9 Unique Trivia Facts About Washington You Might Not Have Heard Before

Washington ferries are undoubtedly iconic to our state. Still, you may not know that there are more of these commuter boats in Puget Sound than anywhere else in the country. Our fleet of 21 ferries connects mainland Washington to the Peninsula, the San Juans, and even to Canada, transporting 23 million passengers annually!

It's difficult to live in the Evergreen State without becoming a bit of a craft beer connoisseur. Washington's distinction as the country's largest producer of hops — over 75 percent — may be to thank for this proliferation of fantastic breweries.

Cities west of the Cascades, like Aberdeen, Seattle, and Tacoma, have reputations as sanctuaries of counter culture. But our area isn't all rock n' roll. The Evergreen State is essential to U.S. national security, housing one-third of the nation's active nukes. And, far from being a well-oiled machine, our nuclear program has had some infamous snafus over the years. Jeepers!

Extraterrestrial activity is commonly associated with arid regions like Nevada's Area 51, but it's actually Washingtonians who lead the country in UFO sightings. Since the 1940s, we've filed almost 7,000 reports with the National UFO Reporting Center (NUFORC). That's more than double the report rate of other states! Perhaps this spate of close encounters is thanks to pilot Kenneth Arnold, whose 1947 UFO sighting introduced aliens into popular culture.

The sport that has everyone's grandparents sporting casts and hip, new friend groups is actually homegrown. In 1965, Congressman Joel Pritchard and his friend, Bill Bell, made up the game on Bainbridge Island after a golf match.

If you're interested in finding Bigfoot, you can't do better than Washington. We've had more sightings of the mysterious forest ape than any other state — over 700 — making him a local celebrity. This fame has led some counties, like Skamania, to prohibit harming Sasquatch in any way. Doing so is punishable by hefty fines and up to a year in jail.

Granted, sections of Hells Canyon extend into Idaho and Oregon, but the fact remains that it's the country's deepest. To put it in perspective, Hells Canyon is 2,000 feet deeper than the Grand Canyon, a length of over one and a half Empire State Buildings!

Not to raise alarm, but Washington is due for catastrophic seismic activity. A full rupture of the Cascadia subduction zone could mean a quake measuring 9.0 magnitude and above. The last time this happened was in 1700, and while there's ample evidence of that earthquake's effect on Japan, piecing together its local impact has depended on scant geological evidence — like the Copalis Ghost Forest — and Indigenous oral histories. What we do know is that there's roughly a 37 percent chance of a megathrust quake occurring in the next 50 years, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) predicts that most communities west of I-5 will be destroyed.

According to a recent Forbes study, Washington ranks third below Florida and Alaska for the nation's most pampered pups. We're more likely than any other dog owners in the country to take our pooch on vacation and more than 70 percent of us have thrown our furry friend a birthday party!