mosby

Wew are going to Seattle and would like to include a visit to Mt Rainier, Mt. ST Helens, Olympic Nat Pk/Lake Quinault. (We've been to Vancouver area before) I need help on the travel route,and if itdoesn't work geographically to see all 3 of the above, what's your thought on what to omit? We'll be in the area for 7 days and want to spend part of the time in Seattle. I want to do Portland on a separate trip. Thanks for your help!

SEW

All of the trips would be easy for your 7 day trip. I would start with Rainier. Assuming you are flying into SeaTac airport go to Sunrise first and then to Paradise. (easy in 1 day with stops for small walks and photo ops) There is a road from Paradise along the south side that will take you out to interstate 5, then you can proceed down to Mt. St Helenes. Again, St Helenes is easy to do in one day. I would then head back to I-5 and head north and take Highway 101 route out to Lake Quinalt. From there you can keep on the loop up to Olympic National Park, whose entrance to Hurricane ridge through Port Angeles. This part, I would spend one night in Lake Quinault and one night in Pt. Angeles or other close town, depends on what kind of accomodations you like. There are tons of people who will tell you to spend the night at Cresent Lake and it would be worth it.

From this area you can take the Ferry at Port Townsend over to Whidby island and then another ferry from Mukilteo to Edmonds. We did this 3 years ago and it's bueatiful. Both are pretty short ferry rides. Another option which is also good would be to drive down to Bremerton (or there is another one north of Bremerton) and take the ferry from there to Seattle.

It all Depends on the time of year you are going as to how extreme the weather might be. So that might alter your routes.

Have fun planning.

SEW

Had the Whidby Island ferry wrong. It's the Clinton to Mukilteo route. Drops you into Edmonds. Washington Ferrys have a great website for planning too.

Gardyloo

It's not that complicated. Travel via SR 410 to Mt. Rainier, then back out on US 12 to the freeway, then south a little ways to SR 504 which is the dead-end highway into the Mt. St. Helens visitor centers. Return to I-5 then continue south to Longview and take SR 4 and SR 401 out to the coast. This is actually a very scenic route, following the lower Columbia past some very interesting and historic towns.

Rather than turning right at 101, spend some time if you can on the Long Beach Peninsula, visiting the Ilwaco lighthouse, Long Beach, Oysterville, and seeing the lovely Willapa Bay country.

Eventually head north on 101 past Aberdeen/Hoquiam to Lake Quinault. Return to Seattle if time permits via 101 around the top of the Peninsula, stopping at Ruby or Rialto Beaches, the Hoh visitor center, Lake Crescent, and, if you're traveling in June/July, via the lavender fields around Sequim - incredibly beautiful when in bloom. (Okay, it's not Provence but still pretty nice.) Cross the sound into downtown Seattle on the Bainbridge ferry for maximum scenic drama, best near sunset.

Now, this route will require more than a day. Including both mountains in one day is a major stretch, so you might consider overnighting somewhere near Castle Rock or Kelso. The drive from Longview out to the coast will require a couple of hours, maybe 3 or 4 from the river to Quinault, then the return to Seattle around the top is at least 5 or 6 driving hours, plus stops.

If this is all too much, then if you must drop something I'd drop St. Helens, and just continue west on US 12 out to the coast after visiting Rainier.

mosby

Thanks for great information-it makes my summer trip planning a breeze! Many thanx!! Mo

gail

Now that your route is all planned - I will mess it up. Have you considered seeing Mt. St. Helens. It is an amazing sight after all these years and the visitors centers are not hokey or tacky - they have left Mt. St. Helens essentially as a living museum and experiement to what nature will do to restore itself after such natural destruction.

kadao

If you are going to Mt. St. Helens, you should check out the ape caves, which are long lava tubes. The web-site is http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/...framework.html

It is worth the side tour.

Photodog

Just a word on entrance fees. Both Mt. Rainier and Olympics have a $10 entrance fee which is good for the car load for a week. If you visit Mt. St. Helens you will need a monument pass which is per person per day and a Northwest forest pass which is a vehicle pass good per vehicle per day. If you are planning on visiting other national parks, momuments, seashores etc within a calendar year it might pay you to get the Gold Eagle pass for $65 which will get you, everyone in the car and the car into BLM, National parks and US Forest Service and US Fish and Wildlife facilities. Check out www.nps.gov/fees_passes.htm for additional information

Linda0515

We did Mt. Rainier & Mt. St. Helens in two days, so your plan is definitely doable. The first day, we drove from Seattle to Mt. Rainier, which took (I think) about 3-4 hours. We stayed overnight at the lodge in Paradise, which was awesome--one of the true classic National Park lodges. The second day we drove to Mt. St. Helens, stopping at all the visitors' centers, and then drove back to Seattle. If we'd had more time (I was on a business trip with only two days open), I'd have allowed an extra day for more hiking/driving around Mt. Rainier.

The drive between the two is also interesting--this is prime logging country, so you can see logging and reforestation in action.