We have 8 full days, start & finish in Seattle. We love to hike. Want to mix hiking in everyday if possible. Want to spend as much time as needed in Olympic area. Is Mt. Ranier worth a couple day stay? Would like to check out Seattle for a day. Will take any and all suggestions on how to plan the trip.

Ranier is definatly worth a couple of days stay- there are more than enough trails to keep you hiking for longer than that- I did the hikes around Paradise Lodge and was very impressed but know there are many more that I missed.
I would stay at least one night in the park- Paradise is closed I heard - but we stayed at the other "in park" hotel and it was fine ( cant remember the name - sorry)

When are you coming? That makes a difference in the recommendations.

We are there from 9/23 until 10/01.

If you love to hike Rainier is absolutely worth two days. Unfortunately, the Sunrise visitor's center area/road will already be closed for the season, but Paradise will be open, and there are other areas to go as well. If you want to get away from tourists (there will still be plenty of local hikers, though) I'd highly recommend doing a hike-either Spray Park or Tolmie Peak-that you access from the Mowich Lake road. The last 10 miles are dirt but it's well maintained and a rental car will do fine. There will be lovely fall foliage, too, at Rainier. The mountain scenery there is much better than at Olympic, IMO.
Longmire is the other lodge the above poster is thinking of. You could also stay one night in Ashford and one night in the Crystal Mountain/Greenwater area. There are a number of b and b's and cabins in those areas.

Wow, I started salivating when I started thinking about being out on the Peninsula hiking for a week ;-). I personally could easily spend a week out there hiking and be very happy with the diversity of scenery and trails, but I live here and so have been to Mt. Rainier many times. I like hiking there but I like hiking the Peninsula more.

If you do end up taking close to a week out there, I'd split it up into at least two different bases, with a couple nights and at least a full day for the Quinault area for the rainforest there, then basing yourself at Lk Crescent if you can get in and doing, say, the Hoh valley, a beach or two near Forks, the Ozette triangle, Marymere Falls and/or the Spruce trail at Lk Crescent, and Hurricane Ridge. I also love the river valley trails on the eastern side of the Peninsula (western shore of Hood Canal)--they are less crowded as a rule and you can go up the rivers for miles without too much elevation gain (I'd say the Dosewallips is my favorite). But there aren't a lot of good places to stay on that side--Alderbrook is one possibility--and at the moment there's a forest fire around Lk Cushman so you'd want to look into the status of that in making your plans.

If we would want to stay in one location & travel everyday to spots, what would the best location be. We don't mind a 1-1/2 to 2 hour drive if necessary. What will the weather be like?

The weather in late September is usually very nice; it's my favorite time to hike.

For lodging, I have sent friends to the self-catering officers' houses at Ft. Flagler State Park on Marrowstone Island, and they loved it. The location is reasonable for hikes on the Hood Canal side of Olympic NP (Mt. Townsend, Marmot Pass, and others), as well as Hurricane Ridge hikes. However, it is way too far to drive to the ocean beaches and the Hoh rainforest, or to Mt. Rainier. So for the best variety of hikes, you should consider staying in at least two places, one near Port Angeles or further west, and one near Mt. Rainier.

If you're going to do just one place on the Peninsula, then I'd go for the Lk Crescent Lodge.

But I really think it's worth it to stay in two different places out there.

Daytime temps will probably be in the 60s, maybe the 70s, but as always in the NW there will be a chance of rain! But as suze said, generally the weather is nice here in late Sept.

We are planning on three nights @ Port Angeles & two nights somewhere closer to the coast. Suggestions?? Then driving to Ranier for 2 nights. Is Ashford a good base for both nights or do we need to move around to NE side? Most accomodations are 2 night min. Drive back to SEA Saturday morning for the day... Thoughts?

I'd go for Lk Quinault Lodge, but if you want ocean views, then Kalaloch.

And I think you'll be fine staying in Ashford for 2 nights--you can make a day trip pretty easily from there to Sunrise if you want to. If you like big trees, be sure to stop and do the short Grove of the Patriarchs trail on your way between Paradise and Sunrise. Where in Ashford are you considering? I like the Wellspring Cabins.

If you're running into minimums, Ashford will work. It would be nice not to have to backtrack when you visit the eastern area of the park. If you did manage to find a place that has no min. stay, then you could stay somewhere near the NE corner for your second night, but otherwise, it'll be okay.

Wellspring does have openings. What about the Packwood area? Would that be a more central location to stay @ Rainier? We found a place on Lake Sutherland (ONP) for 3 nights & looking for a place around Lake Quinault for 2 nights. Is Sutherland a good place?

Ranier is not to be missed. Dad took me there when I was twelve and I was utterly captivated. He died 7 years later and I scattered his ashes in the park. Hubby and I got engaged at Paradise point.

It's a magical, spectacular, wondrous place.

I haven't stayed in Packwood--from the map it does look like it might not be a bad location for visiting both Paradise and Sunrise.

I've heard of vacation rentals on Lake Sutherland--is that what you're planning on doing? I've only driven by on the way to Lake Crescent but it looks pretty, and you'd be closer to hiking trails west of Port Angeles that way. Is Lk Crescent Lodge full?

Eh, Packwood isn't a very good Rainier base. It's closer to Sunrise, but Ashford is a nicer little town and closer to Paradise. Packwood is more of a logging town with some motels-okay if it's convenient to where you're going, but in this case, I don't think it would be a good pick.

You don't say when you're coming-Sunrise closes Sept. 9th. The Mowich Lake closes at the first big snow, usually in early-mid October.

We were looking @ a townhouse on Lake Sutherland. We like to have a kitchen. Didn't look @ Lake Crescent Lodge. We are going to miss Sunrise @ Rainier because of coming last week of September. Will plan on Ashford for 2 nights & just drive it. Would be closer to Carbon that way.

Allright well we just went to Seattle on August 15th to 22nd. I haven't posted my trip report yet since I have been swamped at work, but hopefully I will get to it this week. Kimp, I think it is great that you want to hike at both Mt. Ranier and the Olympic. We only stayed one day at Ranier and regreted it. We went to sunrise entrance and did the trail there and it was beautiful with all the unique wildflowers. We then went to the Grove of the Patriarchs which is AWESOME! My hubby and I loved looking at the gigantic trees at the end of the trail. It is an easy trail. From there we went towards Paradise and got a glimpse of the top of Ranier. It was beautiful, but in minutes it was gone again. Hurricane Ridge was a wonderful place to hike in the Olympic because we could see the coast, the mountains, etc. It was a clear day so the views were spectacular. We also went to Rialto Beach, Sul Doc, and Lake Cresent. We then went to Victoria & San Juan Islands. Personally if I were to do it again I would not have left the mainland except for a whale watch tour.

Hope this helps.

Marlena - We are driving from SEA to ONP 1st day, plan on staying 5 nights, coming in on South side, clockwise around peninsula. Then on to Mt. Rainier. 5 nights ONP & 2 nights Mt. Rain. Do you think 4 & 3 would be better? Where did you stay both places? Did you split your time in ONP? We are really torn on where to stay in ONP. We like cabins w/ kitchens. Any help is appreciated? I have never had such a hard time planning a trip, probably because of the short time we have this trip.

have heard this is a great place to stay close to Pt Townsend -
an old military base and you stay in officer housing


http://fortworden.org/lodging.html