I'll be in Seattle for a conference the second week of August, and hope to have 3-4 days of vacation time beforehand in the area. I've been to Seattle once, nine years ago, but am not familiar with the surrounding area. I'm hoping a friend will be able to go with me, but it's very possible that this will be a solo trip, so I don't want to stay in any deserted areas or hike on any trails that aren't fairly busy (I'm a single woman, mid-30s). I'll almost certainly be renting a car.

Some ideas I've thought briefly about:
- fly into Portland, travel the Oregon coast up to Seattle (I have a friend who will be living in Portland at the time, but she might also come up to Seattle to meet me, so that's not a dealbreaker)
- San Juans
- Olympic National Park
- Mt. Rainier

I'm very open to combining two or more of those possibilities; I just don't have a good grasp on what's realistic. I've been to Victoria and Vancouver, so BC isn't really on my radar for this trip.

I know this is a pretty general question, but I would love some opinions on where to start. I imagine I'll need to start booking accommodations asap, since August is such a good time to be in the PNW. I'm not into camping, but I do like easy/moderate hiking, beautiful scenery, peaceful places, good food. I need to be in Seattle by Saturday night, so would probably fly up Tuesday or Wednesday and have 2-3 full days plus Saturday morning to explore. (I plan to save Seattle exploring for during the week - I'll have enough free time during the conference to cover what I want to see there.)

In three or four days you could do justice to a visit of Olympic National Park, which would probably be my top recommendation. You'd have enough time to hit Hurricane Ridge (alpine views, walks in wildflowers) as well as the Hoh Valley rain forest and one or more of the ONP Pacific coastal strip beaches (like Rialto or Ruby Beach.) I'd travel in at least one direction via Whidbey Island and Deception Pass so you could get a flavor of what the Puget Sound country is all about.

My second recommendation would be to fly to Portland and spend two or three days visiting the Columbia River Gorge and Mount Hood, then either take the train (surprisingly scenic in parts) or drive to Seattle via a stop at Mt. St. Helens. The Gorge has it all - vistas, waterfalls, cool hikes, windsurfing, lots of local craft beer and wine, and Mt. Hood is well worth a day - see historic Timberline Lodge, more alpine walks... all within 90 min. of Portland. Think about staying at McMenamin's Edgefield - http://www.mcmenamins.com/Edgefield - for fun and unconventional lodgings.

Gardyloo, that is incredibly helpful - thank you so much! Both options sound fantastic - I know this is going to be a tough choice. That gives me a great place to start researching!

Gardyloo is an expert in this area of travel.
Me...not as much ..but I do agree with her advice.
If you end up in Portland....take a few minutes, well maybe 1-2 hours to check out Powell's book store..Biggest privately owned new & used bookstore i the world.
Happy trails.

..but I do agree with her advice.

His.

traveler, if I end up in Portland, Powell's is definitely on the list!

When I did my trip in that area, I spent an overnight near Mt Rainier and did some very light day hiking one day. I didn't want to stay in the park. I stayed in Nisqually Lodge in Ashford, which was a good choice as there were some nice small places to dine around there. I think it was about 10 miles away.

I stopped off in Tacoma, WA on my way back as I was flying out of SEATAC and it's an easy drive from there. There is a very nice park there and it had a few interesting things to see, museums etc.

I spent more than 3-4 days in the area, that's for sure, but depending what you want to do, you could just go from Seattle to Mt Rainier, then Tacoma and back, or go down to the Gorge, also, leaving out Portland due to time.

jent, this is at the top of my bucket list. I'd love to take their 3 day kayak/glamping trip, but even a day with them would be great IMO -
http://www.outdoorodysseys.com/

You might enjoy the small town of LaConner. A customer/friend and I always flew out early before conferences to sightsee for a few days. We loved a day trip to Olympic NP as mentioned but also drove up to LaConner. We lucked up on fields of daffodils - we had no idea. The daffodils and tulips the Skagit valley are famous for are gone but the town may be of interest. They've just built a new boardwalk along the water -
http://www.lovelaconner.com/laconner...mes-a-reality/

If you haven't been up to the locks, that would be fun. You'd also get to see the salmon ladder. You could actually take a boat trip through the locks (we just saw them via land). One thing I want to do on my next trip is a water based tour of Lake Union to see the houseboats. Watch Sleepless in Seattle again before you go! -
http://www.sunset.com/travel/northwe...opping-seattle
That's an article, but there are tours that do the Lake Union tours.

I prefer either the Oregon Coast or Whidbey Island to any of the places you listed.

Fly into Seattle. Driving from Portland up the Oregon Coast to Seattle isn't an option.

Visit Mt.Rainier as a day trip from Seattle.

Then, go to the Olympic Peninsula via a ferry from Seattle to Bainbridge, for excellent views of the Seattle skyline and, if the day is clear, Mt. Rainier, the Cascades, and the Olympics.

On the OP include a visit to Hurricane Ridge, a drive along the shore of Lake Crescent, and the hike from the Storm King Ranger Station (Lake Crescent) to Marymere Falls.

From the OP go to Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, this way: Take the ferry from Port Townsend to Coupeville, drive over Deception Pass, and take the ferry from Anacortes to Friday Harbor. If you use this suggestion, it is important that you make ferry reservations at the earliest possible date: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/

There are many other ways you could use your short time here, but I don't believe there is any better way.

HTtY

Thanks so much, everyone! This is fantastic starting information and I really appreciate it.

Flights are officially booked! I'll be flying into SeaTac Wednesday afternoon and need to be back in Seattle Saturday night. Not enough time, I know, but it is what it is. For the Olympic Peninsula, are there one or two favorite towns where you all suggest I look for lodging?

This is vaguely what I'm thinking, but very open to suggestions/corrections.

Wednesday - fly into SeaTac, arrive 1:35pm, rent car, drive to ONP (Port Angeles? Somewhere smaller near Lake Crescent?)
Thursday - ONP
Friday - ONP, drive to San Juans via ferries
Saturday - make my way back to Seattle, maybe through La Conner or wherever else sounds good; turn the car back in (I'm staying near the convention center)

If the ferries will be really crowded on Friday and Saturday, I could always reverse the trip.

I'd love to see Mt. Rainier, but I'm not sure it's the best use of my time under the circumstances. Thoughts?

I'll be in downtown Seattle Saturday night through Thursday morning, and hope to have some time to see Pike Place, EMP, and do the underground tour while I'm not conference-ing.

I think it's fine, if a bit hectic (and expensive) to include the San Juans just for one day - lots of waiting around for ferries, pricey accommodation on the island (which one?) You might consider a day on Whidbey Island instead - lots of variety and more convenient. Or leave the car in Port Angeles and spend a day visiting Victoria BC - go as a foot passenger on the Coho ferry from PA. (You'll need a passport in this scenario.)

Mt. Rainier is an easy day trip from Seattle, or you could also drop the San Juans and head there after ONP - about four hours from PA - less time than it will take to get to the San Juans.

Thanks, Gardyloo! You're right, waiting around for ferries doesn't sound terribly appealing, and I didn't realize it would take so long to get to the San Juans. The impression I have of the San Juans is that they're this magical place, but if other places are equally magical and easier/cheaper to get to, that would be fantastic. Going just as far as somewhere on Whidbey Island and spending Friday night does sound more reasonable, maybe going through Deception Pass and back to Seattle that way.

I'll be at the conference the whole time I'm in Seattle, and without a car, so my only shot at Mt. Rainier is one of these pre-conference days. Would it be worth dropping Whidbey Island to do that?

I spent a couple of days in Victoria five years ago, and while I really liked it and would love to go back, I'm hoping to focus on places I haven't seen. But it's definitely in the back of my mind as an option! I'll probably bring my passport just in case.

I'll be at the conference the whole time I'm in Seattle, and without a car, so my only shot at Mt. Rainier is one of these pre-conference days. Would it be worth dropping Whidbey Island to do that?

Frankly, in my mind, no. And really, if it was me I'd actually spend the extra day on the Olympic peninsula, then return to Seattle via the Port Townsend - Coupeville ferry to Whidbey, spend a couple of hours at Deception Pass, then drive the length of Whidbey (stopping at Langley) to the Mukilteo ferry (then past the Boeing plant on SR 526 to I-5, just to see the biggest building in the world.)

Don't know what your plans for Olympic NP are, but they should include the Hoh rain forest, one or more of the beaches (e.g. Ruby Beach near Kalaloch, Rialto Beach near La Push) and Hurricane Ridge at least. These are all quite long drives from each other, so it can soak up the clock.

I appreciate that frankness! I kind of figured that driving that far out of the way to see one mountain was probably not the best use of my time, though I'm sure it's fantastic.

I was actually wondering about whether it would be a better idea to just see Whidbey on the drive back instead of actually staying there - certainly easier than finding another place to stay and everything involved with that.

Is the Port Angeles area the best (or as good as any) spot to stay for ONP? I'm looking at hotels there but also at some Airbnb properties in that general area. Thanks so much for the highlights list - that will be so helpful!

This question probably doesn't need to be asked, but just in case - are there any areas where I need to have any safety concerns (other than common sense)? Just want to make sure I don't wander into any kind of unsafe territory while I'm driving around. My assumption is that it's a safe area, but better safe than sorry!

Safety is not an issue, aside from typical traffic awareness.

The "problem" (or "advantage") of Olympic NP is that the core of the park/peninsula is maintained as roadless wilderness, so to visit the main sights you scoot around the periphery of the park, for the most part on roads that are kinda blah.

So Port Angeles is both close (Hurricane Ridge, Lake Crescent) to some key areas, but far from those on the Pacific coast. Unfortunately, there's very little accommodation out on the coast, so either you make long daytrips from PA (Hoh is around two hours one way, as is Kalaloch, Hoh and Kalaloch combined over three hours one way) or look for someplace to stay that's closer to the coast or near it, such as Forks. Forks is not much to look at, despite its fleeting vampire fame, but if you want to minimize travel during the Pacific coast days, it might do.

Otherwise you could do a clockwise loop of the peninsula - Seattle to Lake Quinault (another beautiful lake and rain forest) via Olympia, then up the coast with stops at Ruby Beach and the Hoh rain forest center, ending in Port Angeles, then Hurricane Ridge from PA and back to Seattle via Whidbey, something like this - https://goo.gl/maps/DaqzF

Gardyloo, you are amazing! Thank you! That loop map is great. I have a feeling that staying in one place will be a higher priority than minimizing daily drive time, plus it gives me more flexibility. But definitely something to think about. Long drives aren't my favorite, but I'm glad the park is pretty much untrafficked. I grew up an hour from the Smokies and it's a different situation.

I did wonder about Forks, but I have to admit, I only know about it from the vampire thing (pop culture osmosis is real).

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for their input on this trip - I'm in Seattle now but spent a couple of days in Port Angeles last week. I flew into SeaTac Wednesday and drove straight to Port Angeles (taking the non-ferry route) - traffic in Seattle and Tacoma was terrible at 3pm, so I feel for y'all if it's even worse during rush hour! But I made it safely to an excellent Airbnb property (https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1467393 ) - it was my first Airbnb experience, and it was a great one. The hosts are kind and generous and responsive and it was a really fantastic experience. Having a full kitchen was also great - I ended up getting groceries and eating dinner in on Wednesday and Thursday nights.

Thursday I went to Lake Crescent, Hoh Rain Forest, and Rialto Beach, all of which I loved. I wanted to try to do Sol Duc Falls on the way back, but it was getting dark and I didn't want to be on the trail by myself in the dark, so headed on back. Friday morning I went to Hurricane Ridge first thing (which was good - it was getting crowded by the time I left, around 11), then took the ferry to Victoria for the afternoon. I only had a few hours there, but as I said above, I'd been before so didn't feel the need to go back to Butchart or anything like that. Canada holds a special place in my heart so it was mostly just to be there for a little while again. And I also had my first poutine and met some lovely people on the ferry, so overall a definite win.

Saturday I'd planned to go to Seattle via Whidbey, but I had spent so much time in the car already that I decided to just go on back to Seattle via the Bainbridge Island ferry. I'd thought I might explore some of the outer parts of Seattle while I still had the rental car, but finding parking was such an ordeal that I ended up just taking the car back - I did see a lot driving around, though! I would love to make another trip up to the San Juans when I have more time.

Thanks for the update.