aseyf

Hi! I am planning a trip with my partner for June and was looking for some opinions on our itinerary. Neither of us have been to the area so we are hoping to see a decent amount without it being too crazy. We have about 8 days.

These are my thoughts so far:

Day 1: Fly into Portland

Day 2: Portland
Stay: Portland
Mt Hood day trip Day 3: Portland
Stay: Portland
Mt St Helens day trip

Day 4: Oregon coast
Stay: somewhere on the Oregon coast? Was thinking more north since we want to do Olympic the next day
Drive Oregon coast, stops/wineries on the way? (any you would recommend?)

Day 5: Olympic
Stay: Port Angeles (also open to suggestions here)
Hoh Rain Forest on way to Port Angeles

Day 6: Olympic
Stay: Port Angeles
Whale watching tour

Day 7: ONP/Seattle
ONP in morning, drive to Seattle in afternoon

Day 8: Seattle/Mt Rainier
Stay: Seattle
Mt Rainier day trip

Day 9: Seattle
Seattle during day -> fly out

Again, were pretty unfamiliar with the area so apologies if we are we off Also not sure if any of our day trips seem like too much... we are open to trimming it down but definitely want to see both cities and do some hiking!

tomfuller

Flying open jaw is fine if you are not paying a big drop fee on the rental car when you turn it in at SEA. I would skip Mt. St. Helens since it is a long way in from I-5 and then you come back on the same road. After 40+ years of tree growth, the devastating effects of the mountain blowing up are less obvious.
Since you want to see Hood River I suggest that you head east on I-84 from PDX and spend your first night in Oregon there. When you are done with Hood River, head south on OR 35 on the east side of Mt. Hood and then take US 26 back into Portland. Spend night 2 in Portland. If you want to see wineries, head southwest from Portland on 99W to McMinnville. Research the wineries in the McMinnville area. After seeing one or two of those, you may want to visit the Evergreen Air and Space Museum. There is lots to see there including the "Spruce Goose".
Take 18 west from McMinnville to get to US 101. Make a stop at the Tillamook cheese factory for some good cheese and ice cream. I hope they still have free samples at the end of their self guided tour.
For your Oregon coast stay, I suggest either Cannon Beach or Seaside. It was in Seaside that members of the "corps of discovery" boiled seawater to make bushels of salt to preserve their meat for the long trip back to St. Louis. The monument to this is just off "the prom" south of the End of the Trail monument. In Cannon Beach you have Haystack Rock which is one of the most photographed places in Oregon.
Heading north to Washington, stop in Astoria to see the Astoria Column before heading across the big bridge on the way to see Olympic NP. Enjoy your time in Olympic NP and the Hoh Rainforest.
Mr. Rainier can be done as a long day trip from Seattle.
Welcome to Fodors! Come back with your questions and I am sure that others will offer their advice and comments.

Gardyloo

Welcome to Fodor's!

Sadly, like a lot of first-time visitors you're planning an itinerary that is not very practical. Olympic National Park is basically a mountain and forest wilderness, circled by decidedly UN-scenic roads, with the main park attractions being located on the perimeter of the park, requiring detours off said un-scenic US 101. Starting someplace on the northern Oregon coast and wanting to end in Port Angeles, having seen the Hoh rain forest (and presumably one or more of the spectacular beaches on the ONP coastal strip) is going to make for an uncomfortably long day, and possibly a frustrating one, when you discover that the Hoh forest parking lot is overflowing and that access is restricted accordingly. Unless you have accommodation booked someplace on the coast (probably already difficult to find at this point, and of mediocre quality) you're going to arrive in PA tired and unhappy.

Now of course this is your trip and mine is not the only opinion you might see. If you can find accommodation on the coast and don't mind risking disappointment, go for it. But be aware that there are other activities that might be equally enjoyable that don't run those risks, and which might make for an overall more rewarding trip. For instance:

- The Columbia Gorge waterfalls will be close to their peak flows as this is a late spring and the runoff from melting snow will fill the streams.

- You could conceivably spend two nights on the north coast, allowing you to see spectacular coastal scenery. If you were dead set on seeing one of the ONP rain forests, you could suck it up and visit the Quinault rainforest, which is much closer to the mouth of the Columbia than the Hoh Valley.

- There are whale watching operators in the Seattle area, or from Whidbey Island in Puget Sound, much closer to Seattle than Port Angeles. You'll see the same whales, if they're around.

- Mount Rainier will still have a lot of snow on the ground; it's been a very snowy winter (still going) and it's not uncommon for there to be six feet of snow on the ground at the Paradise visitor center on July 1. (The roads and parking areas will be clear, open, and full.) But June is also still in the cloudy season, making visits potentially disappointing. Mount Hood, while not a national park, is more accessible and offers many of the same attractions at Mount Rainier in the spring.

- Hotel prices in Seattle during the Alaska cruise season are mind-blowing.

So, alternatives...

First, google the places on this map - https://goo.gl/maps/WoRJas4FDwrJngg59

This includes the Columbia Gorge and Mount Hood, then heads to the coast before turning inland to see the Mount St. Helens caldera, then follows US 101 up the east side of the Olympic Peninsula to the pretty town of Port Townsend, from which you can do your whale chasing. You'd return south to Seattle via lovely Whidbey Island.

Second, many first-time visitors are unfamiliar with areas of Oregon and Washington east of the Cascade mountains, and I find myself wondering if you might think about an Oregon-based itinerary that would deliver terrific variety while being more affordable and convenient. Just as a thought experiment, google the places on this map: https://goo.gl/maps/dRrFJfn9WE7QBW7F6

While this doesn't include Seattle (or whale watching) it does include some pretty fabulous scenery, such as Smith Rock State Park. You'd fly in and out of Portland, which would save a lot of money on car rental (no one-way surcharge) and would make for less crowded surroundings in many areas.

Anyway, just some thoughts to weigh. I think that you should probably adopt a "less is more" mindset, however.

aseyf

HI Gardyloo , thanks so much for your advice and the helpful maps! I appreciate your thoughts and honesty, I agree that considering some alternatives is a good option since we have limited time in the area. Wondering what you think about spending less time in Oregon to have more time in ONP, or do you think we will be satisfied as first timers with staying on the east side of the park?

aseyf

Thanks for your advice! We were debating skipping Mt. St. Helens, and your advice about Oregon is super helpful. I will look into your suggestions!

Gardyloo

There's not much to see on the east side of the park - no access. Most of the highlights (basically all of the easily accessed ones) are from the north and west sides of the park.

Unless you have accommodations already booked, I think you might want to put off ONP to a time when you could visit a bit earlier - May is probably ideal. It's important to understand that two of Washington's three national parks - Olympic and North Cascades, are very different from most western national parks in that they're not "drive-through" parks. (In fact, there's no car access at all into North Cascades NP, although WA Hwy 20 gets you close.)

Because you're limited to the periphery of ONP, and the more remote sides of the park at that, you spend a lot of time just driving from place to place, mainly through bleak logging country and somewhat depressed small towns. Then when you get to those highlight spots, great as they may be, you find that lots of other people have had the same plan, and they're all there competing for parking places and room on the trails. Is that what you have in mind? Now generalizing is dangerous and maybe I'm overstating this a little (or maybe I'm not) but I guess my point is that the Pacific Northwest is SO FULL of fantastic destinations, not just national parks but state parks, national monuments, national scenic areas, and just plain gorgeous places, that I'm suggesting you look at tradeoffs and substitutions.

I'll shut up for now.