I am in process of looking at trips for my wife and I for March 2008 for 1-2 weeks and one of the places in consideration is Washington State.

The locations being considered for inclusion in the Washington itinerary are: Seattle, San Juan Islands, Leavanworth, Port Townsend, Olympic National Park, Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, Mount Rainier National Park, and Walla Walla (for wine tasting).

My questions are:

First, am I crazy for even considering this trip for March?

Second, are there any items I should eliminate because they are inappropriate for the season?

Third, if we don't have time to do all of the above, which is likely, which National Parks or other items should we take out?

Thank you for your assistance.

Best,
Eric

In Seattle in March the average high is 53, the average low is 39, and the average rain fall is about 4 inches. It is much colder and wetter in some of the places you list.

One advantage of visiting Washington in March is that you won't be bothered by a lot of other tourists. Many hotels in resort areas will be nearly empty or closed. Some mountain roads will not have reopened.

Wow! That's a lot to see in two weeks! In March it can be pretty cold and wet, (last March was). But you can still enjoy some of those things if this is the only time you can come. Leavenworth is fun any time of year, ditto Port Townsend (altho you may not want to camp), Mt. St. Helen's will be fine, and anything east of the mountains will be dryer..but that's a lot to see any month of the year.

It will most likely be raining and cool (except possibly in Walla Walla which has a different climate). I'd skip Olympic National park but that's because I'm not a big fan of the rain forest myself & think you have too many destinations spread-out for 1-2 weeks time.

geographically spread-out, I mean.

If you're interested in hiking, March is not a good time for that at Mt Rainier or Mt St. Helens (unless you want to go snowshoeing). The ONP has quite a few low level trails so it's a better destination for hiking year round.

HAving grown up in PNW I think you are nuts to vacation in March. Some of these places will have snow and road closures (Walla Walla, Mt St Helens, ONP, Mt Rainer)and others will just be slippery from the rain. Unless you are slugs and ENJOY wet weather or are visiting relatives or are checking out the weather for a move...Having said the above..if you want to see city sights well Seattle is my favorite place...

Thanks to everyone for all their help. I guess maybe we'll look for something else to do next March.

As a long-time resident, I agree that March is not a good month for the Pacific Northwest. However, 4th of July through end of September is pretty spectacular and it would make a wonderful destination in that time period. Don't write this off as a vacation destination...just do it in the summer/early fall one year. You'll love it.

I was born and raised in the PNW, but try to avoid going back home November through March. You have to be pretty hardy to vacation there during that time. It's not that it's freezing cold (as posters have noted, it's usually in the 50's), but combine the temp with the rain and it can be miserable unless you enjoy indoor activities - there are great museums and bookstores! But for national parks and outdoor activities, do what voyager61 says and come during that timeframe - it's amazingly beautiful then.

Ditto the above advise. By March, we in the PNW are all bailing out, one way or the other.