YNPgirl

Hi Guys,
We are planning a 10 day road trip from SFO bay area to Seattle and back. We have already done couple of road trips to see OR coast, CA coast, redwoods etc. The focus of te this trip is going to be Columbia River gorge, Mt St.Helens/Mt Rainier and Olympic National Park ( primarily the Port angeles side- Hurricane ridge area). This is what I came up with for itinerary.

Day 1: East SF Bay area to Troutdale- 670 miles, 10 hours
Reach Troutdale and stay @ McMenamins, Edge Field

Day 2: Explore & Stay Columbia River Gorge and Mt.Hood area. Stay the night Mcmenamins.

Day 3: Explore little bit more Columbia River Gorge and Drive to Mount St.Helen ( 1hr 40 mins), 66 Miles, Spend the day in Mt.St.Helen and drive to Mt.Rainier ( 3 hours, 115 miles), Stay @ Mt.Rainier National Park ( Accomodations ? Paradise Inn ?)

Day 4: Explore Mt.Rainier, Stay @ Paradise Inn ?

Day 5: Leave Mt.Rainier, Head to Port Angeles
Stay in Olympic Lodge, Port Angeles (3-4 hrs, 176 miles).

Day 6: Stay in Olympic Lodge, Port Angeles, Visit Hurricane Ridge Olympic National park

Day 7: Stay in Olympic Lodge, Port Angeles, Visit Olympic National park

Day 8: Leave Port Angeles, head to Seattle ( 2-3 hours), 173 miles.
Explore and stay in Seattle

Day 9: Explore Seattle and head to Portland 2-3 hours. Stay in Portland

Day 10: Leave Portland and head home 9-10 hrs

Does this look doable ? I would appreciate any tips, recommendations on places to stay and see.

Thanks much,
YNP girl

tomfuller

Except for the 20+ hours driving on I-80 and I-5 it sounds doable. Either fly to Portland or take the Amtrak Coast Starlight out of Emeryville at about 10PM on Day 0.
McMenamin's are just fine. There is also one in Bend if you ever come this way.
Get to Portland and rent a car. Putting 2200 miles on a rental car beats putting 3500 miles on your own car.
You might want to spend a night in Hood River on night 2 instead of back to McMenamin's.

Gardyloo

When is this trip?

I would only allocate 10 hours from the East Bay to Portland if I was leaving late at night or VERY early in the morning.

As tomfuller says, doable but awfully packed, and using ? Google ? maps for times is risky when you're driving around mountains.

While I love Mount Rainier I'd be tempted to drop it, spend more time on Mount Hood, then spend an extra day in Olympic NP, allowing for visits to the rain forest valleys or one or more of the beaches.

One assumes you're uninterested in the Oregon coast or the redwoods for this trip.

suze

Teeny thing... it takes 3 hours to drive Seattle to Portland on I-5 freeway (no way you can make it in 2 hrs).

YNPgirl

Thanks Tomfuller, Gardyloo and Suze.

@Gardyloo: The trip is in end of July. And yes as always, we will be leaving pretty early in the morning. With the stops in between, I am actually hoping we would make it in 12-13 hours. I also like your idea of skipping Mt.Rainier. I went there on a day trip from Seattle years ago and ever since wanting to go back. I'll have some tough calls to make. And yes, we have taken some road trips to both OR coast and Redwoods and will be skipping that for this trip.

@Tomfuller : Would love to fly. But the very idea of carrying the luggage, photo gears/tripods ( both me & hubby are avid photogs) and taking a 12 year old + a senior scares me. Driving is probably going to be easy. We drove to Yellowstone/Grand Teton last summer. So I guess we aren't intimidated by 10 hour drives anymore

@Suze: Of course, I will be adding 1-2 hours from google maps estimate

Gardyloo

Here's a possible route to consider - http://goo.gl/maps/N6hsf

In Portland, do a one-day loop to Mount Hood and back through the Columbia Gorge (or v.v.) If you want to make the next day easier, spend the night before Mt. St. Helens somewhere along I-5 between Portland and Castle Rock.

Visit Mt. St. Helens, but then head out to the coast on US 12 and spend the night somewhere near Lake Quinault. This will give you the opportunity to visit the Quinault Valley rain forest.

Travel north along US 101 to Ruby Beach near Kalaloch, then continue to a drive up the Hoh Valley rainforest (wonderful in July).

Then to PA for a night to visit Hurricane Ridge before taking the Bainbridge ferry into Seattle, then home.

Aside from the long haul on I-5 in both directions, this helps reduce the amount of backtracking in Oregon and Washington, and adds the Olympic NP coastal areas, which you shouldn't miss.

You might also consider stopping for a night at Ashland and see if you can get tickets for a play, maybe something in the outdoor Shakespearean theater - https://www.osfashland.org/

Booking accommodations in Olympic NP should be a priority.

tomfuller

If you skip Mt. Rainier you can visit Mt. St. Helens on the west side.
Look into a family bedroom on the Coast Starlight. The Coast
Starlight arrives in downtown Portland between 3:30 and 4PM.

YNPgirl

Thanks Tomfuller.

Thanks Gardyloo. Your route suggestion makes so much sense. I never really thought about visiting rainforests until you brought it up. I am trying to squeeze Mt.Rainier somehow but it looks to be impossible for now. I have a busy weekend ahead booking this trip.

YNPgirl

@Gardyloo : I have revised my loop and ready to book. Skipping Seattle. Revised to include 2 nights in Columbia Gorge area, 3 nights in Olympic NP , 3 nights in Mt.Rainier and drive through Mt.St.Helens.
http://goo.gl/maps/KGZxV2

If I cannot find accommodation in Paradise Inn, what are some other better options ? Any other tips ?

Thanks in advance.

Gardyloo

Couldn't get your map to load. For me, three nights at Rainier is a bit much; frankly I'd add a day either on the Olympic peninsula or in the Gorge. On the peninsula you could visit the lavender fields around Sequim (the festival is July 18-20 - http://www.lavenderfestival.com/ ) and around the Gorge, maybe visit Maryhill museum - www.maryhillmuseum.org - or rafting on the White Salmon river?

Can't see the map, so maybe this is moot, but you could do something like this - Oakland to Portland, then the Gorge and Mount Hood, then Maryhill and US 97 north to Yakima, followed by US 12 west to Rainier. Then keep on US 12 out to the coast, clockwise circle of Olympic NP, then back through Seattle (or Olympia if you want to avoid Seattle altogether) and stop at Mt. St. Helens before roaring south. Map - http://goo.gl/maps/XeIB6

Others know lodging choices near Mt. Rainier better than me, however one possibility that comes to mind is the Crystal Mountain ski resort, close to the mountain and with a terrific gondola and mountaintop restaurant that's eye-level with Mount Rainier, a wonderful place for a sunset meal. http://crystalmountainresort.com/

YNPgirl

Thanks Gardyloo. Here is the link to my route again
http://goo.gl/maps/KGZxV

The dates I am planning are July 18th-27th. I'll keep the lavendar festival in mind. Will definitely consider staying in Crystal mountain resort. I am determined to book the accomodations this weekend. I don't see availability online for both paradise Inn and Lake Quinault lodge. I need to look in to alternates for that.

Again thanks for your responses. It was a big helpin shaping my itinerary

sunbum1944

I have stayed at the National Park Inn - Ranier- it was quite nice- had a dining room - nice big front porch to relax on

azzure

Ashford has quite a few motels and is near the west entrance to Mt. Rainier.