Two Australians thinking of a leisurely driving tour of the PNW and western Canada next northern autumn, starting and finishing in SFO.

First we need to figure out what we can reasonably manage in 5, maybe 6, weeks, so distances between cities and towns would be helpful. Does anyone know of a good website? If it provides average driving times that would be even more helpful.

Secondly, I haven't looked at a Rand McNally or similar road atlas, but I'm wondering if there's really much point in lugging one around, as opposed to using state/province (and city) foldout maps?

You will have plenty of time in 5 or 6 weeks. If you are familiar with camping, I would suggest that you buy camping equipment in the States and camp along the way--every 4 or 5 days we would use a motel for showers if the parks did not have them. The only question is how late in the fall? Canada will be quite cold by then, summer is better. Maybe you should start in Seattle, go north and then south and then back up to Seattle. Individual maps are sufficient and often better than the Atlas to indicate campsites. For a taste, look at my trip report:

http://www.fodors.com/forums/pgMessa...1&tid=34540668

Try Mapquest.com for driving distances.

Ken

freetrip.com for routes, milage, time and hotels in your price range..

Thanks all. Michael, I'll definitely check your site. This will be a budget trip but unfortunately I'm not the outdoors type (although my wife lives in hope). To avoid relapsing into unconsciousness in the morning I need two things, a hot shower and two strong coffees, not necessarily in that order. We've thought about starting and finishing in Vancouver, but as things stand we're planning to arrive SFO just after Labor Day, be in Canada late Sept/early Oct - figured we'd meet with less competition for rooms etc. This worked pretty well for us during our last visit.

I guess the downside of missing the summer holiday period is that we also miss local music/drama festivals?

http://www.osfashland.org/plays/
http://www.thebestofashland.com/oreg...refestival.asp
Just the right time of the year in Ashland. Great weather in September.
State maps and Forest Service maps are the best, but an atlas is cool too.

Hello Neil!
Just a few thoughts- we have done a similar trip in six weeks, and timewise, it was fine. My initial research was Lonely Planet and Fodors from the Library, and the excellent maps and information books we got over there free from the AAA (as NRMA members) have been very helpful in planning subsequent trips. The maps have driving times on them, and scenic routes are indicated. Have never used Rand McNally .

The Western Canada part, we've done both in Spring and Autumn - I like Spring better because of the snow on the mountains, but don't go too early - because the lakes are frozen and one looks just like another. The Autumn colours were lovely, but coming from the land of Oz, there's something really special about snow !

We are driving from San Francisco up to Seattle early next year, along the coast and back through the desert to Vegas and Los Angeles, in three weeks. We now spend three or four days at least nearly everywhere we stay (much less tiring) and have found booking through "Priceline" excellent for this purpose. It does limit one a bit, but saves times and nerves looking for accommodation as you go, and you pay what you can afford. We've rarely paid over A$100 per night.

We've found renting a car in California is cheaper than in either Seattle or Vancouver, from Australia, but internet prices may be different. America is blessed (or cursed) with freeways everywhere, so if you are pressed for time anywhere, there's usually a quick alternative to the scenic route.
You'll love it!

We took a similar tour in 2000 so I'll give you my itinerary=
1.Belgium - S.Francisco
2.S.Francisco -Eureka 504 km
3. Coos bay(Oregon) 402 km
4. Kelso(wash.)
5. Seattle after visit Mt Rainier n. Park
6. Seattle
7. Vancouver 228 km
8. Vancouver
9. Clearmater 570 km
10.Jasper(Alberta) 342 km
11.Jasper
12.Banff (Columbia icefields)296 km
13.Banff
14.Waterton lakes nat. park 535 km
15.Glacier n.park going to the sun road to Kalispell(Montana)208 km
16.Helena(capital of Montana) 396 km
17.Gardiner(1 mile from north entrance Yellowstone) 407 km
18.+ 19. Visit park 415 km
20.Jackson (gr. teton n.park) 267 km
21.Salt Lake city 445 km
22.Elko(Nevada) 484 km
23.Lake Tahoe(cal) 571 km
24.Lake Tahoe visit 102 km
25.Yosemite n.park by Tioga pass 381 km
26.Yosemite 273 km
27.S. Francisco 280 km
28.S. Francisco visit
29.flight to Belgium
30. Arrival in Belgium.
We made this tour in September. This is the best period .We had a wonderful holiday and I can recommend this to you. Paul

More great suggestions - many thanks. (tovarich, you're a great record keeper.)

While I have all you helpful people on line, a few follow-up questions in the hope that I won't wear out my welcome:

1. Any thoughts about car rental at a good price? That's one car for the whole trip, SFO-SFO via W. Canada; mid-sized V6 sedan/wagon for preference (Camry or similar). I haven't started to explore Priceline - is it worth the effort?

2. Carabella, you've got a good point there, but we're reluctant (or maybe too disorganised) to pin ourselves down to a precise itinerary. I think some hotel/motel chains used to have deals whereby you paid for 'x' number of nights at unspecified locations at a discounted price, taking your chances as to room availability. Does anyone have any comments?

3. In Australia most vacation caravan (trailer) parks offer cabins with cooking facilities which are a reasonable cheap-and-cheerful alternative to motel rooms. Is this common in the US also? Someone once pointed me to a really good US trailer park website, but I've lost the bookmark.

Hey, Neil - couple of thoughts.

I think your timing is generally okay. However you might want to start a bit earlier if you plan to include the Rockies in the itinerary (which you have time to do) as the higher elevations can see snow by October some years (I've been in snow in Yellowstone in August, in fact, just like we were in snow in the Blue Mts this August )

Your direction - clockwise from SF up the coast, then east, then south - will help you hit optimum weather. Inland areas (south/central Calif, Nevada) can still be quite hot in mid-late September, whilst the coastal areas including Seattle/Vancouver will be great.

No the caravan parks don't have cabins (or "chalets") as a rule. Remind me to tell you about Koala Shores some time.

Mileage tables are misleading. Some days you'll cover 200 miles and feel exhausted; other days 600 will feel like you're poking along. Take your time going through the Redwoods, along the Oregon coast, the Olympic Peninsula, the Sea to Sky Hwy, explore the Kootenays, Banff/Jasper if you haven't yet, see Yellowstone and even think about the Black Hills in South Dakota, before heading back to the fleshpots. You'll have the time.

A good source of information about distances and driving times can be figured out at www.maps.yahoo.com.

If you belong to an Australian auto club, it may have reciprocity with the AAA which offers maps and guidebooks for the US and Canada free to members.

We usually try in our planning to include MOTEL6 . You get a clean room for a reasonable price (usually between 45 and 6O $ for two.)and you only need it to sleep and shower. There's so much to see. When you check their site (www.motel6.com)you can try to include them in your final planning.This way you save considerable money for the hotels near the National parks which arent cheap.Always available for further info. Oh by the way. In Belgium its cheaper to reserve and pay for your rental than when you do it in the US. Perhaps its the same in Australia. Paul

Homestead Studio Suites have small kitchens for self-catering, (they have a website with search facilities) and we have also found lots of motels with fridges and microwaves. Not all rooms have these, but one can ask.
Except for in Las Vegas, they all seem to have coffee making facilities, but don't plan on having a good "cuppa" till you get home - the water is nearly always atrocious, leaving a black scum floating on the tea!