Centralia (Washington)
Centralia is a city in the Southwest Washington region of Washington State. Conveniently located between Seattle and Portland, this is a great place to stop for food and supplies.
Understand
Tourist office
- 1 Discover Lewis County, 360 NW North St, Chehalis, WA (Along NW North between Pacific & Chehalis Ave), ☏ +1 360.
Get in
By car
- Interstate 5: Centralia is located just off of I-5 and is accessed from Exits #81 (Mellan St/City Center) & 82 (Harris Ave/Factory Outlet Way) from the northbound lanes. From the southbound lanes Centralia can be only be accessed from Exit #82. To get to Mellan St (where Exit/Mile Marker #81 is at) continue along the parallel lanes after exiting off at #82, follow the signs.
- US Hwy 12: Goes east through the mountains, south of Mt Rainier, towards Yakima from Exit 68 of I-5 and west to Aberdeen through Tenino from Exit 88 of I-5. Between Exits 68 and 88, US Hwy 12 goes along I-5 through Centralia and Chehalis.
- SR-507: Goes through town as Pearl St (SB) & Tower St (NB). At 6th St, north of downtown, Tower St joins Pearl where SR-507 continues north into the countryside towards Yelm. From the south end of the downtown core, SR-507 goes west as Cherry St which becomes Alder and then Mellan St and ends at its junction with I-5 (Exit #81). South of Cherry St, Pearl & Tower St merges and continues south as Kresky Ave towards Chehalis. On some parts of the way Kresky Ave splits with the southbound traffic going south as Gold St which becomes National Ave into Chehalis while northbound traffic remains on Kresky.
By train
- 1 Centralia Union Depot (Amtrak Station) is on 210 Railroad Ave in downtown Centralia and is served by:
- Amtrak Cascades... runs 4x daily from Portland to Seattle; twice daily between Portland and Eugene, and twice daily from Seattle to Vancouver BC. Additional services from Seattle to Vancouver and from Portland to Eugene are by bus (Amtrak Thruway).
- Amtrak Coast Starlight makes an once daily trip in each direction between Seattle, Portland and Los Angeles, along the same route with the same stops as the Amtrak Cascades between Seattle and Eugene (except Tukwila, Vancouver WA & Oregon City).
By bus
- 2 Greyhound, (stop) Chevron at 1232 Mellen St (Chevron Gas Station & Convenience Store on Mellan St, off of I-5 at Exit #81), ☏ +1 360 736-9811, toll-free: +1-800-231-2222. Travels primarily on Interstate 5 between Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, Centralia, Kelso/Longview and Portland. Buses going in both directions take a break here for passengers to disembark to go into the store to buy something to eat/drink, use the restrooms and/or smoke. The store does sell tickets. Take the local Twin Cities bus going west on Mellen St to get into downtown.
- Grays Harbor Transit Rt #45, (bus stop) Amtrak station at 210 Railroad Ave, ☏ +1 360 532-2770. Route starts from the front of the Amtrak depot, goes to Aberdeen/Hoquiam via Rochester, Lucky Eagle Casino, Oakville, Elma and Montesano. Bus operates 4x on Mondays through Fridays only. Alternatively take the Greyhound bus up to downtown Olympia and transfer to the #40 bus.
- Rural Transit Rt #4, (bus stop) Amtrak station at 210 Railroad Ave, ☏ +1 253 472-7846. Office Hours M-F 9AM-3PM; Bus services M-F 6AM-6PM check schedules. Rural Transit (rT) connects the communities of Rochester, Tenino, Bucoda, Rainier and Yelm, and the Confederated Tribes of the Chehalis Reservation to the greater tri-city area of Tumwater, Olympia, and Lacey in the north and Centralia in the south.
- Rt #2 Goes from Tumwater Square along Old Hwy 99 SE to Tenino and east towards Rainier along Sussex Ave E
- Rt #3 Goes from Tumwater Square along I-5 and Case Rd Sw to Grand Mound P&R (Exit #88 from I-5) and then west on US Hwy 12 to Rochester and the Chehalis Tribal Center on the Chehalis Indian Reservation.
- Rt #4 goes from Centralia to Grand Mount P&R, to Tenino (Tenino Library), Bucoda and back to Centralia from Bucoda.
Get around
By car
By bus
- 1 Twin Transit, Front of Centralia Station at 210 N Railroad Ave, ☏ +1 360 330-2072. Twin Transit operates local city buses in/around Centralia (Rt #21, 22, 23) and to neighboring Chehalis (Rt #30 & 39) to the south from its central station in front of the train station.
See
- RichArt's Art Yard (I-5 Exit 82 to Harrison Avenue east. The Art Yard will be on the left.). Outsider artist RichArt, aka Richard Tracy has made his own fantastical world out of everything from bike parts to doll heads and it is well worth the short trip off of I-5 to check it out. suggested donation of $5.
Do
- 1 Great Wolf Lodge Grand Mound’s Water Park. - located in Centralia
Buy
Shop in historic downtown. Enjoy a walk up and down Tower Ave, shopping in all the antiques. You’ll find many antique shops, craft stores, jewelry, and furniture shops.
- 1 Centralia Factory Outlets (West Outlets), 1301 Lum Rd (at Exit 82 along I-5), ☏ +1 360 736-3900. Centralia is also home to a discount outlet mall. It is home to Aéropostale, Gap Factory, T-Mobile Store, Nike Clearance Store, Polo Ralph Lauren, Under Armour, VF Outlet, etc. Some of the outlets are NW of the I-5/Harrison Ave junction while others are SE of the junction.
- The 2 Centralia Factory Outlets (East Outlets)
- 3 Centralia Farmers Market, Harrison Ave & High St (Centralia Outlet mall parking lot, between Vanity Fair (VF) and Papa Pete's Pizza). Fri 11AM-4PM from May to Sept.
Eat
- 1 Burgerville, 818 Harrison Ave, ☏ +1 360 736-5212. 7AM-11PM daily. Founded in 1961, the NW's own fast food chain with a decidedly NW flavor promoting sustainable practices and fresh, local ingredients. Great burgers and traditional fast food fare. Amazing seasonal items including sweet potato fries, asparagus, strawberries, blackberries, onion rings and more. The original Burgerville USA was established in Vancouver, WA.
- 2 Safeway, 1129 Harrison Ave, ☏ +1 360 330-0884. Daily 5AM-1AM. There are a number of other restaurants around the surrounding area along Harrison Ave, west of I-5. Within the same shopping complex as Safeway there's a Papa's Murphy Pizza, Starbuck, Safeway Fuel pumps and Wells Fargo Bank.
Drink
- 1 Olympic Club Pub, 112 N Tower Ave (former card room of the Olympic Club Hotel, along Tower Ave between Main & Pine in downtown Centralia), ☏ +1 360 736-5164. Su-Th 7AM-Midnight, F-Sa 7AM-1AM. One of the McMenamin's bar and hotels.
Sleep
Except the Olympic Club Hotel & Pepperidge Inn most of the listed hotels in the below are located 2 mi (3.2 km) NW of town at Harris Ave & I-5 (Exit #82) surrounding the Factory Outlet Mall:
- 1 King Oscar, 1049 Eckerson Rd (NW of the I-5/Harrison Ave junction (Exit #82)), ☏ +1 360 736-1661.
- 2 Motel 6, 1310 Belmont Ave, ☏ +1 360 330-2057, fax: +1 360 330-2066.
- 3 McMenamins Olympic Club Hotel, 112 N Tower Ave (former card room of the Olympic Club Hotel, along Tower Ave between Main & Pine in downtown Centralia), ☏ +1 360 736-5164. Check-in: 3PM, check-out: 11AM. One of the McMenamin's bar and hotels.
- 4 Peppermill Empress Inn, 1233 Alder St (SW of the I-5/Mellen Ave junction (Exit #81)), ☏ +1 360 330-9441. Off of Exit #81 on Elsbury & Alder, behind Shell gas station.
- 5 Quality Inn, 1003 Eckerson Rd (NW of the I-5/Harrison Ave junction (Exit #82)), ☏ +1 360 330-8000, fax: +1 360 669-0334. Check-in: 3PM, check-out: 11AM.
Connect
- 2 Centralia Timberland Library, 110 S Silver (S Silver between Main & Centralia College Blvd/Locust St on west side of the George Washington Park), ☏ +1 360 736-0183. M-Tu 10AM-7PM; W-F 10AM-6PM; Sa 10AM-5PM.
- 3 Centralia Post Office (US Postal Service), 214 Centralia College Blvd, Centralia WA 98531 (S Silver & Centralia College Blvd/Locust St), ☏ +1 360 807-1169, toll-free: +1 800 275-8777. M-F 8:30AM-5PM; Sa 10AM-2PM.
- 4 Galvin Post Office (US Postal Service), 4810 Galvin Rd, Galvin WA 98544 (Glavin Rd & Grant St out in the village of Galvin, west side of town.), ☏ +1 360 330-2234, toll-free: +1 800 275-8777. M-F 9:30AM-1PM & 1:30-4PM; Sa 8AM-9:30AM.
Go next
| Routes through Centralia |
| Seattle ← Tumwater ← | N  S |
→ Chehalis → Portland |
| Aberdeen ← Elma ← | W  E |
→ Chehalis → Yakima |
| Seattle ← Lacey ← | N  S |
→ Kelso → Portland |