Seattle region in March? Please help.
 

We are going skiing at Whistler in Mid March and cannot find much information on the Seattle area for that time of year. We would like to see and stay a night in san juans, tour olympic park and see seattle. Will have a rental car. Flying into SEA on thursday and have lodging in Whistler Sunday -Wednesday nights with M/T/W skiing. Flying out on the following Saturday. Looking at Kalaloch lodge and rain forest, Hurricane ridge in ONP. San Juan ferry rides. Possible whale watching unless they will be seen by ferry. Family of 3 who have never been to NW. We enjoy the outdoors and know March is not the best time for those activities. I know winter weather hinders travel that time of year but am getting frustrated researching what actually closes. Also the ferry schedules for March are impossible to research now. Any suggestions? This is the most challenging trip I have planned due to lack of information for that time of year. Please help. Thank you.

The facts about Seattle in March are pretty much the same as any other time of year except that the Olympic Peninsula, around Forks, usually gets about 12 inches of rain in March.

On the Olympic Peninsula, we prefer to stay at Quinault Lake Lodge rather than the Kalaloch Lodge.

I would check with Argosy Cruises or Island Adventures for information about whale watching:

http://www.argosycruises.com/
http://www.island-adventures.com/whale-watching-tours/

The Washington State Ferry schedule in March isn't wildly different than at other times of year. San Juan Island has a whale watching park. The ferry for SJI leaves from Anacortes: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/

Enjoy, HTTY

www.weatherbase.com will give you statistics for a whole bunch of locations in the state. Can't guarantee that 2012 will be typical, but it is a good place to start.

Kaleberg will surely be along to give you knowledgeable info on Hurricane Ridge in March...my guess is that it will be snowed in. I agree with HTTY about Quinalt being better than Kalaloch, but both are managed by Aramark with all that that implies.

Since your schedule involves skiing at Whistler on Wednesday and leaving from Seattle on Saturday, that gives you just two days of "open" time. I frankly don't think a trip to either the San Juans nor the Olympic Peninsula coast will be very comfortable in that time frame. You'd be spending the bulk of the time driving, rather than seeing stuff.

Vancouver to the San Juans via Anacortes is a major schlep - long drive through the city and then border waits followed by another longish drive, then ferry waits, then more ferry waits in reverse... you'd maybe have one 24-hour day in the islands which IMO doesn't really justify the cost and effort.

Same goes for the Olympic Peninsula west coast - it's a very long drive from Vancouver (and a couple of hours longer if starting in Whistler in snow season) to get to someplace like Forks or Quinault; I think I'm safe in saying it would take pretty much a full day.

Let me pose an alternate itinerary.

Thursday - Arrive Seattle

Friday - Seattle

Saturday - to Vancouver, night in Vancouver

Sunday - AM in Vancouver, to Whistler

Mon-Wed - Whistler

Thurs. - Drive to Horseshoe Bay BC (around 90 min. from Whistler, then BC ferry to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, overnight in Victoria. Taking the Horseshoe Bay > Nanaimo boat removes the need to transit Vancouver, plus it gives you a night in Victoria which is often dryer and a bit warmer in late winter than the mainland.

Friday - Morning whale* watching in Victoria, followed by afternoon ferry to Port Angeles, drive to Seattle area for the night.

Saturday - Depart.

*Note March is not indicated as prime Orca sighting time by the various Victoria-based whale watching outfits; it's around a month too early. One operator cites a 40% chance of seeing Orcas at this time of year.

If you chose not to go whale chasing, then you <i>could</i> catch the first ferry of the day from Victoria to Port Angeles, and run out to Forks or the Quileute country to see the coast (even the Hoh rainforest if the timing works out) then return to Seattle later in the evening. Or, if your flight home is later in the day on Saturday, you could spend the night on the Olympic Peninsula and head into Seattle in the morning. I'd probably stay in the Port Angeles area rather than the west coast, so that the drive into the city is not as rushed.

Hi, Jacob. I know you are a newbie, so welcome. Just a helpful suggestion for you - start a new thread with your question, rather than hijacking somebody else's. You will be more likely to get responses to your question (vs. the OP's question).