Draw Washington Outline from Memory
How well do you know The Evergreen State? Draw Washington from memory and score 0–100 based on how accurately you sketch its distinctive outline.
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Why Washington Looks the Way It Does
Washington's straight edges are the signature of the Oregon Treaty. In 1846, the United States and Britain ended their joint occupation of the Pacific Northwest by simply cutting the dispute in half: everything south of the 49th parallel would be American. That single line — drawn across mountains, forests, and lakes by negotiators who never saw them — became the entire northern border of the state.
The bottom edge belongs to the rivers. The Columbia, the West's great artery, was fixed as the boundary between Washington Territory and Oregon in 1853, and the border still follows its bends — though the river has shifted in places, leaving small patches of one state on the "wrong" bank. To the southeast, the Snake River carves Washington's corner against Idaho before the survey lines take over.
The northwest corner is pure ice-age handiwork. Puget Sound is a drowned glacial valley: a lobe of the Cordilleran ice sheet ground a deep trough into the land, the sea flooded in when the ice retreated, and the result is a fjord system of long, branching channels ringed with islands — the only part of the state where the outline is jagged, because it's the only part the surveyors never had to draw.
Quick Facts: Washington
- Capital
- Olympia
- Nickname
- The Evergreen State
- Statehood
- 1889
- Area
- 172,120 km²
What is "Drawing Washington Outline from Memory"?
Drawing Washington from memory means sketching the Evergreen State's border on a blank canvas without looking at a map. Focus on the state's distinctive features and overall proportions — that's what pushes your accuracy score up.
Washington became a state in 1889 and is rated ★★ out of 4 for drawing difficulty — a manageable, compact shape for a first try. When you hit Reveal, your sketch is scored 0–100 against the real border, so every attempt teaches you something about the outline.
Washington is a rectangle wider than it is tall with one dramatic exception: the saltwater maze of Puget Sound and the Olympic Peninsula in the northwest. The south border follows the winding Columbia River, the north border is a dead-straight 49th parallel, and the east side is a clean vertical line against Idaho.
How to Draw Washington from Memory
Step 01
Start with a horizontal rectangle about one and a half times as wide as it is tall. Keep the top and right edges dead straight — the north is the 49th parallel against Canada, the east a survey line against Idaho — and sketch them with single confident strokes.
Step 02
Now rough up the northwest. Puget Sound reaches inland like a hand of long, thin fingers, fronted by the bulky block of the Olympic Peninsula and dotted with islands. Carve that corner with quick jags and inlets; this soggy bite is what stops the rectangle from looking like Colorado's twin.
Step 03
Finish along the south: the Columbia River draws the entire western half of the bottom edge, looping down from eastern Washington, dipping toward the Columbia's mouth at the coast. East of the river, the bottom edge snaps into a short straight segment that runs to the Idaho line.
A tidy rectangle with a soggy bite: Puget Sound gnaws the northwest into fjords and islands, the Columbia loops along the bottom, and the top edge is a clean ruler line to Canada.
How Washington Is Scored
When you hit Reveal & compare, your sketch is measured against Washington's real border, point by point, in the same canvas space. Three numbers come back:
Matched — the share of the real border your drawing covered. 100% means you traced every part of the outline.
Extra — how much of your drawing fell outside the true border. This catches sketches that are too big, mispositioned, or drifting off.
Missed — the border you didn't reach, the flip side of Matched.
The three combine into a single 0–100 accuracy score. The rating names give you a target: 80+ is Cartographer, 60+ is Border patrol, 40+ is Getting there, and below 40 is Try again.
Drawing large and roughly centered is the single fastest way to raise your score — a small sketch tucked in a corner overlaps less of the true border, so it scores lower. For Washington, keep the whole outline in frame and let the distinctive parts do the work.
FAQ
- What makes Washington's outline distinctive?
- Washington is a rectangle wider than it is tall with one dramatic exception: the saltwater maze of Puget Sound and the Olympic Peninsula in the northwest. The south border follows the winding Columbia River, the north border is a dead-straight 49th parallel, and the east side is a clean vertical line against Idaho.
- How hard is it to draw Washington from memory?
- Washington is rated ★★ out of 4 for drawing difficulty — a manageable, compact shape for a first try. You can score your attempts immediately and watch your accuracy climb with practice.
- Which states border Washington?
- Washington shares its border with 2 US states — Oregon and Idaho are on this site, plus Canada (49th parallel). Drawing a neighbor right after Washington helps anchor both outlines in your memory.
- How is my Washington drawing scored?
- Your sketch is compared with Washington's real border, point by point, in the same canvas space. Matched is the share of the border you covered, Extra is how much of your drawing fell outside it, and Missed is the border you didn't reach. The three combine into a single 0–100 accuracy score.
- Can I draw Washington on mobile?
- Yes — Washington works on desktop, tablet, and mobile. Draw with your finger on touchscreens; no app download is required and it runs directly in your browser.