DeeH

My husband and I are vacationing in the Seattle area in early August. We are planning 3 nights in the San Juan Islands, 3 nights in Seattle and 3 nights in one more location. We would love to see waterfalls, mountains, cute town, nice accommodations and maybe wineries or breweries. It seems like the Columbia River Gorge area has all of this. Is this too far from Seattle to make it worth it or are there other areas closer to Seattle that would have all of this? Thank you for any help.

tomfuller

Nice waterfalls - Multnomah (and others), Mountains (Mt. Hood), nice accommodations (town of Hood River), the lower Willamette River valley has many wineries (south of Portland).
Portland has several breweries and distilleries.
If you cut one day from one of the other places, you will enjoy Oregon for a little longer.

happytrailstoyou

Hood River (where we prefer to stay in the gorge) is about 225 miles from Seattle. The 4-hour drive isn't too much for us, I don't know about you.

There are also some waterfalls at Mt. Rainier, and Snoqualmie Falls (30 miles from Seattle) is notable. Wine districts within an easy drive from Seattle include the Yakima Valley and scenic Lake Chelan.

HTtY

traveler24

Why not consider "circle tour of Mt. Rainier"
Type this into Google ..Will give details of area, interesting places to stop etc. Also highway 410 from Enumclaw thru the park ..Chinook Pass into Yakima Valley is beautiful scenery...I do not know if traffic would be a problem as August is a busy time in this areas.
Rather than backtracking, you can return to Seattle area via Yakima to Ellensberg over Snoqualmie Pass and into Seattle
Lots of places to stay in Yakima and if drive straight thru tom Seattle takes about 3 hrs.

Gardyloo

We would love to see waterfalls, mountains, cute town, nice accommodations and maybe wineries or breweries. It seems like the Columbia River Gorge area has all of this.

The Gorge has it all indeed. Hood River is a very cute town and is a center of craft beer; the Gorge around Maryhill is an up-and-coming vineyard area as is the (gorgeous) Hood River Valley, and of course Mt. Hood is amazing.

On day 1, I'd leave Seattle on I-90 over the Cascades, connect to I-82 into Yakima, then take US 97 south to the Columbia River at Maryhill. Visit the funky and fascinating Maryhill Museum - Rodin in the sagebrush - and adjacent Stonehenge replica, then head west (on the WA side of the river) to Hood River. This is an amazing day, passing from Puget Sound over the mountains, then into lovely ranching country, then near-desert, then vineyards and orchards in the Yakima Valley, then fabulous "old West" scenery along USD 97 through the Yakama Reservation and over Satus Pass, and finally down to the big river.

http://www.maryhillmuseum.org/

Day 2, tour the Hood River Valley "fruit loop" - fruit stands, wineries - then up to Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood. In my view one of the very best single-day itineraries in the Pacific Northwest.

http://hoodriverfruitloop.com/
http://www.timberlinelodge.com/

Day 3, spend the morning and early afternoon in the Gorge. Visit Multnomah or Latourell Falls, drive the "historic highway" past Crown Point and other vista points, visit Herman the Sturgeon at the Bonneville hatchery... then back to Seattle - or - if your itinerary would allow it, finish your trip and fly out of Portland.

http://gardyloo.us/20100509_42b.JPG
http://gardyloo.us/20100509_5a.JPG
http://www.yelp.com/biz/bonneville-d...-cascade-locks

suze

Or you could look at places closer to Seattle... Whidbey Island, Woodinville, Snoqualmie, etc.

Fodorite018

Yes, the gorge has all that. You could also head over towards Leavenworth. Cute town, gorgeous surrounding area with lots of mountains, great breweries and wineries. Waterfalls, not really, but it has everything else, and is less than 2 hours from Seattle. It is beautiful in August, although the weekends tend to get slammed. Lots of great places to stay right in town as well as nearby.

DeeH

Thank you all for so much information and ideas! This was my first time using a forum and I am so impressed with how helpful everyone is! I really appreciate the different itineraries mentioned. If we end up going to Hood River the 3 day plan would be perfect - thanks Gardyloo! This area looks like a great fit, still debating about the time and distance. I appreciate your confirmation of this area happytrailstoyou and tomfuller.
I am also looking at the Mt. Ranier or Levenworth areas now because of recommendations. mms and traveler24 I will be looking at your suggestions.
suze - we are spending 2 days on Whidbey Island or San Juan Island. Any recommendations on which island? Once again Whidbey would take less time to get to - do you feel San Juan is worth the extra time to get to if we only have a few days?
Thanks again for all of the help!

DeeH

One more question. If you could only go to one area would you recommend Mt. Rainier or Columbia River Gorge?

happytrailstoyou

Considering its proximity to Seattle and the unforgettable experience of driving or hiking up close to Mt. Rainier, my vote is for Mt. Rainier.

Possible routings include Mt.Rainier, Chinook Pass, Yakima Valley Wine District, Snoqualmie Falls, Seattle or Mt. Rainier, Chinook Pass, Yakima Valley Wine District, Chelan Wine District, Stevens Pass (Leavenworth), Seattle.

HTtY

Gardyloo

While I love Mt. Rainier, in my view the Gorge has more to offer, since you also get a volcano thrown in. The drive from Hood River up the Hood River Valley to Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood is every bit as spectacular as the drive to Paradise or Sunrise on Mt. Rainier.

Mt. Hood isn't a national park, so there's more development on its sides (for example, skiing) and while areas like the Reflection Lakes off Stevens Canyon Road at MRNP are stunning, IMO the Hood/Gorge area more than makes up for it in variety. IMO it's easier to visit, too.

HttY's right in mentioning the attractions of Chinook Pass, Leavenworth et al, but these are far more spread out than the Gorge and take much longer to include in a single itinerary. With the Hood/Gorge combination the attractions - vineyards, mountain, waterfalls, etc. - are basically side-by-side.

Now IF you wanted to have a very full first day, you could include Mt. Rainier along the way. Early start, head to Paradise on Mt. Rainier, walk among the wildflowers near the visitor center, then follow Stevens Canyon Rd. past the Reflection Lakes to SR 123 and US 12, then over White Pass and down into the Yakima Valley, then south on US 97 to the Columbia - https://goo.gl/maps/upT8ucBeZtz

If you wanted to go as far as Hood River it's a full day's drive; alternatively you could overnight in Goldendale, Maryhill, or The Dalles, and still have an easy time in the Hood River/Gorge area the next couple of days.

Fodorite018

For me it would be a toss up between Mt Rainier and the Gorge. As Gardyloo says, with Mt Rainier and Leavenworth, it is more spread out. Not bad by any means, but just not drive down the old highway in the gorge and see one thing right smack after another. It can get incredibly crowded though, where with Rainier it is much easier to escape that.

happytrailstoyou

I have no ax to grind. Standing at the foot of Mt. Rainier is a great experience that I urge everybody to experience. If you go to the Columbia River Gorge, consider driving there via Mt. Rainier.

HTtY

Gardyloo

Yeah, I apologize if my post seemed dismissive of HttY's comments; not my intention at all.

You could certainly do a fantastic "Cascade loop" drive in the same amount of time - over to the Yakima valley via Mt. Rainier, north on US 97 to Leavenworth or all the way to SR 20, then back across the Cascades, either on US 2 or via North Cascades NP on SR 20. Mountains, desert, orchards... lots going on. Also use the google for Lake Chelan and the Lady of the Lake - a marvelous alternative.

Or at risk of making things even harder, you could ditch the Cascades and spend your extra 3 days on the Olympic Peninsula and get alpine scenery, the incredible rain forests and coastal beaches, waterfalls, cute towns, and with a lot less driving than the Rainier/Cascades/Gorge options above. After the San Juans, drive over Deception Pass to the Coupeville-Port Townsend ferry and badda bing you're in gorgeous Port Townsend, and a couple of hours later you're looking out at the Olympic National Park wilderness from Hurricane Ridge.

suze

>

Honestly I'm not a very good expert on this area. I live in Seattle, but when I vacation it's in Mexico or Hawaii

It takes a bit more time and effort to get to the San Juans. But both are nice.

If you decide on Whidbey I liked this place a lot, although it's been awhile since I was there: http://www.captainwhidbey.com/

Fodorite018

DeeH--I am not suze , but with only two days I would do Whidbey over the San Juans. SJI take longer with having to get there via ferry. We have been to the SJI's a handful of times, and Whidbey literally at least a hundred times over the years, FWIW. Whidbey is great in that you can enjoy the small towns like Coupeville and Langely, but also enjoy nature at it's finest. So many great places to check out, and often times you will not run into more than a handful of people. I do like the inn that suze mentioned. DH and I stayed there last this past spring. It is rustic, so just know, and in the main part of the inn the bathrooms are down the hall. We never had an issue with waiting, or cleanliness, etc. The people there are super nice too.