Seattle to San Fran in an RV

[Cslockbo]

Hi,
I am planning a Seattle to Portland to San Fran roadtrip returning to Seattle in just 7 days. Can anyone familiar with this route suggest national parks within a 5 hour detour off I-5 that are worth visiting. We plan at least a night in both cities. Any suggestions on other sights worth visiting would also be appreciated.

Corey

[Southwest Dave]

Hello and welcome to the RTA forums !

You don't have a lot of 'free' time for 5 hour detours as you have the best part of a 4 day drive in an RV and if you spend a day in "both" City's [although you mention 3 City's] it leaves you with a day to spare, plus brief stops on each days travel.

Heading south you could cut across to the coast from Grants Pass to Crescent City and visit the Redwoods using 101 and drive over the Golden Gate into SF. RV parks are limited in SF so it worth considering to stop on the north side of the bridge for the night. Heading back to Seattle, Crater lake would be the obvious choice with the option to stay off I5 and head for Hood River and drive into Portland via the Columbia River Gorge.

Other options within your specific question would include Olympic NP, Mt Ranier and Yosemite NP but time is major factor.

[Midwest Michael]

One other National Park that Dave didn't mention is Lassen Volcanic NP. There are no bad choices among the NPs, but I agree time is not on your side.

Do you own the RV or is it a rental? With your limited time, and desire to spend a good chunk of that time in cities, I wonder if an RV will be your best choice.

[Cslockbo]

Thanks a lot for your replies. Based on this feedback I believe 10 days would be realistic in attempting to see both cities and parks. We will be renting an RV from Seattle and returning it back to Seattle unless anyone is familiar with RV rental companies that will allow you to return it to a different city? I would imagine there would be a premium for doing so however much like rental cars.

[spinney]

Most RV places require you return the RV to the place you bought it from. I'm not aware of any Enterprise type places that rent RV's. If anyone does let me know ha.

I'd also recommend stopping by Crater Lake. There is a nice big loop around the whole lake and it's shockingly beautiful. Should be within 5 hours of any route you take.

[Southwest Dave]

Adding the extra 3 days would make a huge difference in terms of having some quality time out of the vehicle. The large RV companies do cater for one way rentals, [Cruise America, El Monte etc] but yes it's usually at a premium and your trip does suit a loop trip quite nicely. I said "usually" as from time to time you can get special deals on one way trips if a company needs their fleet reshuffling around the country due to a high volume of one way rentals, or if they need to go to a refurb centre, such as Cruise America's Phoenix depot. However they can be limiting and you have to pick up and drop off where stated.

I would do a little searching around the forums and take a look at a good map and see what really appeals to you. Once you have some dots on the map and the basics of your trip sorted we can help to 'fine tune' and offer suggestions.