This small town gets its name from a bend in the Snoqualmie River, which here turns toward Canada. The gorgeous surrounding scenery is dominated by 4,420-foot Mt. Washington, 4,788-foot Mt. Tenerife, and 4,167-foot Mt. Si. Named for early settler Josiah "Si" Merrit, Mt. Si can be climbed via a steep, four-hour trail that in summer provides views of the Cascade and Olympic peaks down to Puget Sound and Seattle. In winter, however, these mountains corner the rains: North Bend is one of the wettest places in western Washington, with an annual precipitation typically exceeding 65 inches (about double that of Seattle).
Scenes from the TV show Twin Peaks, both the original and the 2017 redux, were shot in North Bend and nearby Snoqualmie, though much of the work was done in studios in Seattle. This is the last town on Interstate 90 for gassing up before Snoqualmie Pass.
