Urja

Hi, me and my husband are planning a trip to Seattle, Olympic NP and Mt. Rainier on the second week of August. We have 7 days in total, which we plan to split between first 3 days in Olympic NP (we plan to drive from Seattle airport to Olympic NP on the first day we arrive at Seattle), next 2 days in Mt Rainier and the last 2 days in Seattle. Does that sound like enough time to explore these places?

We plan to camp in/near the national parks. We are looking for campsites that accept reservations, are secluded and forested, but have showers and flush toilet facilities ( the showers - atleast for the first 3 days in Olympic NP) We read about the Dosewallips State Park campground. Has anyone stayed here, or any other good campsites in this area? How about in Mt. Rainier? Any suggestions?

Also, do they have reasonable eating places near the national parks? Since we are flying to Seattle (from the east coast) we don't want to carry too much stuff with us to cook and stuff, in the campground.

Any suggestion/ information will be appreciated a lot! Thanks!

amandaamanda

I do not know much about camping, but spent time on Vancouver Island (Canada yes)

But it was simply brilliant... May be worth a look instead of Olympic NP??

This is just gut.

AliceL

I think you have a good amount of time in each place. I did the same thing you did at the end of May -- flew to Seattle, drove directly to Olympic National Park and then drove to Mt. Rainier. There is a lot to see in the national parks. We couldn't do as much because it was snowy but it will be nice in July. Two days in Seattle is also enough, IMHO. It is very nice but there is a lot to see elsewhere. As for places to eat, Port Angeles outside of Olympic has plenty of stores and restaurants but Mt. Rainier is more secluded -- buy groceries and get gas before you get there and even before you get to the closest towns.

Photodog

You can make campground reservations at both Olympic and Rainier by logging ont http://reservations.nps.gov and clicking on each park.
You will have a drive of about 190 miles from Olympic coast to Rainier.
Since you are camping how do you plan on cooking? Don't take your backpacking stove or fuel bottle on the plane. Even empty they will confiscate them. What I do is ship them and my film to the hotel I am staying at for the end of the trip. Call them ahead of time to see it they will accept and hold a package for you and ship it with plenty of time to spare. I also call the day before I leave to make sure it is there and to remind them I will pick it up.
There are public showers available in the bottom of the visitor center at Paradise in Rainier. Not familiar with any at Olympic.

Urja

Thanks a ton for all the information. I was doubtful about carrying the cooking equipments with me. I was thinking of buying one when we get there. Any possibilities of doing that? We are driving to Olympic NP the day we reach Seattle, so we don't have a hotel booked there.

I found a good campsite - Ohanapecosh in Mt Rainier... still haven't found the right one in/near Olympic NP.

Alicel - did you camp in the National Parks?

Anyone has anything to say about the Sequim Bay State Park Campground/ Dosewallips State Park Campground/ or any other campground, near the Olympic NP?

Thanks again!

artlover

I'm not sure about the campgrounds in Sequim, but you might be interested in stopping off at the Olympic Game Farm in that area. It's an incredible place--you can drive through bison, zebra, deer, etc (have crackers for them--they come right to your car and eat from your hand), and stop and see wolf and bear--many "retired" from Hollywood...fun place (try to arrive early--it's at 1423 Ward Rd. in Sequim).

I'm not sure about this, but maybe you could call the airlines and check. While you can't take that equipment through security--can it be sent in luggage? If not, I think REI rents all of this and they have a main store near downtown Seattle. Maybe check out their website. Also, I think some of the campgrounds have cooking facilities at the various campsites--you should check this out as well.

I love Seattle, and if you like Van Gogh, the Seattle Art Museum has an exhibit with many of his works now. You can get tickets on the Internet...Seattleartmuseum.org.
Also, lots of concerts and such--check out seattleweekly.com.

Hope you have a great trip!

Fodorite018

You cannot check anything that has had fuel in it before, even if it is washed out. Sometimes they will confiscate even a new fuel container. REI does rent all sorts of equipment. Call the downtown store and let them know what you will need so they can reserve it for you.

suzanne

I did a similar trip in August about 10 years ago (seems like yesterday though). If I were you I'd add more time in Olympic because it's IMMENSE and has so many different types of scenery & climate (rainforest, mountains, glaciers, lakes, seashore, rivers, woods). When I went we did about 5 days in Olympic, 2 days in Rainier (the mountain itself is spectacular, but most other things there you will find in Olympic but with FAR fewer crowds), and 1 day in Seattle (plenty if you're not going to museums and/or sporting events, IMO).

I stayed in the parks the entire trip, in the campgrounds, except for a night or two at the Sol Duc (?) Hot Springs Resort. Finding a camping spot in Rainier was difficult (it's crowded) but we had no problems anywhere else. I loved camping near the beach (I think it's called Mora?) because it was beautiful, wild and secluded.

Urja

Hi, I am afraid I cannot give more than 3 days to Olympic this time... hope to see as much as we can.

Thanks for the tip about the cooking stove. I checked out REI's website. They have good stuff!

Still unable to decide on the campground near Olympic NP. We want to be nearby... and according to the route we planned, camping near Port Angeles will be ideal. Sequim Bay seems to be the nearest one... but I couldn't find reviews of this place from campers. Also if anyone can share their experience about Olympia Campground/ Fort Flagger/ Fort Worden/ Shadow Mountain Campground/ Dosewallips, please do. If anyone knows anything abt a good campground near Port Angeles - clean, quiet, forested and with showers, please post a message!

Thanks a ton for all the information so far.

Fodorite018

We backpack so I have not personally stayed in regular campgrounds. However, my inlaws go to the Sequim one regularly and love it. It looks nice driving by. The Fort Worden one we walked past while exploring the area...lots of rv's all next to each other. But if it has the amenities you want it may be the way to go. If you want to get away a tad and without showers, try Deer Park. Wish I could help more, but like I said we backpack and so go places with no amenities, lol!

Kim

We frequently stay in the campground at the entrance to the Dunguness Spit in Sequim. I enjoy it very much. They do not take reservations, so you just have to be lucky--it's first come first served. The location is much better than the Sequim Bay campground. I always see deer, bald eagles, and seals on the spit. It's a beautiful area!

Urja

Thank you all for the information. I had to decide fast... I realised that most of the campgrounds were getting full!!! I guess we are staying at Fort Flagler. Sequim Bay campground had just a few sites left and they were not very attractive. I hope to get back with a good trip report! Thanks again for all the useful information.

Connie

We've flown in and camped. We packed two very large duffel bags with the basic camping equipment minus fuel--you can buy that at just about any grocery store. They now charge for bags but it's not going to add up to all that much, especially when you think of how much money you will save camping/cooking out vs. hotels and restaurants. We took two one burner stoves--just a burner with a platform your pan sits on and it screws on top of a propane bottle. They don't take up much space and work very well.

We took a regular size tent, two sleeping bags, blow up pillows, basic cooking equipment and our clothes.