Vacation to North Cascades and Olympic

[MuleyFever]

Wife wants to visit the parks. We've already been to Rainier. Going to go the week before Memorial day weekend, 16th to 24th, to hopefully avoid some of the crowds. I know there still may be snow but going off the last few years the roads should be open. This will be more of a road trip sight seeing trip. No overnight camping or anything. Day hikes and see as much as possible. Looking for itinerary ideas and the best route from one to the other.

 

[DisplacedHusky]

Plan on a long day hike into the core zone of the Enchantments. You will see lots of goats and amazing alpine lakes. You don’t need a lottery draw if you only day hike. Stay in Leavenworth for a night and eat bratwurst and drink beer. A shorter day hike right outside of Leavenworth is Icicle Ridge.

The Olympics will be less busy but it is huge. The Hoh rainforest is worth a visit, the alpine lakes in the Olympic Mountains a great, but you can also check out the coast. You won’t have time for everything so you’ll just have to pick your top choices.

 

[ianpadron]

Used to be my stomping grounds, right up there with GNP and the Tetons for most jaw dropping views you'll ever see.

Hiking will be limited in the North Cascades then, but the drive over 20 from Mazama to Darrington is epic. Stop at the Diablo overlook for your mandatory photo session. One of thy least visited parks, so even "peak" times later in the summer are pretty low key compared to Yellowstone or Glacier. A couple of the main spots like Maple Loop Pass, Sahale Arm etc will always be busy but they comprise such tiny corners of the park

The Olympics will be in fine form by then and have some great valley hiking from Sol Duc side or Enchanted Valley. Of course hit Ruby, Rialto, etc. beaches. That time of year if you like to fish id book a half day with a guide out of forks and bonk some springers for the grill. My buddy guides out that way and is a good resource, also had some great airbnbs to stay at right on the river, close to the Hoh river entrance which will hopefully be back in action from last winters washout.

 

[Deeker]

Really depends how you’re coming into the area. Some of the areas in north cascades to check out. Leavenworth, Winthrop Both are cool little towns with more hiking than you can imagine around them. Cruise over hwy 20 if it is open. Better views than hwy 2. But even 2 is beautiful, if it works better for your trip. Once you get to the wet side head north to mt baker, you could spend months hiking the trails around it and never hike the same one twice. A cool experience is getting on a sight seeing plane in Bellingham and doing a tour of the San Juan islands. Olympic peninsula the hoh rainforest is awesome to explore. I believe sol duc hotsprings are down there, if you are into that.

If you give some more ideas of what yall are looking to do I could point you in some better directions.