The great thing about Olympic is the diversity. Unfortunately, you don't get diversity unless you are willing to drive around a fair amount. Of course, that is true for any large park. You've said you want to find one or two places to settle in and explore from there - to me that screams RMNP(Estes Park) plus a ski area. If you are willing to devote the entire week to Olympic and maybe spend 2 nights each in the 3 places the Bobmrg listed then you wouldn't feel so rushed and could relax a bit. But if you do one night at each place and then go to Mt. Ranier or Seattle or wherever, you probably aren't going to meet your goal of something low key and relaxing.

There's tons of touristy/kid stuff in Estes Park if you're tired of being in RMNP. RMNP and Estes Park would be simple because it's a fairly compact area. It would also probably be the closest and easiest for flights from wherever you are in Central Texas.

The big negative for RMNP is the crowds. Estes Park is swarmed with people in summer. When I'm in RMNP, I avoid going in to Estes Park if possible, and when I do go venture into town I try to avoid the main streets so I don't wind up sitting in traffic. If you can find some lodging on the outskirts of town near one of the entrances that is ideal. It's also ideal to get up fairly early to beat the crowds out in the park on the trails. Not sure how that would fit in with your goal of something low-key and relaxing.

You would get to see a lot of wildlife in RMNP, elk are all over the place and you can't go a day without seeing a bunch of them.

Black Hills has a lot of stuff to see but you have to drive a lot, there will be lots of people and it's pretty touristy in a lot of areas. To me its more of an area to see a lot of different things in a week, not really an area to relax.

Not that I'm advocating you go to Big Bend, but it is not as hot as one would think in August. The average high at the visitor center is around 90, average low is mid-60s, but in the mountains it is 5-10 degrees cooler. Low 80s during the day and mid-50s at night isn't bad at all. It is easy enough to do something in the desert in the morning then head to the mountains as the day warms up - but it is a huge park and involves a lot of driving if you do that. You are best off camping to minimize the amount of driving you do, and I wouldn't recommend camping anywhere except the mountains in August....so with your goal of not driving a lot it isn't a good fit. Since you have kids you will probably wind up going over Spring Break some year when seemingly half of Texas decides to go there as well. Make your lodging reservations early or you'll be out of luck, the lodge inside the park, motels outside the park, the campgrounds and even the back country camping sites fill up during spring break.

So, having said all that I would vote for Olympic for a week, or Mt. Ranier for 3 days combined with one other location for the remainder of your trip (and I don't consider Olympic as one location simply because it's so spread out). Or RMNP/Estes Park for 3 nights, then another 3 nights somewhere else in Colorado.

It really kind of depends on how you think the kids will handle their first national park trip - if they would be ok with more of a secluded wilderness type of trip, then go to Olympic or Mt. Ranier, but if they need some touristy kind of fun along with the wilderness, Estes Park wins.

Thank you for the detailed replies! I ordered a Pacific northwest book and I will do some reading. Wherearewe - you have verbalized many of my concerns and I appreciate the advice. More questions to follow...

Fly into Denver, do a loop that includes Great Sand Dunes NP and Mesa Verde NP. If you have enough days, consider a side trip over to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon NP.

I wouldn't do the Great Sand Dunes in August. You can't even stand to be on them. The sand gets super hot. Now, first of June yes, that would be great. I don't know how flexible your schedule is.

The only way I like to do RMNP or Smoky's is Camping and hiking. However, Estes isn't half as bad as Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg for traffic/crowds, imop. I think RMNP is much much prettier than the Smokes. I mention that because you said you had been there.

I really don't find the driving to be that big of an issue in Olympics or Mt. Rainier. Personally, I like the idea of San Juan Islands and Mount Rainier. Your going to be in your car 1 hour to get to San Juan Islands and a little more than 2 hours for Mount Rainier. You will be on a ferry for an hour or so to get to the San Juan Islands, but that should be very interesting for the kids too. Buy breakfast and eat it on the ferry in route.

You could easily do all of Olympic staying at just Kalaloch, if you wanted to avoid the hassle of packing up each morning. However, I still like the idea of switching lodging each night. We stayed at Sol Duc, Kalaloch, and Quinault and would do it exactly that way again. Although, I would add an additional day at stay at Crescent too.

You might want to do RMNP, which is probably easier now, when your kids are younger. I don't think there is any comparison to Mount Rainier and RMNP--Mount Rainier is extra special, imop. That said, your kids might not find the beauty of it at their age. Now, the whale watching and Olympics I think would interest them.

It sound like you have probably narrowed it down to RMNP and something around Seattle. I would gladly go to either place and have great time at either in August. You can't lose.

While I am from the Northwest - and love the parks there - and Spirodog has some of the most interesting trip reports/pics - I also loved going to school in Colorado and it has a lot to offer, such as climbing Pike's Peak, staying in one of the ski areas and mountain biking down the trails, hiking here and there, seeing the beautiful college town of Boulder, or my first school - the AF Academy, and on and on. Can't go wrong with the Northwest or Colorado.

I'm amazed by all the VRBO's! Has anyone stayed at Cedar Pass Lodge in Badlands or any of the Custer State Park Resorts?

Can you do justice to the Badlands, Black Hills, Mt Rushmore, Custer SP and some small towns in three full days?

Badlands and Wall Drug--better part of a day

Wind Cave, Jewel Cave, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse-I hope to get this done in 1.5-2 days

I might try to visit Mammoth Site (an hour drive) and also drive the 2 hours to Devils Tower. I

We plan on spending a full day in Custer(we have a cabin reserved). Will do some kind of boating on one of the lake, will drive wildlife loop. We will likely hike Harney Peak. Might even do the steak cookout/jeep ride.

We will probably do the Alpine Slide. Also considering Hot Air Ballooning.

We land on a Thursday night and leave Tuesday Morning. This is Memorial Day weekend we are going.

Since you mentioned relaxing and Lassen earlier. Drakesbad in Lassen is probably the only National Park that I have ever truly relaxed in. Very unusual lodging. Not even any locks on the doors. Drakesbad is located in what I would call a secondary part of the park, so that means you have to drive about an hour to get to the main part(which we did 3 times). There are horses there, and the thermal pool is awesome. Almost everyone there is repeaters, many whom have gone for 20 years. The meals are all included and are suprisingly pretty good. They will offer your kid a hot dog or chicken strips and lamb or salmon(whatever the main entree is for the meal).

Wow - more very thoughtful replies!

I think I will do a little more digging on the options mentioned. It seems like Colorado may be the easiest logistically (coming from Texas) but perhaps lacks some of the wow-factor of the other places.

I know absolutely nothing about the San Juan islands. I have been to Oregon and some parts of N.Cal, but never Washington (except Col. Riv. Gorge). I loved Oregon and would like to see Washington.

One of my biggest concerns about Estes is that it is like Gatlinburg/PF. We did not spend much time in either town (aside from dinner in Gat.). It is good to hear it is not like that.

Just as an example of what we did in GSMNP (we were only there half the week, splitting the week with family in the North Carolina Mtns). We stayed in a cabin outside of Gat. We did two or three hikes, we went horseback riding in the park, played in the creeks, went to one of the caverns (not spectacular, but the kids thought it was cool) and spent some time at the visitors center - Oconaluftee and Sugarlands. We didn't do any of the other touristy things in PF or Gat.

I guess it would be nice to find a place with activities near by or even on-site (like horseback riding, swimming - i know not likely in mountain areas-, biking, hiking) that is also a good base to explore. My kids love finding fossils, cool rocks, small animals - hands-on nature. They are not into amusement parks (aside from WDW, of course ) putt-putt/go-cart type things. I am sure this will change as they age, but for now that is what we like.

You have all given me a lot to think about!

Good luck on the upcoming Black Hills trips! I still want to go there someday.

You'd want to stay at the YMCA of the Rockies when you visit Estes Park/RMNP.

http://www.ymcarockies.org/estes-par...-colorado.html

They have pretty much every activity you listed, are on the border of the national park and a fairly short drive to the Beaver Meadows entrance of RMNP.

Colorado has some spectacular scenery also. If you do go to Seattle/Wash state - forget the San Juan isles and keep going to Victoria on Vancouver Island - just like traveling to England in places.

....perhaps lacks some of the wow-factor of the other places.....

I guess it is in the eye of the beholder. Or what you decide is the wow-factor but Colorado is loaded with wow-factor sites. If you have the legs you can bike from Breckenridge to Vail. All on bike paths. If a little lazy, for a small fee you can be shuttle to top of Vail pass and ride down.

I follow into the group of locals that is not that high on Estes or RMNP simply because of the crowds in the summer. IMO, it is over recommended and over visited. There are many areas in Colorado which are just as attractive with a third of the tourists.

Base yourself in Frisco and you can taken a number of easy day trips with access to miles of bike paths, old mines, steam trains, world's largest hot tub, unlimited hiking options, chair lifts, Alpine slides, zip lines, etc.

Love Frisco - and the Frisco Lodge/BnB - is very cute/quaint and friendly. And friends of mine ride up the hill from Vail - but not moi. You really have to be in shape and used to the altitude - neither of which I am anymore.

Sorry - I didn't intend to insult Colorado! I was just trying to sh.marize what I was hearing from other posts.

Thank you for the suggestions! I am open to any ideas right now.

Meant to say summarize!

For my money, there is very little in life better than taking your kids to the US National Parks. I have not been to too many, and it certainly depends on your personal preferences as well as the age of your kids, your physical abilities as well as your kids, etc., but again for my money, you just cannot beat Yosemite or Glacier. Glacier is wild, with bears everywhere. Yosemite is tame by contrast. Despite the humongous crowds at Yosemite in the summer, I still think it is worth every precious moment. Also if you do decide to go to Yosemite, you can get a "2fer" as Sequoia / Kings Canyon NPs are about 60 miles away. While August is not the best month to view the waterfalls at Yosemite, it does have the advantage - if you / kids are able to hike Nevada / Vernal Falls on the Mist Trail, you don't have to deal with the water. If you decide on this, DO NOT underestimate the beauty of Sequoia with probably 1/1000 of the visitors of Yosemite. (I could go on and on, but ....)

My Aunt and Uncle - who have lived in Denver seemingly forever - since the 50's - loved going up to the Frisco Lodge after I told them about it. It's such a homey place - but right on the main drag so you can walk to places to eat, take the bus over to Brecknridge, drive a short distance down to Vail/Beaver Creek, etc. http://www.friscolodge.com/

Aspen is also very cool - and beautiful.

And I didn't think you necessarily dissed Colorado but rather were just amazed at what you were hearing about the Olympic Peninsula - which is amazing - as it's one of 3 Temperate rain forests in the world.

And for Victoria, British Colombia - see: http://www.tripadvisor.com/SmartDeal...tel-Deals.html

Actually - this is better for Victora - on Vancouver Island, BC. We took the car ferry over from
Seattle and on the way back - saw a pod of Killer Whales/Orcas - for about 20 minutes as they swam alongside the big car ferry.
http://www.hellobc.com/victoria.aspx...FQhgfgoduVEAig

I'll agree with jlub on everything but hiking The Mist Trail. I think it is best when the fall are riproaring in June. I wouldn't consider a trip in August myself.

Hmm... I hadn't even considered Yosemite or Glacier at this age. Definitely in the future, I just didn't think they'd be great for 8 year olds...

More to look into!

(I do have several books about the parks, including a Nat'l Parks with Kids, it is just hard to get a feel for the real experience from a travel book.)