Washington - North America The Evergreen State is bordered on the north by Canada, Oregon to the south, Idaho on the east, and the Pacific to the west. The northwest corner consists of the Olympic Peninsula, with its rainforests and the towering Olympic Mountains. However, the region east of the Cascades, the forested and sometimes volcanically active mountains running north to south through the state, is largely dry, including the arid Columbia Plateau in the south. Forming the border between Washington and Oregon is the Columbia River, one of the world's greatest sources of hydroelectric power. The state is home to a variety of industries, from lumbering to their famous apples to the manufacture of jet aircraft, missiles, and even spacecraft.