We will be in Seattle for 6 days/5 nights at the end of this month. 3 of those nights will be with friends exploring Seattle.

We are leaning towards spending the other 3 days/2 nights driving the Cascade Loop.

For the Cascade Loop: We would like to know what the 2 best towns would be along the loop to stay overnight. We won't get started driving until about 2pm on the first day so we were thinking around Leavenworth might be the first overnight, and around Winthrop would be the 2nd overnight?

Any hotel/cabin suggestions?
Restaurant suggestions?
Better wineries along the way?
"Must do", short, hikes with great payoffs (4 miles/less round trip)?

The other choice would be visiting Victoria and driving rte. 112 to the end and back. Which would be your choice?

Thank you for your help!

Leavenworth and Winthrop are great choices.

I haven't stayed in Leavenworth for several years but I can recommend three places in Winthrop: Sun Mountain Lodge (very expensive), Rio Vista (downtown motel with river view), and Wolf Ridge Resort (a nice family-oriented place with log cabins four miles from town where "resort" is something of an overstatement).

When in Winthrop we have dinner at Sun Mountain Lodge, if we want to splurge, and at Twisp River Pub (six miles south), if we want to eat pub grub on a deck.

I meant to add than when driving from Leavenworth to Winthrop, take 97 Alt., which goes through the resort town of Chelan and provides more spectacular views of the Columbia River Gorge than 97, which runs along the east side of the Columbia River.

My favorite place to stay right in Leavenworth itself is Pension Anna. Each room is unique and it is walkable to everything in town. The owners are great, and they keep a binder full of information on the area, as well as hikes, and are willing to make copies for you. One very easy hike that is really scenic is out off of Icicle Creek Road. It is roughly 4 miles and goes along the river, crosses the bridge and you come back on the other side. On the first part, you are in the trees, but on the other side it is open and dry. Very pretty though and enjoyable.

I am puzzled by your reference to BC Rte. 112. Where is it/to/from?

Oh sorry, our other option was to take a ferry to Victoria from Port Angeles for an overnighter...and apparently just west of Port Angeles is Route 112, which is supposed to be a nice drive along the coast that takes you out to Neah Bay...we haven't seen much written about this drive so we are leaning towards the Cascade Loop, seems like a lot to do.

The drive between Sekiu and Neah Bay is scenic and a delightful experience, but one doesn't hear it promoted much because it is way off the beaten track and only twenty miles long.

Those who make the drive usually do it in conjunction with a visit to the Olympic National Park.

Just outside Neah Bay there is a popular short hike to Cape Flattery, the most northwestern spot in the US.

The museum of the Makah tribe is another attraction in Neah Bay.

I'm not sure where you're from, but the NW is justly famous for the mountains AND water. Any trip that overlooks this is lacking IMHO.

First, when in Seattle, Bumbershoot will be held 8/30 - 9/1. If you love music, this festival is a must and a bargain. Some of the performers this year will be Lucinda Williams, Neko Case, Stone Temple Pilots, Beck, Death Cab for Cutie, & Jakob Dylan. Well worth the time, even for a 52 year old geezer like me.

Now, on to the three day/two nights. If you want, you can do a daytrip on the Victoria Clipper that will give you a taste of that great city.

The trip to the Olympic Peninsula would be great for that period of time.

Day 1 - Leave Seattle early, take the ferry to Bainbridge Island, drive to Port Townsend via Port Gamble. Lunch and walk around Port Townsend for 2 - 3 hours, then head out to Hurricane Ridge in the Olympic National Park. I think there were some road problems there in the last couple of years, so make sure the road is passable. The mountain scenery won't get any better anywhere else. Great hikes up at the Ridge. You'll think you're in the Alps (except for the views over the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Vancouver Island. Then, back down and out to Lake Crescent. You can get an old cabin on the Lake or stay in the lodge.
Day 2 - Up early and out on 112 to Cape Flattery. Take your time. The road is narrow and could use some maintenance, but...
Then, over to Forks and the Olympic Coast. There is a great lodge over there, but I can't think of the name of it right now. E-mail me and I'll get it for you. You might consider some time that day on the beaches (wilderness, not developed) or in the rain forest. The beach is probably better if the sun is shining, for obvious reasons.

Day 3 - Do what you didn't do the evening before - rain forest or beach. Both of these locations have hiking. The beaches you can hike have sand ladders up the headlands so you can travel up through the forest to get to more stretches of beach. Just make sure you know what the tides are doing. You don't want to spend a few hours marooned on rocks with the waves crashing all around you. Not fun.

After a morning in this great area, head back out on 101 to Seattle. It's a great trip that I never get tired of. And, it's much more unique to the PNW.

My e-mail is [email protected]. Hope this helps.

Who are you, dxkraus? Are you starting a travel business?

I see you have posted two times, for the first time, recently. Generally, we share information on the open board, not through emails. That way, everyone can get ideas. This is an open forum.

I posted my e-mail address because I don't follow boards regularly, and if somebody wants to follow up on something I said, I want to give them the courtesy of a reply.

No, I'm not "starting a travel business". In fact, I owned one several years ago, and know quite a bit about what works in travel and what doesn't.

And what about you, Orcas? Who are you? Are you an employee of Fodors.com, or are you just a self-appointed police for these boards?

Thank you all, very helpful! dxkraus...you have definitely given me second thoughts about the Cascade Loop now...that sounds pretty awesome. Didn't realize that festival is in town, perfect timing, I'll look into it. Thanks!

www.bumbershoot.org. Expect something like 400,000 people over the 3 days of the event.

I assume the place dxkraus is referring to is Kalaloch Lodge on the coastal strip of Olympic National Park. As with all accommodations in or near ONP, getting space for this year's Labor Day weekend or thereafter is going to be very troublesome, so if you plan to do that, I'd get on it pronto.

One other thought regarding loops. If you haven't been to this part of the country, a different grand loop can be done by heading to Mount Rainier from Seattle, then crossing the Cascades on US 12 just outside the park boundary. At the junction of US 97 near Yakima, take US 97 south through the Yakama Indian Reservation and over Satus Pass, down to the Columbia River near Goldendale, WA. Visit the Maryhill Museum (www.maryhillmuseum.org) then follow the Washington side of the Columbia Gorge (SR 14) to Stevenson/Cascade Locks, cross the river to Oregon and take the "historic" Columbia Gorge Highway (on the ridge above I-84) into Troutdale, just east of Portland. Then return to Seattle up I-5, or if possible, just drop your car at Portland airport and fly home from there (may be too late to change your tickets, but worth investigating.)

This route involves some great mountain scenery (not just Mount Rainier but also wonderful Mount Adams near Yakima/Goldendale, as well as Mt. Hood in Oregon) but also some fabulous "old West" scenery over Satus Pass and in the eastern part of the Gorge.

Plus the Gorge has great waterfalls, wonderful vistas; see the monster Sturgeon at the Bonneville Dam hatchery... lots of variety, perfect for a couple of nights on the road. Near Hood River in Oregon (also on the WA side) there are orchards that may well be in full fruit (with roadside stands etc.) when you're there.

I'd do the first night around Yakima (maybe in one of the many wineries in the area) and the second night at McMenamin's Edgefield near Troutdale - www.mcmenamins.com - a fun and quite unique place.

Gardyloo, you make VERY good points. Bumbershoot is a madhouse. Having said that, it's all general admission, so you can buy tix that day and get great views of the performers. You can prioritize or just play it be ear. You might want to pick up ear plugs. The vibrations of the ground will probably be enough sensory experience for you.

The lodge I was talking about is the Eagle Point Inn, rated 2 out of 3 stars in Best Places NW. I stayed there a couple of years ago on a motorcycle weekend, and loved it. Buried deep in the rain forest, with rooms on the rim of the Sol Duc river canyon. Not cheap, worth every penny, and much closer to the Hoh Rain Forest and the beaches near the Hoh River, for a quicker return to Seattle (I think). I may be wrong, but I think Klaloch is down near the bottom of the peninsula, thus requiring more travel, unless you return via Olympia, which is okay, but not the more scenic northern route.

The itinerary you mention for over Rainier,down to the Gorge and over to Portland is great, also. Plus, it gives you the desert scenery and the transition zone back to the wet side. Plus, wine tasting and the Stonehenge replica at Maryhill. Having been to both the real and the replica, I prefer the overall ambiance/scenery/spirituality of the replica to be superior.

Sadly, Eagle Point Inn is closed. I stayed there a number of times and loved it--it was definitely my favorite place to stay out on that part of the Peninsula.

One last question...we decided to do the Cascade Loop with overnighters in Leavenworth and Winthrop. Which wineries would you recommend in the Leavenworth/Chelan/Wenatchee area? Looks like there are around 25 or so...any stick out that are must visits for either a. great wines b. great tours or c. just great scenery/location.

Thanks for all your help!