Two Week Road Trip: What are the "must sees" in Seattle and Washington? (Port Angeles: to rent, hotels)

[jm31828]

I will reinforce what others have said about Mount Rainier and Mount Saint Helens- those are must sees if you have time. Another, again if you have time is up north, taking the Mount Baker highway from Bellingham up to Artist Point, which is a high point at the end of the highway right between Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan. Google images for Mount Shuksan and Picture Lake- absolutely jaw dropping, spectacular scenery up there.

[Hopes]

I have Mount Rainier on there. I just realized I have half the trip scheduled for Washington and I have no idea what we will be doing there yet.

Below the latest draft of the Washington part of the trip. If anyone has an alternative plan, I've love to hear it!

Saturday Night -- Stay in Astoria, OR

Sunday -- See Mt. Rainier, stay somewhere near Olympic National Park, if not in it depending on how much time

Monday -- Visit Rain Forest, stay in Olympic National Park area

Tuesday -- More time in Olympic National Park, stay overnight again

Wednesday -- Head over to San Juan Islands, stay overnight

Thursday -- Enjoy San Juan Islands, stay overnight

Friday -- Seattle

Saturday -- Seattle

Sunday -- Fly home

[Jalhop]

That sounds like a good rough plan. There will be lots of snow at Paradise around Mt. Rainier through mid-June, covering up the awesome trails there. But there is still plenty of stuff to see.

Olympic NP is huge, mostly wilderness with little interior access by car. Most people see the easily accessible places: Quinault Lodge (see an old lodge and view the lake), Hoh rain forest (a nature walk), the numbered beaches along the coast (e.g. Beach 3), Hurricane Ridge (20 mile drive up into the mountains, there could be snow closures). There are few places to stay in the park, hence they may sell out early. Sol Duc Hot Springs is skippable; there's a nice waterfall there.

For San Juans, take the ferry to Friday Harbor, enjoy the town and drive around the island. The other islands are skippable but if you have time go to the Mount Constitution viewpoint on Orcas Island. Get a ferry schedule online before you go. If you miss a ferry it can be a long wait.

You'll probably go through Anacortes to get to Seattle. I suggest going south on Whidbey Island and take the ferry at the southern end to the Everett area. On that path you'll have Deception Pass (very nice bridge overlook) and the island is a nice drive too.

[Hopes]

Originally Posted by Jalhop

That sounds like a good rough plan. There will be lots of snow at Paradise around Mt. Rainier through mid-June, covering up the awesome trails there. But there is still plenty of stuff to see.

Olympic NP is huge, mostly wilderness with little interior access by car. Most people see the easily accessible places: Quinault Lodge (see an old lodge and view the lake), Hoh rain forest (a nature walk), the numbered beaches along the coast (e.g. Beach 3), Hurricane Ridge (20 mile drive up into the mountains, there could be snow closures). There are few places to stay in the park, hence they may sell out early. Sol Duc Hot Springs is skippable; there's a nice waterfall there.

For San Juans, take the ferry to Friday Harbor, enjoy the town and drive around the island. The other islands are skippable but if you have time go to the Mount Constitution viewpoint on Orcas Island. Get a ferry schedule online before you go. If you miss a ferry it can be a long wait.

You'll probably go through Anacortes to get to Seattle. I suggest going south on Whidbey Island and take the ferry at the southern end to the Everett area. On that path you'll have Deception Pass (very nice bridge overlook) and the island is a nice drive too.

Thanks! Since we're limited in what we can see in Olympic, is three nights too many there?

This is just a fun highlights trip. We will return to spend more time in our favorite places in the future.

[Jalhop]

Originally Posted by Hopes

Thanks! Since we're limited in what we can see in Olympic, is three nights too many there?

No, because you'll have a fair amount of driving to do between the stops. I've always taken at least two days to go around the peninsula.

I see on the map that the shortest route from Olympic NP to the San Juans is through Deception Pass anyway.

This is just a fun highlights trip. We will return to spend more time in our favorite places in the future.

That's the spirit. I like to treat all my big trips that way.

[sean98125]

You have a lot of ferry trips in there - they are nice, but be aware that they add a lot of time on to your trip.

If you're starting from Astoria, I'd do this:

Saturday night: Astoria

Sunday: Drive north along the coast to Kalaloch/Quinalt/Forks. Visit Kalaloch beach, Olympic Rain Forest.

Monday: Lake Crescent, Hurricane Ridge, Port Townsend. Spend the night in Port Townsend and catch an early ferry to Keystone, or go to Keystone in the evening and find a place to stay in Oak Harbor.

Tuesday: Deception Pass, Anacortes, Ferry to Friday Harbor

Wednesday: San Juan Island, catch late ferry back to Anacortes, stay in Anacortes or Mount Vernon area

Thursday: North Cascades Highway to Mazama, Winthrop, Chelan, Wenatchee, Leavenworth. Spend the night around Leavenworth.

Friday: Leavenworth to Seattle via US2, Seattle

Saturday: Seattle

Sunday: Flight out


I know this skips Rainier, but North Cascades National Park, Chelan and Leavenworth are all worth seeing, too.

I'd skip the San Juans entirely. Then midweek would be:

Tuesday: Deception Pass, Anacortes, North Cascades Highway. Stay in Mazama, Winthrop or Twisp.

Wednesday: Lake Chelan, Wenatchee, Leavenworth, Blewett Pass to Cle Elum. Stay in Cle Elum or Ellensburg.

Thursday: Yakima Canyon Road, 410 to Mount Rainier, cross the southern edge of Mount Rainier through Paradise. Stay outside the park, somewhere west of it.

Friday: Seattle

Saturday: Seattle

Sunday: Fly home.

[Hopes]

Great ideas, sean! I'll definitely bookmark that post as I'm starting to make my hotel reservations for Washington State.

[Count David]

I'd do StealthRabbit's trip.

IMO you can't do WA without doing either Rainier or St. Helens (time permitting).

[Hopes]

It's official! I scheduled the flight, the car, and made reservations for the first night near the airport since we're arriving after midnight!

Now for the fun of committing to an itinerary for each night!

[Podo944]

Enjoying reading the threads you have going.
We'll be in the Seattle area around the same time frame.
We're also planning a little last minute because of my son's college schedule. It will probably be a last hurrah of a family vacation for us for quite a while.

We're from So. Cal and we're first driving up to Redding to visit my brother for a couple of days, then we'll start our road trip from there, cutting across the 299 to the coast, then traveling up the Oregon coast with 2 overnight stays.
From there we'll be driving the Olympic Loop from Quinault to Forks and ending up either in Port Angeles or Port Townsend. Then we'll ferry to Whidbey Island and drive over Deception Pass... (last minute decision when someone suggested it and I saw some pics!)
From there not sure yet, but we'll make our way to Seattle for two full days there, then down the 5 to Portland, (want to see that waterfall!) maybe Crater Lake if we get lucky then back down to my brothers for an overnight before heading home.

Noticed you're going to Yosemite... hopefully, you'll be there during the week rather than the weekend, it can get pretty crowded, but most schools wont be out yet so it wont be in full swing.
If you can't get a place (although you're bringing a tent so hopefully you'll be fine) in the park there are places outside the park you can stay at. We did this twice and it was great! Spent a very full day in primarily the valley area and rented bikes for a few hours. (I'm trying to remember if we called and reserved the bikes)
So much fun!

Have a wonderful trip! Hope we both get lucky with the weather, although I'm fine with fog and drizzle.
Maybe we'll get some peeks of sun or partly cloudy days!