Seattle to San Francisco
 

We are planning a summer trip from Seattle to San Francisco. This will be new territory for us, so looking for a route and sites along the way. Mom, Dad and 12 year old that loves history. We know we want to see Mt. Saint Helen's (and might like to hike to the rim) and the Redwoods (staying at Miranda Gardens Resort was suggested). We think we would like to drive down the coast, but also hit part of Napa Valley. Finally spending a couple of days in SF and then flying home. Any suggestions, itinerary, advice, links would be greatly appreciated.

we need to know ho many days total you have --

To clarify -- you are flying in to Seattle and home from San Francisco?

If you like redwoods, the Miranda Gardens will fulfill all of your dreams; it is located on the Avenue of the Giants.

We are thinking about two weeks with 10 days for Washington to San Fran. We are actually flying into Montana, spending about 4 days with friends and seeing Glacier, renting a car, driving to Washington and then beginning our trip down the west coast and flying home from San Francisco.

10 day is nice -- not generous but enough to see quite a bit. W/ time at Mt St Helens you may or may not want to take the time to detour to Crater Lake too. It would add a lot of extra driving.

Seattle, Mt St Helens, maybe a night in Portland, then over to the coast - down the Oregon coast and to the Redwood Parks, see Ferndale, Ft Bragg/Mendocino, through the Alexander Valley to Healdsburg/Sonoma County and finish in SF. It will be a busy 10 days but doable.

I agree - Miranda Gardens would be a great place to stay.

With that much time, consider my plan. See Glacier then take the overnight Empire Builder to Seattle from Whitefish.
Rent the car in Seattle. Take 8 days from Seattle to San Francisco. Come back from San Francisco to Medford Oregon. Spend the night in Medford and start early the next day to see Crater Lake NP. Exit by the north exit and head west on Rt. 138 to Roseburg. Take I-5 all the way back to Seattle and fly home from there. This avoids a possible large drop off fee and gets you to see another of the most beautiful National parks.

If you want to hike the rim at Mt St Helens, you will need a permit, and those go on sale soon. They were $22 pp last year. You buy those online, and they do sell out, so I would check on that asap once you know your plans.

You need to understand tom thinks everyone on god's green earth should visit Crater Lake ;)

To give you something to consider -- SF to Medford is a 6 hour drive w/o stops and can be longer since you'd presumably be leaving during the morning commute.

Medford to Crater Lake is 2 hours

Crater Lake to Roseburg to Seattle is nearly 8 hours . . . So if you want to drive 16+ hours over two days - yes go for it :D

I agree with Tom and think Crater Lake is spectacular - one of the wonders of the world. http://www.nps.gov/crla/index.htm

You might also consider staying in Ashland - a very cute college town with good restaurants and the renowned Oregon Shakespeare festival in the summer (in a beautiful outdoor theater - http://www.osfashland.org/ ) - just off the I-5 freeway - before you get to Medford.

Or - drive another hour and a half to get to either Crater Lake itself - or stay at nearby Diamond Lake - a very pretty lake with a rustic lodge. http://www.diamondlake.net/

And from Crater Lake - you can take a scenic drive up the center of the state of Oregon - on 97 - and see some of the beautiful volcanic cinder cones/10,000 + foot peaks - such as the Three Sisters by Bend, Mt. Jefferson further north - and finally Mt. Hood - about an hour outside of Portland. https://www.google.com/search?q=casc...w=1122&bih=558

Timberline Lodge on the slopes of Mt. Hood is where you could stop and enjoy the view/lunch/dinner - and the Lodge was built during the Great Depressions - which has a lot of history (also movies filmed there - such as Jack Nicholson's The Shining) - and it has summer camps for skiers/snowboarders - on the glacier above Timberline. http://timberlinelodge.com/

Here's another informative page about the Cascades - and just south of Bend - is a great nature/High Desert museum, right by hiway 97.

http://www.gonorthwest.com/Oregon/ca...ascades_or.htm

http://www.highdesertmuseum.org/