Seattle, Portand, Hood River with kids- short notice
May 25th, 2016, 06:29 AM
#1
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Seattle, Portand, Hood River with kids- short notice
Help- I've read many posts & am totally overwhelmed. Traveling to Seattle fri6/17&18 and out of Portland red eye on 25. Active, foodie, usually city dwellers, hiking will be new. Traveling with 10 & 14 yr olds (both run, swim & competitive sports). This opportunity came together last minute. Must visit friends in Hood River and Portland. So far: Seattle city fri & sat including Freemont festival. Wish list: Portland downtown, Mt. Rainer hike, Hood River ?, moderate hikes, coast (OR?), sea life? Would love a suggested itinerary. Food spots? Problem is we want to do it all. ( per many posts I have cut Olympia NP from the list due to time)
May 25th, 2016, 07:10 AM
#2
In the Fremont (not Freemont) section of Seattle, stop in to see Groundspeak headquarters and learn about geocaching.
There is a troll underneath the big bridge which might interest the kids.
Leaving Seattle, go to the newly remodeled King St. station (near Century Link field) and ride an Amtrak Cascades train to Portland. Getting around Portland is easy on the TriMet system of bus, light rail and even electric trolley.
It's your choice if you want to rent the car in downtown Portland or out at the airport.
The red line light rail ends at the PDX airport.
I would skip the Mt. Rainier hike and hike up the trail at Multnomah Falls to the top and a ways beyond.
You can also hike from Timberline on the south side of Mt. Hood.
Hood River is a mecca for kite boarders and sail boarders on the Columbia River. (lessons available)
There are several other places to hike near the other waterfalls off the Old Columbia River Highway (old US 30) west of Hood River.
There is a troll underneath the big bridge which might interest the kids.
Leaving Seattle, go to the newly remodeled King St. station (near Century Link field) and ride an Amtrak Cascades train to Portland. Getting around Portland is easy on the TriMet system of bus, light rail and even electric trolley.
It's your choice if you want to rent the car in downtown Portland or out at the airport.
The red line light rail ends at the PDX airport.
I would skip the Mt. Rainier hike and hike up the trail at Multnomah Falls to the top and a ways beyond.
You can also hike from Timberline on the south side of Mt. Hood.
Hood River is a mecca for kite boarders and sail boarders on the Columbia River. (lessons available)
There are several other places to hike near the other waterfalls off the Old Columbia River Highway (old US 30) west of Hood River.
May 25th, 2016, 08:27 AM
#3
I'd suggest this route: https://goo.gl/maps/1BUmrA3aA7q
Head out of Seattle as early as you can manage on Sunday and aim for Paradise on Mount Rainier. You should note that there's still likely to be quite a lot of snow on the ground (not the parking lots and roads) at elevation when you're visiting, so hiking is going to be quite limited. (There's currently 90 inches on the ground at Paradise.) Also there's a 50-50 chance in June that the mountain will be socked in. Have a look at the park service webcams - https://www.nps.gov/mora/learn/photo...ia/webcams.htm
Assuming you still want to include Mt. Rainier, I'd visit Paradise, then continue east (beautiful Stevens Canyon Rd.) to US 12, then over White Pass and into Yakima for the night.
The next day, head south on US 97 through great "old west" scenery to the Columbia River at Maryhill. Visit the Maryhill Museum and/or the Stonehenge replica nearby, then continue west on the Washington side of the river to White Salmon, then cross for Hood River.
Here's a possible itinerary with overnight points:
17-Jun Fri Seattle
18-Jun Sat Seattle
19-Jun Sun Mt. Rainier to Yakima
20-Jun Mon To Hood River
21-Jun Tue Hood River
22-Jun Wed Hood River
23-Jun Thu Portland
24-Jun Fri Portland
25-Jun Sat Portland
If the forecast for Mt. Rainier is socked in, I'd probably ditch it in favor of heading south on I-5 from Seattle with a stop at Mt. St. Helens en route to Portland or Hood River. Note Mt. St. Helens might be socked in too, but hiking is less an issue there.
Head out of Seattle as early as you can manage on Sunday and aim for Paradise on Mount Rainier. You should note that there's still likely to be quite a lot of snow on the ground (not the parking lots and roads) at elevation when you're visiting, so hiking is going to be quite limited. (There's currently 90 inches on the ground at Paradise.) Also there's a 50-50 chance in June that the mountain will be socked in. Have a look at the park service webcams - https://www.nps.gov/mora/learn/photo...ia/webcams.htm
Assuming you still want to include Mt. Rainier, I'd visit Paradise, then continue east (beautiful Stevens Canyon Rd.) to US 12, then over White Pass and into Yakima for the night.
The next day, head south on US 97 through great "old west" scenery to the Columbia River at Maryhill. Visit the Maryhill Museum and/or the Stonehenge replica nearby, then continue west on the Washington side of the river to White Salmon, then cross for Hood River.
Here's a possible itinerary with overnight points:
17-Jun Fri Seattle
18-Jun Sat Seattle
19-Jun Sun Mt. Rainier to Yakima
20-Jun Mon To Hood River
21-Jun Tue Hood River
22-Jun Wed Hood River
23-Jun Thu Portland
24-Jun Fri Portland
25-Jun Sat Portland
If the forecast for Mt. Rainier is socked in, I'd probably ditch it in favor of heading south on I-5 from Seattle with a stop at Mt. St. Helens en route to Portland or Hood River. Note Mt. St. Helens might be socked in too, but hiking is less an issue there.
May 25th, 2016, 08:32 AM
#4
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June? I'd make reservations you can cancel. If it's dumping rain on the coast, you might want to explore further inland.
17 Seattle
18 Seattle
19 Hood River (the falls)
20 Cannon Beach (ecola state Park for hiking)
21Cannon Beach (haystack rock for sea life)
22 Portland (Powells books, blue star donuts, zoo, parks, Maybe Mt Hood)
23 Portland
24 Portland
25 fly out (if it's that night, go to Saturday Market).
Urban hiking- http://www.oregonlive.com/northwest-...-portland.html
I'd personally skip Rainier unless the weather is amazing. You may still be restricted by snow there. You could easily spend another night in Seattle but hotels are so expensive. Definitely stay somewhere central and fun in Portland-
Portland is foodie paradise and if the kids like to bike, rent bikes or take a tour. Or go running along the river. I have you in Portland last just because you fly out of there. Tomfuller loves trains- you could take the cascades like he says, but that wouldn't be my choice as that's really going to restrict when you leave Seattle, and you pretty much need a car everywhere but Seattle. You may not need one in Portland- and parking may be inconvenient/expensive- but generally I like one in Portland because I like the option to do day trips.
17 Seattle
18 Seattle
19 Hood River (the falls)
20 Cannon Beach (ecola state Park for hiking)
21Cannon Beach (haystack rock for sea life)
22 Portland (Powells books, blue star donuts, zoo, parks, Maybe Mt Hood)
23 Portland
24 Portland
25 fly out (if it's that night, go to Saturday Market).
Urban hiking- http://www.oregonlive.com/northwest-...-portland.html
I'd personally skip Rainier unless the weather is amazing. You may still be restricted by snow there. You could easily spend another night in Seattle but hotels are so expensive. Definitely stay somewhere central and fun in Portland-
Portland is foodie paradise and if the kids like to bike, rent bikes or take a tour. Or go running along the river. I have you in Portland last just because you fly out of there. Tomfuller loves trains- you could take the cascades like he says, but that wouldn't be my choice as that's really going to restrict when you leave Seattle, and you pretty much need a car everywhere but Seattle. You may not need one in Portland- and parking may be inconvenient/expensive- but generally I like one in Portland because I like the option to do day trips.
May 25th, 2016, 03:15 PM
#5
You can leave Seattle at 7:25AM, 9:35AM Coast Starlight, 11:15AM, 2:10PM and 6:05PM. If none of those times work for you, rent a car or ride the bus.
There is urban hiking in Forest Park in the west end of Portland. The World Forestry Center the zoo and the International Rose Test Gardens are also in the west end of the city.
If you go to Groundspeak HQ, say hi to Jeremy (CEO) for me and sign the log at the large geocache.
There is urban hiking in Forest Park in the west end of Portland. The World Forestry Center the zoo and the International Rose Test Gardens are also in the west end of the city.
If you go to Groundspeak HQ, say hi to Jeremy (CEO) for me and sign the log at the large geocache.
