Hi! My family (two adults and two kids, 15 and 10) will be going to Washington next summer in late July. We plan on staying ten days, including travel days, and split our time between Mt. Rainier and Olympic National Parks. The kids are very strong hikers, and we are okay with long drive times.

Is this itinerary doable?

Day 1: Fly into Seattle, then drive to Port Angeles. Any suggestions for places to stay in Port Angeles? It's okay if it's a little pricey, but a kitchen is pretty important.

Day 2: Drive to Lake Crescent. Hike the Marymere Falls Trail in the morning, and then the Spruce Railroad Trail in the afternoon. Will this take up an entire day? Drive back to Port Angeles afterwards.

Day 3: Drive to Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center, then hike the Hurricane Hill Trail. Are there any other good hikes to do in the afternoon?

Day 4: Leave Port Angeles and drive to Forks. Visit First, Second and Third Beaches in LaPush, depending on the tides. Head back to hotel in Forks.

Day 5: Drive to Hoh Rain Forest and hike the Hoh Rainforest Trail. In the afternoon, hike the Hall of Mosses Trail and/or Spruce Nature Trail, and then return to Forks in the evening.

Day 6: Drive to Mt. Rainier. Is there anything interesting to see/do between these two parks? We would love to split the drive and see something away from tourists.

Day 7: Is there a place to stay in/just outside of Mt. Rainier? Visit the Longmire Museum, and walk the Trail of the Shadows. Hike the Nisqually Vista Trail in the morning and the Skyline Trail in the afternoon.

Day 8: Drive to the Sunrise area and hike to Snow and Bench Lakes. Hike the short Grove of the Patriarchs Trail. Drive to Ohanapecosh Visitor Center, and then hike the Burroughs Mountain Trail. Return to the hotel afterwards.

Day 9: Drive back to Seattle and spend the day in the city.

Day 10: Fly back home.

Is this realistic? I fear we either planned too much or too little. You're suggestions are greatly appreciated, thank you so much for taking the time to respond!

If you are coming to the south entrance of Mt. Rainier, the town of Packwood (US 12)has some lodging. https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-...Vacations.html
There is a Forest Service road that goes south from Randle to the eastern side of Mt. St. Helens.

Welcome to Fodor's!

I confess I'm not much of a hiker (never was, really) so I can't comment on specific trails, but frankly just reading your plan left me exhausted. Obviously you know your family better than we do, so if it works, go for it.

A couple of comments, based on friends' experience.

Hitting all three "number" beaches at La Push is probably too much, if not for tides then for time.

As Tom suggests, you might consider traveling from Forks to Rainier via Ruby Beach and Lake Quinault, both of which are worthy of stops and short walks, then use US 12 to get to the Packwood entrance of Mt. Rainier NP. There's accommodation in Packwood, although that might require you to alter the order of things in your plans for MRNP.

My own view is that you're spending a lot of time in national parks and not very much (okay, I'll say it - not enough) time doing things around Puget Sound, e.g. visiting Deception Pass on Whidbey Island. Or take a day and ride the ferry from Port Angeles over to Victoria BC and back. But that's me; you might have other priorities.

It would be better to do Hurricane Ridge on Day 2, leave for Lake Crescent on Day 3, and to not return to Port Angeles.

In Port Angeles we like to stay at Red Lion Inn which has rooms on the Strait of Juan de Fuca. However, I don't believe they have rooms with kitchens.

On your way to Lake Crescent, check to see if the road along the Elwha River is passable.

There is a hike to Sol Duc Falls from Sol Duc Hot Springs.

Points of interest between the Hoh Rain Forest and Mt. Rainier include Ruby Beach, Kalaloch, Lake Quinault, and the Capitol Building in Olympia.

HTtY

Thank you so much for all your responses! My family is definitely going to take this into consideration; these were all majorly helpful.
Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my probably inane queries!