4 Day West Coast Trip for Hiking and Views September
 

Hello!

We have just 5 nights, 4 days to travel from the East to the West Coast but open to other suggestions.

We love a nice climate for hiking (nothing too strenuous), biking and mountain/ocean views and/or neat forests.

We love CA, have been to Big sur, Napa, San Diego area, etc. (never hiked in SD though), also to Oregon - all wonderful.

Any suggestions for a new destination? We were considering Vancouver but no direct flights means we need more time.

Thank you!

Santa Barbara?

Seattle? Olympic National Park for mountains, beach hiking, and forests. The weather is generally very nice innSeptember. You could visit the San Juan Islands or ferry over to Vancouver Island as well ( great beach hiking as well as cycling there).

Lassen
Redwoods
Sequoia
Channel Islands

Fly to Seattle and then take the Amtrak train or bus to Vancouver. Walking or using a hop on-hop off bus would work well for Stanley Park. If you just wanted to spend some time in Seattle, that works too.

I second with Enzian's idea. You can get a direct flight to Seattle and maximize your activities and minimize additional transit. (Mount Rainier is another option if you choose Seattle.)

Never thought of taking train of bus to Vancouver, I assume we have to go through customs somehow, do you know how long of a trek that is?
We have just a few days.

Channel islands sound great too, everything does! Please keep suggestions coming. :)

I have crossed the border many times on the Amtrak bus (both ways). The bus stops at the customs station and everyone puts their luggage on the conveyor belt. An officer checks the bus to make sure nothing is left on the bus. Passengers go inside to show passports and clear customs. When cleared to do so you pick up your luggage and wait to reboard the bus which has now pulled forward to the the other door.
The trip from Seattle to Vancouver takes 4 to 4.5 hours unless there is a holdup at the border.

Tom Fuller's description was thorough, but it highlights the problem of planning a short trip to a non-hub destination (in this case East Coast to Vancouver). For a five day trip, you are spending an additional 4 hours + time to get to your hotel, so an extra half day each way to get to Vancouver. So for your four days of actual seeing the sights, you are now down to 3 total.

Speaking of hub airports to consider, I know you said West Coast but have you ever hiked in Colorado? Denver is a hub city.

If it were my trip, I would want to keep travel time to a minimum so I'd be looking at destinations that didn't require too much driving from the airport. Some possibilities to northern California destinations would include Marin and Sonoma Counties (Marin Headlands, Point Reyes, some state parks) from San Francisco; Lassen from Sacramento; and Lake Tahoe/Sierra Nevada area from Reno.

If you're willing to go outside of the West Coast you could also consider flying into Albuquerque and going to Santa Fe & Taos. I went there a few Septembers ago and hope to go back soon. Denver, as mentioned above, would also be a fun option.

Thanks all! So sorry forgot to mention have been to Colorado and Santa Fe - so long ago I forgot but both are fabulous.

Ok, within the US seems most reasonable - and of course direct flights even better.
That means missing out on places like Yellowstone, a dream but so hard to get to for a short trip. Yosemite may be an ok drive from SFO.
Nothing direct to Lake Tahoe/Reno. We are traveling from PHL if that helps....

Thanks!

If you want to go to Yosemite, I'd recommend flying into Sacramento if possible. Less traffic and about the same drive time as flying into San Francisco.

Thank you, thoughts about best place for September? Is Yosemite or CA ideal or perhaps Seattle/Wa?

The high country will be gorgeous in September. Yosemite Valley will be crowded although not as much as in July and August. Yosemite Falls has already dried up but some other waterfalls run all year long.

Honestly, I could enjoy some part of Yosemite any month if the year.

Thanks for the help.
Crowds, not so fun, lodging could be a challenge and we do prefer upscale for this occasion but perhaps there is a place outside the park.

Open to other suggestions, thanks!

Any more thoughts on Yosemite, nice lodging, great hikes?

Outside Yosemite I have stayed at Yosemite View Lodge- I would not call it upscale but it was OK- It is right on the river so you might be able to get a river view room. Our room had small kitchen too which was nice and property had a restaurant - easy drive into park. We just did hikes that we could do using the shuttles on the valley floor. We were there in May so lots of water coming over the falls- not sure what Sept would be like.

How about the Olympic National Park? Last Sept stayed at Lake Crescent Lodge- its a beautiful spot, weather was great that time of year- there is a waterfall hike that is on the property and we also did Hurricane Ridge which was spectacular. Loved kayaking on the lake.
From there it is pretty easy to take a ferry over to Victoria for a day trip-

Most "upscale" would be the Ahwahnee in Yosemite Valley.

If you decide to go to Olympic National Park, there are some higher end B&B's in Port Angeles.

Olympic is sounding pretty fantastic now, any idea how far from the airport?
Both are lovely options!

If you want upscale, you probably don't want Yosemite. While it's an incredible place, it's not known for its upscale lodging.