Hello everyone,
I'm currently in Portland now and will head back to Seattle tomorrow. I was wondering if anyone had any experience driving either Highway 6 from Raymond to the 5 or Highway 8 from Aberdeen to the 5. I'm making a loop via Highway 4, then going up the 101, then continuing to the 5. Which route is more scenic? Will I miss much if I pass on Grays Harbor? Are either routes terribly curvy and mountainous? Thanks!

I much prefer Highway 6--it is a rather pleasant country road. The stretch of 101 between Rayhmond and Cosmopolis is not a drive I look forward to.

There is a well-marked public restroom in South Bend. Raymond has a MacDonald's and a Dairy Queen.

The most scenic stretch in SW Washington is from the Astoria Bridge to Ilwaco and then along Willapa Bay on 101. Ft. Columbia State Park and Ft. Canby State Park are worth a visit.

However, I take these routes when going from Seattle to the Washington or Oregon coast, but not when going from Seattle to Portland (or vice versa).

Definitely not mountainous. A little curvy in places. I would use 6 rather than 8 if scenery is the decider.

When I drive Portland to Seattle, I just come straight up I-5. As above the only time I go out thru Aberdeen is to get to the ocean from Seattle.

Hopefully someone will see this and have a more complete answer for you. I don't think that anything's "mountainous" in this area though.

I should have added that, when mountain passes are clear, and we want to take a long, scenic drive between Portland and Seattle we drive WA 14 to Maryhill, 97 through the Simcoe Mountains to Yakima, 82 to Ellensburg, and the I-90 over Snoqualmie Pass and home. For a longer and even more scenic drive, from Ellensburg we take 97 through Blewett Pass, Highway 2 over Stevens Pass, and then into Seattle.

I think the basic point everyone is making is: there's no scenic drive between Portland and Seattle that doesn't add a huge amount of travel time (through Yakima would be much more scenic but probably 2X as long). On other parts of I-5, you can bypass it (e.g. on 101 or 99) and get a much more scenic drive, but the same really isn't the case between Portland and Seattle, unfortunately. There's no "longcut" that is way more scenic.