starts with the Summerfest and Wetlands Festival in Belfair, followed by the annual Independence Day celebrations observed with the Red, White and Boom 4th of July on the Rooftop on NBK-Bremerton, the Bainbridge Island "Island Days", the Port Orchard "Fathoms O' Fun", and the "Fireworks on the Fjord" in Poulsbo. July isn't complete without the annual "Whaling Days" festival in Silverdale and the Mason County Fair down the road in Shelton. August brings the "Kitsap County Indian Center Pow Pow" in Chico, "The Cruz Custom Car Show" in Port Orchard, the Chief Seattle Days" in Kingston and "Arts by the Bay" on the Poulsbo waterfront. The yearly county fair celebrations start with the Jefferson County Fair up in Port Townsend. The Kitsap County Fair and Rodeo in East Bremerton has six days packed PRCA rodeo competition, a night of Demolition Derby, a amusement Midway, in addition to the many musical and dancing acts, and 4-H competition. The Labor Day weekend brings the annual Bremerton Blackberry Days Festival takes place downtown along the waterfront area over the Labor Day weekend of each September and the hostoric Wooden Boat Festival in Port Townsend. September ends with the annual Oktober Fest celebrations in Poulsbo and on Bainbridge Island. October brings the annual Washington State Seafood Festival and West Coast Oystershucking Championship in Shelton. The end of the area festivities comes along in December with the traditional Yulefest in Poulsbo.
The City of Bremerton provides the annual summer Concerts on the Boardwalk every Friday night in July and August. Farmers Markets are popular every weekend from May to October along the waterfront areas in Port Orchard, Bremerton, Silverdale, Poulsbo and Kingston.In the Kitsap Peninsula region, there are seven Washington State Parks, all of which have waterfront boundaries. There are also fourteen city and county parks and recreational facilities within the area. There are eight museums locally displaying the history of the Navy's influence and growth in the Bremerton/Kitsap County area, the Native American culture, and also the growth and history of the county from log cabins, paper mills, and fruit farming to modern building designs and our various shopping centers.
There have eight area golf courses always available for usage, two of which are nationally rated and PGA accredited. The new Gold Mountain Olympic Course has been rated by the PGA as one of the top 10 new public courses in the country.
The Kitsap County area is always involved in some kind of sports activities regardless of the season. Youth (5-18) sports programs in football, soccer, baseball, basketball, football, gymnastics, lacrosse, rugby, and softball (fast & slow pitch), swimming and tennis are available in each community of the peninsula, at all separate age and competitive levels. Adult recreational sports are available at all city community centers, throught the Central Kitsap School District Community Program and the Kitsap Family YMCA in most sports and activities.
Several times yearly are salmon fishing derbys which are highly contested for prizes. Hiking, fishing and camping in the nearby mountain ranges (Olympic and Cascades) have made for many splendid weekends. Pre-planned trips south to Portland, Oregon, or north to Vancouver or Victoria, British Columbia are usually available several times annually through local agencies and the local base MWR departments.
Across the Puget Sound (1-1/2 hour ferry ride or driving around via freeways) is the Seattle downtown area. Always visible in the downtown area is the Space Needle located in the Seattle Center, home of the 1962 Worlds Fair. Located adjacent is the Seattle Memorial Stadium (home of the outdoor soccer champions Seattle Sounders), the Key Arena (home of the NBA Seattle Sonics and the junior hockey Seattle Thunderbirds teams) and the laser-equipped IMAX theater at the world famous Pacific Science Center. Also available close to the ferry dock is the world renowned Seattle Art Muesum and the Pike Place Market (home to freshly caught ocean seafood, Western Washington area produce and locally grown beautiful seasonal flowers). Safeco Field, the nations newest state-of-the-art professional baseball stadium, for the Mariners to play under open skies or under a rolling covered roof sits on the south side of the downtown area. The Seattle waterfront has always been a popular place to walk, eat, walk some more and visit the Seattle Aquarium and OmniDome complex. Seattle is a place for everyone to enjoy. Down the I-5 freeway 35 miles to the south in Tacoma are many separate activities. The Tacoma Dome, the largest wood built structure north of San Francisco, hosts many different events such as: professional ice hockey games; music concerts; annual RV shows; and state high school sporting championships. Minor league baseball (AAA Tacoma Rainiers) is played in the open air ("Nothing Artificial") Cheney Stadium. The Puyallup Fair is the sixth largest fair in North America and is held every September for two weeks, hosting many major stars in concert plus the PRCA Rodeo. Majestic Mount Rainier National Park offers excellent camping, snow skiing and lots of hiking opportunities (book ahead for summer vacations). The Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium offers a excellent variety of species to enchant your entire family and every Christmas time brings out the thousands of lights that turns the Zoo facility into a spectacular Holiday Light show every year in November and Decmeber.
One of the Navy's best kept secret getaways is at the Pacific Beach Resort and Conference Center located on the ocean, a 2-1/2 hour car drive from Bremerton. Family housing units, hotel-style rooms, campgrounds or RV spaces are available by advance reservations at (888)INFOMWR.MWR PUGET SOUND AREA HOTLINE: (888) INFO-MWR (463-6697) This provides information on MWR facilities at all Northwest Navy installations (Naval Base Kitsap - Bremerton, Naval Base Kitsap - Bangor, Naval Station Everett/ Smokey Point, Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, NRTF Jim Creek Recreation Area and the Pacific Beach Recreation and Conference Center). Access provides cabin and campground information, leisure travel services, fitness programs, catering services, facility/rental equipment and more.Refer to Local Community Section.Refer to Support Services Section.Refer to Support Services Section.Refer to Local Community Section.
Homes Near Base
