Skykomish Valley

Monroe is a city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. It is located at the confluence of the Skykomish, Snohomish, and Snoqualmie rivers near the Cascade foothills, about 30 miles (48 km) northeast of Seattle. Monroe's population was 19,699 as of the 2020 census. Monroe was originally founded in 1864 as the town of Park Place, located at the river confluence among several existing settlements in the Tualco Valley. The townsite was previously a trading post used by the indigenous Skykomish people. Park Place was renamed to Monroe in 1890 to honor U.S. President James Monroe, and was moved northeast to be near the tracks of the Great Northern Railway, which was constructed in 1892. Monroe was incorporated in 1902 and was selected as the home of a major condensed milk plant and the state reformatory. Monroe became a suburban bedroom community in the late 20th century, serving commuters to Everett, Seattle, and the Eastside. It is home to the Monroe Correctional Complex, which absorbed the original reformatory in 1998, and the Evergreen State Fair, which runs annually in late summer. The city is located at the junction of two highways, U.S. Route 2 and State Route 522, which were expanded in the late 20th century to serve commuters.

The Twin Rivers Corrections Center opened in 1984 and is part of the Monroe Correctional Complex facility in Monroe, Washington. Currently, it is the largest prison in all of Washington State. It is now referred to as Twin Rivers Unit (TRU). It currently employs 1200 people. Monroe Correctional Complex is a Close, Medium, and Minimum security facility, which houses approximately 2800 inmates in five wings, typically two to a cell. Some inmates with special needs are housed in individual cells. Inmates are generally required to participate in some kind of program, whether it is educational, treatment, or Class III industries. Such programs may include earning a General Educational Development (GED) certificate, or sexual offender or chemical dependency treatment. Class III industries include janitorial, clerical or kitchen work, for example.

The Monroe Correctional Complex is a Washington State Department of Corrections men's prison located in Monroe, Washington, United States. With a bed capacity of over 3,100, it is the second largest prison in the state.

The Evergreen State Fair is a 12-day fair which is held each year from late August through Labor Day. It is the largest county fair in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States and the largest single attraction held annually in Snohomish County. Situated in Monroe, Washington, 35 miles northeast of Seattle and 12 miles east of Everett, the fairgrounds cover 193 acres with buildings and land valued at more than $50 million. The facilities are available for rent during the year, making the grounds a valuable community resource. A staff of 21 works year-round at the site and over 400 fair-time employees are hired each August. The Evergreen State Fairgrounds feature permanent facilities that are used year-round for Northwest horse shows, trade shows, swap meets, auto races and more. They are also home to the Gary Weikel Events Center (a 4,000 square foot multi-purpose building) and the Evergreen Speedway, the only NASCAR venue in Washington with a 7,000-seat covered grandstand. In addition the site hosts a clear-span sports arena that can seat 4,000, two RV areas with dump stations, and a variety of other permanent exhibition facilities.

Evergreen Speedway is an automobile racetrack located within the confines of the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe, Washington. The stadium can accommodate up to 7500 spectators in the covered grandstand and an additional 7500 in the uncovered modular grandstands. The layout of the track is unique in that it incorporates an oversized 5/8-mile paved outer oval, a 3/8-mile paved inner oval, a 1/5-mile paved inner oval, a 1/8-mile dragstrip, and the #2 ranked figure-eight track in the United States. The track is the only sanctioned NASCAR track in Washington State. Evergreen Speedway hosts Formula D the third weekend in July every year. Along with NASCAR, the multi-purpose track can be configured to road courses with sanctioned SCCA, USAC, ASA and NSRA events. Under new ownership for the 2011 season and beyond, Evergreen Speedway has become a NASCAR Top Ten Short Track in North America from 2012 though 2016.

Monroe High School is a public high school in Monroe, Washington. Since 1999, the school has been located on Tester Road. Formerly, it was located on Main Street in downtown Monroe.

Monroe North is a census-designated place (CDP) in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. The population was 1,796 at the 2020 census. The CDP comprises an area north of the city of Monroe that includes the Evergreen State Fairgrounds.

The Snoqualmie River is a 45-mile (72 km) long river in King County and Snohomish County in the U.S. state of Washington. The river's three main tributaries are the North, Middle, and South Forks, which drain the west side of the Cascade Mountains near the town of North Bend and join near the town of Snoqualmie just above the Snoqualmie Falls. After the falls the river flows north through rich farmland and the towns of Fall City, Carnation, and Duvall before meeting the Skykomish River to form the Snohomish River near Monroe. The Snohomish River empties into Puget Sound at Everett. Other tributaries of the Snoqualmie River include the Taylor River and the Pratt River, both of which enter the Middle Fork, the Tolt River, which joins at Carnation, and the Raging River at Fall City. Many of the Snoqualmie River's headwaters originate as snowmelt within the Alpine Lakes Wilderness. On August 8, 2007, U.S. Representative Dave Reichert (WA-08), King County Executive Ron Sims, and others announced a proposal to expand the Alpine Lakes Wilderness to include the valley of the Pratt River, a tributary of the Middle Fork, near the town of North Bend. The proposal would also give the Pratt River National Wild and Scenic River status.

Chain Lake is a census-designated place (CDP) in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. The population was 3,741 at the 2010 census.

Lord Hill Regional Park is a regional country park located in Snohomish County, Washington. The park features miles of wilderness trails for equestrians and mountain bikers, as well as hikers. The park grounds cover 1,300 acres (5.3 km2) of wilderness forest. Small ponds and wetlands are located within the park site. A large population of animals, birds, and fish inhabit the park.The park sits on a ridge that runs parallel to the Snohomish River. The ridge, which reaches nearly 800 feet (240 m) at Bald Hill, consists of vertical basalt outcroppings that rise from the river floor. Settlers arrived when Mitchell Lord purchased 80 acres (320,000 m2) on the hill in 1878 and started dairying on his 130-acre farm in 1884. His home still remains on the park grounds. By the mid-1930s, the area attracted the logging industry, and all the old-growth was cut down. In the 1980s, some second-growth timber was harvested by the Department of Natural Resources. At present, the park is under the management of Snohomish County Parks and Recreation Department but maintained by a group of volunteers, for the department lacks the resources to staff the park full-time.

The Skykomish River is a 29-mile (47 km) long river in the U.S. state of Washington which drains the west side of the Cascade Mountains in the southeast section of Snohomish County and the northeast corner of King County. The river starts with the confluence of the North Fork Skykomish River and South Fork Skykomish River approximately one mile west of Index, then flowing northwesterly towards Puget Sound. It is joined by the Sultan River and the Wallace River at Sultan. It then meets the Snoqualmie River to form the Snohomish River at Monroe. The Snohomish River continues along the river valley eventually dumping into Port Gardner Bay on Possession Sound (part of Puget Sound). The name "Skykomish" comes from the Lushootseed name of the Skykomish people, sq̓ixʷəbš, meaning "upriver people." It is sometimes referred to by the nickname "Sky River" or "The Sky".

High Bridge is a census-designated place (CDP) in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. The population was 2,994 at the 2010 census. High Bridge includes the Echo Lake community and the former Echo Lake CDP, which was superseded by the larger High Bridge CDP in 2010.