Best National Park in Washington to visit? (Seattle, Port Angeles: rental, hotel)

[VirginiaMountainMan]

Thanks for the input guys, I'm leaning toward North Cascades National Park. It looks to be the most remote and scenic by a good margin imo.

[elkotronics]

North Cascades National Park is simply gorgeous!

[CarawayDJ]

I love to visit National Parks. One of my favorite activities. If I had one day to visit a park in Washington, it would be Rainier. Well, depends on the time of year I guess. Olympic is great because it offers something unique (rain forests). Hurricane Ridge is nice too. My main beef with it is that it's too spread out and disconnected. It can take nearly 2 hours to go from Hurricane Ridge to the Hoh Rain Forest, and nearly all of the drive will be outside of the park. North Cascades is beautiful, but I consider it to be just a beautiful mountain road. It don't get that NP experience there. Maybe if I were hiking in the backcountry. For the most part it's just a road through the Cascades, albeit a very scenic one. Even stopping at most overlooks it only takes a short while to pass through the park.

MT. Rainier provides an experience more similar to Yosemite, Yellowstone, and other NPs. You enter the park and can drive around all day going from site to site without leaving the park. There are attractions, scenery, and short hiking opportunities everywhere along the way. IMHO, this is more fun and interesting.

All that said, you can't lose no matter what you decide.

[MissKittie]

I agree with the other posters, all the NPs are beautiful but my favorite is Olympic National Park and Olympic National Forest..stunning beauty, crazy variety, and not too crowded in summer, at least not like Yosemite or Yellowstone. Nearly deserted in other seasons. There are old growth rainforests, the only ones in North America, wild Pacific coastline, waterfalls, rivers, lake
Lake Crescent is amazing) lots of places to camp and hike. And there are two great drives into the mountains that start right in Port Angeles..Hurricane Ridge and Deer Park the latter only open at end of summer, I think). It rivals anywhere in the world for scenic beauty except for the clearcut areas.

[NorthwestRepublic]

None of washingtons national parks are crowded I believe North Cascades National Park is the least visited park in the country. I really think the op should drive hwy 20 across the entire northern tier of the state. There is a lot of hiking in the national forests, less people, and far better scenery than what is contained in any one national park.

This is what I would do. Drive out to the coast take hwy 101 up the coast to hwy 20 then take hwy 20 to idaho. Give yourself plenty of time and do as many day hikes as you can. This route lets you experience everything. the olympic peninsula, wa state ferries, deception pass, the north cascades, and my personal favorite the kettles falls area in extreme northeast washington.

[Bill Loney]

Originally Posted by VirginiaMountainMan

Thanks for the input guys, I'm leaning toward North Cascades National Park. It looks to be the most remote and scenic by a good margin imo.

On that note. A particularly special time to visit the NCNP is right after they open the highway back up after the winter snow clearing. Here's the latest...

April 2012

Pass status: CLOSED

We started clearing the highway Monday, March 26, and hope it can open the first week in May.
WSDOT - SR 20 - North Cascades Highway

You will get an unexpected treat. There is a reason they are called the Cascade Mountains. The number and random nature of the waterfalls along the way are breathtaking at this time. Really awesome.

[rainforest338]

Originally Posted by MissKittie

There are old growth rainforests, the only ones in North America,

Think you mean contintental US. Canada and Alaska have quite a bit of old growth rainforest left, and about twice the rainfall. Think the biggest is Great Bear RF.

[Andy]

Originally Posted by VirginiaMountainMan

Thanks for the input guys, I'm leaning toward North Cascades National Park. It looks to be the most remote and scenic by a good margin imo.

If you are coming from Glacier N.P., take US-93 south along Flathead Lake, then west on 200 to Sandpoint, ID. From there go to Spokane (visit the falls, etc.), take US-2 west and branch off to Grand Coulee Dam. From there head over to Omak and catch SR-20 the North Cascades Highway.

After the North Cascades I would recommend doing Chuckanut Drive to Bellingham, driving the loop in Washington Park in Anacortes, and visiting Deception Pass.

You could also take the ferry from Whidbey Island to scenic Port Townsend. From Port Townsend you can make a trip up to Hurricane Ridge in Olympic Natl. Park. After visiting the peninsula, take the Bainbridge ferry into Seattle.

[Andy]

The best Natl. Park by far is Olympic, but it takes the longest to explore due to its size. Some of the top attractions that are accessible by car (and possible short hike) are:

- The Pacific coast. Longest stretch of wilderness beach in the lower 48. US-101 provides easy access to many great beaches including Ruby Beach and Beach #4.

- Rainforest. Multiple spots on the west side of the park highlighted by the famous Hoh Rainforest. See some of the largest specimens of many species of trees.

- Hot Springs. Natural state at Olympic Hot Springs, resort complex at Sol Duc Hot Springs.

- Hurricane Ridge. One of the few drives into the heart of the park. Amazing views of the heart of the Olympic Range.

- Lake Crescent. Beautiful lake tucked into forested mountains.

- Lake Ozette. Large wilderness lake and ocean beaches.

- Lake Quinault. Large lake and rainforest.




In beauty, North Cascades ranks #2, but it is by far the toughest to explore as the park is pretty much a giant wilderness area. More of the amenities are within the adjacent and associated Natl. Recreation Areas. Best way to see North Cascades by car is to drive through the North Cascades Highway, or see the famous view of Mt. Shuksan from Artist Point near Mt. Baker Ski Area.

Mount Rainier makes a great day trip from Seattle. A good way to quickly experience Mt. Rainier without paying a fee to enter the main gates is to drive over Chinook Pass east to west.

[VirginiaMountainMan]

Originally Posted by NorthwestRepublic

None of washingtons national parks are crowded I believe North Cascades National Park is the least visited park in the country. I really think the op should drive hwy 20 across the entire northern tier of the state. There is a lot of hiking in the national forests, less people, and far better scenery than what is contained in any one national park.

This is what I would do. Drive out to the coast take hwy 101 up the coast to hwy 20 then take hwy 20 to idaho. Give yourself plenty of time and do as many day hikes as you can. This route lets you experience everything. the olympic peninsula, wa state ferries, deception pass, the north cascades, and my personal favorite the kettles falls area in extreme northeast washington.

I'll be coming from the Eastern part of the US, so I won't be able to start my trip through Washington from the West coast. I'll be starting my journey in North Carolina where I currently live. From there I'll head up to see New York City then I plan on going to see the North Maine woods in Baxter State Park and hike the Knife's edge up Katahadin Mountain. Then I would like to drive down to see Niagara Falls in upstate New York. Then I'll drive to Chicago Illinois and visit the top of the Sears Tower, (now called the Willis Tower) and then I'll head for Badlands National Park in South Dakota and from there to see Mount Rushmore. After that I'll drive through Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming and see the major sights along the way like the grand canyon of Yellowstone, Old Faithful etc. Then I'll drive to Glacier National Park in Montana, my most anticipated part of the trip, to drive the going to the sun road, and see the main attractions there. Then I plan on driving over to Washington to see North Cascades National Park, but I'm thinking I might want to see Olympic National Park as well. Then I'll hit hwy 101 and drive down the West coast through Washington, Oregon, and California to San Francisco to see the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. Then I'll drive over to Yosemite National Park to see the main attractions there. After that I'll drive over to see Los Angeles and Venice Beach in Southern Cali and go swimming in the Pacific Ocean for the first time. Then I'll drive to the Grand Canyon in Arizona, after that I'll head for Zion National Park in Utah and hike up to Angels Landing and see some of the main attractions there. From there I'll drive to Monument Valley near the Eastern side of the Utah, Arizon border. Then I'll head down to Santa Fe New Mexico, and then to Houston Texas. After that I'll driver over to New Orleans and then to Miami Florida to check out South Beach and all the beautiful scenery if you know what I mean. Then to end my trip I'll head up to the Blue Ridge Parkway starting from the North Carolina side and ending in the Virginia (my home state) side to the see my favorite mountains. But yea, I'm excited to get on the road and see some cool places and Washington has to be up there on the list of exciting places to see!

Edit: I forgot to include Seattle in my trip, I definitely want to see Seattle and the space needle.