L.A. to Canada

[imported_Linda]

Hello,
We are planning on driving from Los Angeles to Canada (Vancouver maybe)... Any interesting places to visit along the way?

Yes! Be sure to stop at Depoe Bay (Oregon coast) and watch the fishing boats come in -- they have to charge in at full throttle, a little to the side of the harbor entrance -- they look like they will smash on the rocks -- then at the last second, seemingly, they slide with the current right into the harbor. It's awesome. You can stand on the highway bridge right above as they come in beneath you.

If you like to hike, stop at Cape Lookout State Park and hike out to the end of the trail -- keep your eyes open along the way and watch for the wreckage of a WWII bomber that crashed along the top of the Cape's spine as it flew down the coast in bad weather.

You'll also find Ecola State Park and others up along the northern Oregon coast to be a wonder.

There's LOTS of information posted about this route on this forum, so be sure to run some searches to "uncover" some of the advice that's already here for you in other threads. There's a lot more along the route than you can possbly see in one trip, so you'll have to choose the attractions that are most interesting to you.

[Alex]

Make sure you do visit Victoria Island when u are in Vancouver.......its a very romantic place and lots to do there. You should also go up to Whistler....very scenic drive....its about hour and a half from Vancouver. Enjoy your trip.

[PNW Judy]

I totally agree with both Depoe Bay (love that little place) and Victoria. Also recommend:

California: Eureka (beautiful architecture), Redwood National Forest (that is the right name for it, isn't it?), Mt. Shasta, Yosemite

Oregon: Crater Lake, Sea Lion Caves, Tillamook Cheese Factory, Fort Clatsop, Oregon Gardens, Columbia River Gorge area

Washington: Mt. St. Helens, Olympic National Park, Boeing tours, Experience Music Project, Pike Place Market

Actually, these are just a few of my favorite places but it's hard to give you too much info without knowing just what kind of things you are interested in. Give us more detail of what types of stuff you'd like to see. Judy

Silver Falls in coastal Oregon is a nice spot to get off the road and hike a little bit. If memory serves, it's at approximately the same lattitude as Crater Lake, but it's about 50-100 miles west, close to the ocean.

Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington is a must see. I haven't been to Olympic National Park, but I've heard good things (very beautiful and accessible).

Good luck and safe driving.



AB

ok its not victoria Island is Vancouver Island. When you go to Vancouver, It is probably the best trip youll have in a long time! We go up to vancouver every month and its beautiful. All year round its warm, we went in the winter and it was 55 F, its like that all winter! Have fun!

[imported_Robert]

When you're on Vancouver Island, be sure to take a side trip to Buchart Gardens. It'll take most of the day to see it, but it's definitely worthwhile. It was originally an abandonded quarry, but for many years has been a beautiful garden.

[imported_Robert]

When you're on Vancouver Island, be sure to take a side trip to Buchart Gardens. It'll take most of the day to see it, but it's definitely worthwhile. It was originally a quarry, but for many years has been a beautiful garden.

OK SO IM PLANNING A ROAD TRIP WITH SOME FRIENDS TO VANCOUVER.....

THE LENGHT OF THE TRIP WILL PROBABLY BE BETWEEN 1 1/2 TO 2 WEEKS LONG...IS THIS THE RIGHT AMOUNT OF TIME?

PLANNING ON STOPING IN FRISCO (DRIVE THRU THE 1), THEN HEAD TO PORTLAND,THEN TO SEATTLE....THEN UP TO BC....
WHAT RECOMENDATIONS CAN YOU OFFER FOR SIGHTS TO SEE ALONG THE ROUTE..AND IN CITYS?
GOT ALL THE TRAVEL BOOK STUFF AND WAS JUST WONDERING WHAT YOU FOUND TO BE A COOL PLACE TO JUST CHILL ADN SEE SOME NICE THINGS.....

THANK YOU VERY MUCH IN ADVANCE

PSYCHI

SHALOM,SALAM,PEACE

[PNW Judy]

Is the 1-1/2 to 2 weeks devoted to just getting there (one-way) or is this for a round-trip?

I don't know if this helps you or not but when I do this type of a roadtrip, I (1) figure out how much time I need for a blitz drive home; then (2) I drive like heck until I get past areas where I have either been before or where I can easily come back to on a weekend (or long, holiday weekend).

It's about 21 hours driving time down I-5 from Vancouver BC to LA. You can easiy do this in 2 days.

Personally, I'm not one for cities so my suggestions may not fit your desires since you specifically mention San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle.

I would leave on the first evening and drive the 6 hours from LA to San Francisco. Then the next morning (early), I'd start up the coast (saving exploring San Francisco for another trip. This is a place you can easily return to on a 3-day weekend.)

Then I would drive the entire coastal highway from San Francisco to Port Angeles, WA. (Just over 1000 miles, about 22 hours driving time, and spending most of your days to explore this wonderful route.) You won't have time to do all of these things but, hopefully, this gives you some good ideas.

Some of the many fun things to see along the way are:

In California: Bodega Bay, Eureka, Redwood National Forest, Crescent City, Jebediah Smith Redwoods Park

In Oregon: Brookings, Gold Beach, Bandon (I love this place), Oregon Dunes NRA (get a ride in a dune buggy on huge dunes), Newport (great aquarium, where Keiko lived), Depoe Bay (arguably the smallest and most charming harbor in the world), Devil's Punchbowl, Nestooka Beach State Park, Cape Lookout State Park, Tillamook (great icecream and cheese at the cheese factory), Cannon Beach, Seaside (kinda touristy), Fort Clatsop (recreation of Lewis & Clark winter headquarters), and Astoria.

Cross the 5-mile long bridge over the Columbia River into Washington.

In Washington: the Long Beach Peninsula, north of Raymond take 105 so you drive along the beautiful coastline of Tokeland and Grayland (cranberry bogs are fun to see), then continue on 101 north of Hoquiam/Aberdeen to Lake Quinault (great short hikes into the Olympia Rainforest, Kalaloch Beach (the Ruby Beach area is a particularly wonderful and accessible beach with a very rugged personality), Hoh Rainforest Hall of Mosses, Forks Logging Museum, Makah Indian Reservation (one of the best little museums I've ever seen filled with items from an archeological dig from a 1,000 year old Makah village at Lake Ozette), Cape Flattery (fartest NW corner of US), Lake Crescent, Hurricane Ridge in Port Angeles.

Then I would take the ferry from Port Angeles to Vancouver Island and explore Victoria (have tea and crumpets at the Empress Hotel) and Burtchart Gardens.

Then take the ferry to the mainland and explore Vancouver BC (Stanley Park, Gastown, Whistler, White Rock).

Then down I-5 to Seattle. Along the way you might enjoy a stop in Bellingham to visit the Old Town Fairhaven section. Also Chuckanut Drive and a tour of Boeing in Everett.

In Seattle, Farmer's Market (a/k/a Pike Place Market or 1st Avenue Market), the Waterfront (Ye Olde Curiousity Shoppe!!! and maybe get a boatride to explore the sound), the Experience Music Project, Museum of Flight, Lake Union (get a boatride or rent a kayak to explore the houseboats!), Bill Speidel's Underground Seattle in Pioneer Square (even if you don't do the underground tour, Pioneer Square is a very cool place to visit, the birthplace of Seattle, with wonderfully restored 19th-century architecture)

Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens are both cool stops but, if I only had time for one, I'd do Mt. St. Helens....the blastzone and devestation are awesome sights and these areas of recuperating and ever-changing.

Portland area: Saturday Market (on Sundays, too), Riverfront Park, Powell's Books (if you love bookstores full of used books, this is an awesome experience). Gosh, can't think of much else. Portland is a pretty city but there really aren't that many things to see there, IMHO. Maybe others will chirp in with more ideas of things to do there.

Continuing South down I-5 in Oregon: Oregon Gardens and the Frank Llloyd Wright house there, and Crater Lake (an amazing sight but check out the weather forecast for your travel timeframe as it does snow in early)

California, I-5: Mt. Shasta

Like I said, no way you can really do all of this in 10-14 days but this should give you some ideas.

Personally, I wouldn't bother with exploring anything on I-5 if this is your first trip up this way. I'd do the coast, zip home down I-5 and then an exploration of the things to see and do along the I-5 route (including Seattle and Portland) for another trip. But that's me. YMMV.

Enjoy!