whitey

Hi,

I will be visiting Seattle for the first time this summer and since I have a few days to kill before I get there, I was thinking of flying into Montana, California, Colorado or Utah etc. and driving for a few days to see the other side of the country (I'm from the East Coast). Other than weekend trips to Las Vegas and San francisco, I've never visited any more west than Pittsburgh. The options are limitless, so I'm looking for a few suggestions to get me started...even if it's just a few great stretches of highway.
Thanks,
Whitey

Gardyloo

"Few" days or "two" days?

sea_wahine

Hi whitey.. i live in SF ans have driven to Seattle a few times. It is a rather long drive, but AWESOME! To drive it straight shot might take about 24 hours. The highlights of this drive are many. There are the most amazing redwoods along Old Hwy 101/Avenue of the Giants road and the Oregon coastline is spectacular.
A few years back a good friend took the coast Starlight express train and reported back that it was fabulous..as long as ya like to ride on the train!

whitey

I really have no time constraints, other than the patience of my three year old daughter, although she loves to go for long drives. I was figuring at least 2 to 3 days, but 4 or 5 isn't out of the question either.

sea_wahine

Hi again, whitey.. I also have a toddler..(2 years old) and i am an East Coast transplant. I think it would take about the same time to drive from Long Island to Disney World! Arguably, the sights are way more worth the long haul on this West side, i must say. Good luck and letme know if you need any specific recommends..
anne

MaureenB

What about Canada? Vancouver is a beautiful city, and it's fun to take the ferry to Victoria from there. Then, an easy drive from there down to Seattle.

christy1

What about just flying into Seattle, renting a car and doing a scenic drive beginning and ending there? The possibilites for scenic drives in Washington and British Columbia are endless, and you would save the car rental dropoff fee.

BUT, if you really want to start in another state, one very scenic drive would start by flying to Missoula or Butte, Montana (where ever you can get the best fare-none will be cheap, since the airports aren't well served), then head up to Glacier National Park, driving over Going to the Sun Road. I'd then take Hwy 2 to Washington, and then either head up to Hwy 20 and take that over the North Cascades, OR, head a little further south so that you go through Mt. Rainier National Park on your way up to Seattle. There are lots of scenic/interesting stops in Washington-if you chose this route, you could ask specifically about those.

If you have 4 or 5 days, starting in San Francisco and driving up the coast (on Hwy 1 and 101) would be great, too. You probably would want to go at a relaxing pace for the California and part of the Oregon drive on the coast route, then cut over to I-5 and head straight to Seattle when time gets short.

I'd forget about Utah to Seattle-just going on the interstate takes 2 full days, and its a really boring drive.

Gardyloo

Quick thoughts -

SF to Seattle via the northern CA coast, Redwoods and Oregon coast. Allow 3 days.

Rapid City (SD) to Seattle via I-90 and US 2. Black Hills, Deadwood, Little Big Horn, Helena, Grand Coulee Dam, Columbia basin. Allow 4 days, can be done in 3.

Boise to Seattle via Columbia Gorge and Portland. Old west and sagebrush country, then the spectacular river canyon and the delights of Portland. Allow 3 days.

Calgary to Seattle via Banff, the Kootenays and the North Cascades. Canadian Rockies, mountains and rivers, the empty and gorgeous Pend Oreille country, then old west and America's Switzerland. Use BC3 to WA 20 to I-5. Allow 5 days, can be done in 4.

More to follow.

whitey

Wow, fabulous replies, I'm getting excited already! I was thinking of actually doing two separate drives: One going to Seattle, where we would stay for a few days, and then another leaving Seattle.
Thanks again,
Whitey

dwooddon

My favorite drive, given the criteria you have stated, would be San Francisco to Seattle along the California, Oregon, and Washington coast. It could be done in two days but would be much better done in 4-5 days.

fnarf999

The drive recommended above, from Missoula up through Glacier, across MT-ID-WA on US 2, then up to WA 20 across the North Cascades, is absolutely awesome. Glacier is my favorite National Park (the Going To The Sun road is unbelieveable; I would take the time to loop around US 2 to catch it), and the North Cascades is second (and you'll have it practically to yourself even in high season). You won't believe your eyes (but do, or you'll drive off a couple-thousand-foot cliff). You could do this in 2 days but take three.

A popular loop from Seattle is east via US 2 (Stevens Pass), then north to Chelan (the lake is like Tahoe was 30 years ago), then back home across the North Cascades. If you have time, extend out east as far as the Grand Coulee Dam, still one of the great sights of the world. And it will give you a tiny taste of some Western country that's not like Western Washington -- dry lands and badlands. The first drive will give you a lot more, though you really can't have a clue what the West is really about until you've driven all the way across either the Montana hi-line (US 2) or Nevada (US 50 from Reno to Ely, then US 93 to Vegas, for instance). Yowza, now that's driving.

If you do the CA-OR-WA drive up the coast, be sure to stop at several OR seaside towns -- I can recommend the Newport Aquarium (a treat for your daughter, maybe -- it's very kid-friendly), Oregon Dunes, Sea Lion Rocks -- there are a ton of great places along there. Your daughter should have plenty of opportunities to chase squeal at droves of plovers on the tide flats. I even really like ticky-tacky old Seaside. Get some cotton candy and play some skee-ball. WA beaches are gorgeous but tend to be remote dead-ends, though if you have time to make the big US 101 loop around the Olympics you won't regret it. My favorite part of the coast drive, though, is better going south, from I-5 onto 199 down through the redwoods into Crescent City. Just stay off of I-5 and you'll be fine.

I also heartily recommend the Kootenais and the Okanagan (BC) / Okanogan (WA) Valley in Canada If you have a LOT of time, you can get back to Seattle via BC that way, just north of the border on 3 to the Okanogan, then down and across the North Cascades in WA.

There are so many great drives, you'll have trouble picking a bad one as long as you stay off the interstate....

prms

I used to live in Seattle, San francisco and LA. I did SF-Oregon-Seattle trip about 5 times with kids and have been to Vancouver, Banff and and Yellowstone. (Now I live on East Coast.)
There is so much to see, maybe too much, so you should really ask yourself how much time you want to spend on the road. Find out exactly how many miles it is from one point to the other. Driving distances are far! My personal favorites are Oregon coast which is the prettiest and much easier to drive than Northern California Coast, the city of Seattle, Puget Sound and its ferry trips to neighboring islands, and Banff National Park. Seattle also has the best collection of Children's Museums, Children's Theater, and public parks and playgrounds, all with fabulous views, of course. Summer in the Pacific Northwest is just gorgeous and people there are very very friendly. I'm getting so jealous. Good luck with your planning and I'll be happy to answer any more questions.

whitey

Hi everyone,
I've been going over some of your great suggestions and I'm trying to start a rough outline: I was thinking of a 3 day trip to Seattle, spend 3 days in and around Seattle, and 3 days driving from Seattle to a final destination. Let's say I pick the drive from SF to Seattle and then a drive from Seattle heading east with some of your recommended sites(Cascades, Glacier Park, Coulee dam etc), which would be the preferred order to drive each leg of the journey? Also, where should I allow an extra flexible day for detours? Mapquest has the SF to Seattle driving time at 8.5 hours, but that must be for the highway and not the coast road. I'll be stopping at AAA for some maps tomorrow so I can better gauge the routes and distances. Thanks again everyone, talk to you soon..
Whitey

sea_wahine

really? It says 8.5 hours?
..it seems impossible.
I'm so curious, gonna go look it up, too.

sea_wahine

It is 807 miles on the highway, which might be a bit farther than you figured. On Google maps it estimates 14/5 hours for this trip.

Fodorite018

We had driven the SF to Seattle route on I-5 WAY more times than I can count. Figure on roughly 13-14 hours, depending on traffic and such. My hsuband made it in 12 hours one time, but he was pretty much flying.

WeaverBarbie

SF to Seattle takes at least 2 days with a toddler. We've done it every summer and can do it in one 15 hour shot with our two road savvy teens, but that is on straight I-5 with no scenic stops at all. When they were toddlers, we planned to stop every 2 hours to run around at rest stops. Stop in time to swim at the motel so she will sleep well.

If Mapquest says the trip takes 8.5 hours and not 18.5 hours, use Yahoo maps or Google maps instead.

I second the breathtaking mountainous beauty of the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier - quintessential mountains. The Oregon coast is great for kids - some fabulous beaches. The Cascades east of Seattle are lovely, in a woodsier way than the Rockies.

We went from the East side of Glacier to Anacortes (north of Seattle) in one long nonstop day last summer, but that was along highway 2, not the Going to the Sun Road, which takes longer. Two days would be do-able, but not with a lot of time for dawdling.

The distances are big out here. Check your map scale.

whitey

Hi Everyone,
I've picked up my maps today and I've outlined the two drives. Please let me know if I've bypassed something or if there is a worthwhile stop along the way. Here we go:
1. Flying into SF Wed Aug 2nd and taking route 1 along the coast and then junctioning with 101 - here I assume I would get on and drive rt 254 Phillipsville to Pepperwood (avenue of the giants). [After seeing the giants should I continue north on 101 here, or backtrack and head a little west for a detour along the coast from Honeydew to Ferndale?] Either way continue on 101 up the coast stopping for the night somewhere in northern Ca.
Thursday - continue up the coast on 101 toward Portland. [at what point do I leave 101 - at Portland, or further north near Seattle?]
Depending on stops, I will probably reach Seattle early evening Friday.
After spending a few days in the city and surrounding area, we'll start the second leg:
2. Leave Seattle heading up rt 5 turning on rt 20 east through the northern cascades; at Omak we would get on the 155 to reach grand coulee dam. Following 21 north, we would then turn back on the 20 heading through the Sherman pass to Kettle falls. [What is the most scenic route from Kettle falls to Glacier Park?]
At Apgar, at the mouth of Glacier, we would take the going to the sun road through the park, and then we would take 89 south right to Yellowstone. Depending on timing, we would stay a day or so and fly home from the closest/cheapest airport thereabouts.
I am now figuring about 10 days or so for this trip, depending on how the airfare works out.
Thanks again,
Whitey

circa2

Got to give my vote for the Missoula(or Great Falls) drive on Hwy 2 as suggested by fnarf999 and christy1....great scenery...I think a bit more layback than the coastal drives. ((101 Calif north is great too))
Especially if you take hwy 20 at Newport(Idaho, north of Spokane) and take the North Cascade Hwy. (wow).

whitey

Thanks Circa, I will follow rt 20 from Kettle falls and then take hwy 2 to Glacier.
Whitey