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Hi, my fiance and I are planning a 2 week roadtrip of the Northwest in mid June. We are getting married in Grand Teton National Park and want to hit Glacier, Vancouver, Pacific Coastline, Yosemite, then back to Colorado. I know we wont have much time in each place with our time line. Any suggestions on what not to miss, routes, good camping (not crowded)? Any opinions are helpful!
Welcome to the RTA Forum!
I'll start you out with one suggestion, between Glacier and Vancouver, I'd take highway 3 though the southern edge of British Columbia. Its a very nice trip and goes near several provincial parks that provide nice quiet places to camp.
Here's some ideas....
From Glacier NP, you can take Micheal's recommendation (a good one but it will add some miles/time to your trip). If you have the time for that, go for it. If not, I would suggest Hwy 2 through to Washington and then going up to Grand Coulee Dam. This will take you through beautiful scenery that starts as rugged forests and changes into hard-scrubbed desert and coulees.
Go to Grand Coulee Dam and enjoy the laser-light show at night and then head south through Coulee City and Ephrata to Ellensburg. Go south to Yakima and head west on Hwy 12.
Once you are up on the pass, you will follow signs and local roads to Ohanapecosh Visitor Center in Mt. Rainier NP. Follow signs to Paradise Visitor Center and enjoy the views of Mt. Rainier and do some hiking, play in the snow, and view the glaciers, and then continue west to Elbe.
Go south to Morton and then go east for just a few miles on Hwy 12 to the turn-off to Mt. St. Helens and follow signs to Windy Ridge viewpoint. Continue south through Cougar, WA, to Woodland, WA, and I-5.
Go north on I-5 to Olympia, WA, and go west on Hwy 101 through Shelton and north around the eastern side of the Olympia Peninsula. You might want to visit the beautiful, Victorian city of Port Townsend before continuing west on 101 across the top of the peninsula. Some highlights along the northern edge of the peninsula are the Dungeness Spit, Hurricane Ridge, Sol Duc Falls and Sol Duc Hotsprings.
If you have time, head out to Neah Bay on the Makah Indian Reservation. Great camping and they have a fantastic museum of ancient Native American artifacts. Hike out to Cape Flattery so you can say you've been to the farthest NW corner of the continental US. If you don't have time for this, just continue on 101.
Either way, you will take 101 down the west side of the peninsula where you'll want to check out the Trail of Mosses in the Hoh area of the rainforest just south of Forks, WA. Continue south and check out Ruby Beach and the beaches of Kalaloch area before stopping at Lake Quinault for some fantastic hikes in the rainforest. There are some short hikes and long hikes. Some of the shorter hikes are interpretive hikes.
Continue south on 101 and, in Aberdeen, WA, detour off of Hwy. 101 to take Hwy. 105 to Westport and then south through Tokeland (the beach views here are awesome!) to Raymond/South Bend where you will hook up with 101 again.
On your way south to Oregon, if you have time, check out the Long Beach Peninsula and the little towns of Oysterville, Ocean Park, etc. Very cool beaches and some funky beach towns. If you dont' have time, just continue south into Oregon.
To get from Washington to Oregon, you will cross the very cool bridge into Astoria....about 5 miles long, close to the water making you feel like you're driving right on the water. Just continue south on 101 through Oregon. Oregon's coast is wow....just WOW!!!!
This route will have you bypass the cities and the traffic congestion of the I-5 parking lot that goes from Olympia through Seattle to about Everett. Of course, Seattle is a beautiful city so, if you want to make a stop there, you will need to make some adjustments. If you do this, I would suggest following the above-route until you get to Olympia, WA, and then continue north on I-5 to Seattle. To get over to the Olympia Peninsula, and take the ferry to Bremerton that leaves from the waterfront area in downtown Seattle. You can hook up with 101 and go around the Olympic Peninsula from Bremerton.
Hope this gives you some ideas.
Those ideas sound great. I am going to look into them. I was thinking about cutting Vancouver out all together, but my fiance is really looking forawrd to it. Would it be quicker to driver the canadian route like Michael suggested or taking highway 20 though North Cascade NP? It sounds really pretty. Also, do you think Ill be disapointed if we just drive through Oregon along the coast, leisurely and not stopping for site seeing? How much time should I commit to drive 101 from Washington to Redwood NP, CA?
I don't know how to answer your question. Personally, I think the North Cascades Highway drive is one of the most beautiful drives I've ever done. I try to do it at least every 3-4 years. And the drive up to it through the Methow Valley is every bit as beautiful.
Yet, at the same time, Vancouver BC is a wonderful city. If that's what she really wants to see, it would be a shame to skip it. Whenever I miss a must-see spot on a trip, the trip is never as fulfilling. It always bothers me later. Of course, then again, this is just a good excuse to go back, right?
You could do both but I'm not sure if you'll want to do this. It would be depend on your time and energy. If you decide to do this, I would do Canada's Hwy 3 into Vancouver and then drive back into the US on I-5 and then do the North Cascades Highway going west-to-east. Enjoy the "wild west" themed town of Winthrop and then Hwy 20 will run into Hwy 97 by the town of Okanogan. Go south on 97. If you have time, enjoy the town of Chelan and the beautiful lake it's on. If you have time, take a lake tour on the "Lady of the Lake." When you come to the turn-off to Hwy 2, take it going west and go through the "Bavarian" themed town of Leavenworth. Stop and enjoy for awhile. It's a fun place with some fun shopping and great restaurants. Then continue on Hwy 2 over the pass back to I-5. This detour would add about 450 miles to your trip.
You'll come out on the northern part of Seattle. If you want to skip Seattle and go over to the Olympic Peninsula from here, you can go to Edmonds, WA, a suburb north of Seattle and very near where you'll hook up to I-5. From Edmonds, you can take a ferry to Kingston on the Kitsap Peninsula and drive from there onto the Olympic Peninsula. The ferry trip is beautiful and it's a nice drive from Kingston. And this way you can skip the Seattle traffic.
As for the Oregon coast....I would say that you should play it by ear. There will be times you will need to get out and stretch your legs. You can mix doing this with sight-seeing by watching for signs to things of interest like all the lighthouses, the various beaches, etc. and combine rest breaks with sight-seeing. Stretch your legs and walk on the beach. Make a picnic lunch to eat by a lighthouse. Ya know, that sort of thing. I couldn't imagine driving down the coast without getting out and checking out some things but you can easily enjoy this stretch without having to go to any kind of touristy attractions and just enjoy the scenic beauty. Hope that answers that question.
While it's only about 400 miles from the northern Oregon border to the Redwood NP, I would budget at least 2 days for the Oregon coast. Partially because I'm sure you'll stop for at least brief stops to check out some things because you'll see something that strikes your fancy. And partially because it's a 2-lane, windy road and you will very likely find yourself stuck behind slow traffic at various points along the way that you can't get past. So you might as well go-with-the-flow and enjoy the coast at a leisurely pace. I think 3 days would be better but you can probably do it in 2.