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.

 

[Esteban]

Following this closely. I've been considering a similar trip with the family in the near future. Spent alot of time in the San Juan's, Bellingham, Anacortes area visiting family over the years. Intrigued with the Stehekin area and doing some exploring and fishing there

 

[MuleyFever]

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.

Just looking to see the area and relax. My wife likes to try the local food scene, waterfalls, and she likes the beach. Take in some shorter hikes along the way. We will fly into Seatac Saturday the 16th and then head to one of the parks then fly home Sunday the 24th. Not sure which will be better to go to first logistically.

Leavenworth looks like a great stop. Just looking quick, maybe start off there and make the loop up around on 20 for a couple of days then head to Olympic. Are there boat rides up Lake Chelan? Port Angeles appears to be a good stop, maybe Forks. Hit Hoh Rain Forest for sure. Then head south and back to the airport.

 

[Deeker]

16-24. So if it was me. Depending on what time you fly into SeaTac. I would head straight to Leavenworth. Spend the next day in and around the town. You won’t miss a ton of sights on 2 of the drive is at night. After Leavenworth I would head over to Winthrop. Drive between the two is a ton of orchards. Apples and cherries mostly. I would try to book a room at riverside edge in Winthrop. Everything is walking distance in town. There are some cool hikes outside of town if you go up the methow. Falls creek sticks out as an easy hike with good views. Hit school house brewery for best food in town with good beer. Avoid Mexican restaurant and cider house for food. I would then pop over 20, stop at any of the areas for a great hike on the way over. I would then kick north to either glacier or maple falls. Stay up at a cabin or one of the ski bum hotels up there. That should put you about mid afternoon on the 19th if my math is mathing. Depending on how tired you are from hiking and sitting in a car I would either go up to baker that day or the next. Artist point is about the coolest hike I have ever been on. I usually do it atleast once a year. But it is a long hike. That would get you to the 21st. I would then head west to anacortes or oak harbor, If you want to check out some cool island towns anacortes, ferry out to the little island towns. If you want to check out Olympics I would go oak harbor and then ferry over to port Townsend. Once on the peninsula my knowledge is somewhat shaky. I have been up through hoh, but I don’t have any names or places. I do know if you are wanting to see cool landscape it’s tough to beat. Mostly old grown timber once you get off the main roads. That’s about all I got. If you need clarification on anything let me know and I’ll get you answers.

 

[ianpadron]

Following this closely. I've been considering a similar trip with the family in the near future. Spent alot of time in the San Juan's, Bellingham, Anacortes area visiting family over the years. Intrigued with the Stehekin area and doing some exploring and fishing there

If you do Stehekin...do it in September when the rainbows and cutties are coming up from the lake to gorge on kokanee eggs and flesh...you'll think you were in Alaska

 

[Esteban]

If you do Stehekin...do it in September when the rainbows and cutties are coming up from the lake to gorge on kokanee eggs and flesh...you'll think you were in Alaska

Thanks for the suggestion! Maybe a little quieter in general back there vs the summer?

 

[MuleyFever]

16-24. So if it was me. Depending on what time you fly into SeaTac. I would head straight to Leavenworth. Spend the next day in and around the town. You won’t miss a ton of sights on 2 of the drive is at night. After Leavenworth I would head over to Winthrop. Drive between the two is a ton of orchards. Apples and cherries mostly. I would try to book a room at riverside edge in Winthrop. Everything is walking distance in town. There are some cool hikes outside of town if you go up the methow. Falls creek sticks out as an easy hike with good views. Hit school house brewery for best food in town with good beer. Avoid Mexican restaurant and cider house for food. I would then pop over 20, stop at any of the areas for a great hike on the way over. I would then kick north to either glacier or maple falls. Stay up at a cabin or one of the ski bum hotels up there. That should put you about mid afternoon on the 19th if my math is mathing. Depending on how tired you are from hiking and sitting in a car I would either go up to baker that day or the next. Artist point is about the coolest hike I have ever been on. I usually do it atleast once a year. But it is a long hike. That would get you to the 21st. I would then head west to anacortes or oak harbor, If you want to check out some cool island towns anacortes, ferry out to the little island towns. If you want to check out Olympics I would go oak harbor and then ferry over to port Townsend. Once on the peninsula my knowledge is somewhat shaky. I have been up through hoh, but I don’t have any names or places. I do know if you are wanting to see cool landscape it’s tough to beat. Mostly old grown timber once you get off the main roads. That’s about all I got. If you need clarification on anything let me know and I’ll get you answers.

Thanks man. Ill PM you when it starts to come together. Found out I have a work conflict so now we are looking at flying up May 30.

 

[COJoe]

Hoh Rain Forest is one of my coolest memories when I was stationed in Bangor, WA. I walked into a small herd of Rosevelt elk there. Hurricane Ridge is also a beautiful drive. Cape Alava is interesting as it's the most western point in lower 48 states. On Hwy 101at Port Angeles you can take the ferry to Victoria, BC and the Botanical Gardens.

 

[Alpine4x4]

I live in Leavenworth. Its a tourist town. Imo its really blown out of proportion. Lots of nick nack shops with cheap stuff for crazy prices. Some decent food though and the local beer and wineries are great. If its hiking you want its a great stop as there isnt any better around in the state. Winthrop imo is a funner town, but you cant beat rhe enchantments. Stehekin is also awesome and theres some good trails out from there to check out.

 

[breinhart18]

I've hiked in the Olympics near that same time. Definitely recommend driving up to hurricane ridge. Beautiful view of the snow capped olympics from up there. If you want to do a small hike, Hurricane Hill can be done from near the visitor center. Should be thawed out that time of year. Gets you a good view of Mount Angeles.

Another good hike that should be clear is Mount Storm King. Have to work to get to the top, theres even a small ropes/scramble section. But saw very few people and the view from the top looking down into the deep blue color of Lake Crescent is definitely worth it.

It won't be open that time of year, but Maple Pass Trail in the fall up in the North Cascades is definitely a must.

As others have said, day hiking into the enchantments is also well worth your time. But likely to be pretty socked in with snow still at that time. If you can make it up there though, the view at Colchuck Lake is top 5 one of the prettiest in the PNW. You won't be disappointed.

 

[dwils233]

The olympics can be challenging because of how it's laid out and the road network- you'll do a lot of "out and back" driving unless you can wrap the whole thing (something I highly recommend) but that can be hard logistics.

On the interior side of the peninsula, I like to ferry over to Bainbridge, then to poulsbo and across the floating bridge. From there, you can either go down the hood canal arm for a drive along the coast and see some small cool places like the Dosewallips and hama hama oyster company, or head up towards Pt. Townsend which is absolutely worth a day (gotta hit Ft. Worden while there). Dungeness spit in Sequim is cool with low tide, but then on to Hurricane ridge. After that, the Hoh rain forest is pretty awesome and you can wrap all the way around to the coast and the furthest NW point in WA.

Plenty of folks will talk up the N. Cascades, and it is great- Stehekin, Winthrop, etc. But I honestly think the Olympics is one of the most unique landscapes in N. America. Geologically young mountains, a giant fjord, a temperate rain forest, and maritime small towns....pretty cool place with lots to see.

I'd also say the Olympics are much less crowded in my experiences- there's just more area and less people funneling to the same places at the same

 

[Deeker]

The olympics can be challenging because of how it's laid out and the road network- you'll do a lot of "out and back" driving unless you can wrap the whole thing (something I highly recommend) but that can be hard logistics.

On the interior side of the peninsula, I like to ferry over to Bainbridge, then to poulsbo and across the floating bridge. From there, you can either go down the hood canal arm for a drive along the coast and see some small cool places like the Dosewallips and hama hama oyster company, or head up towards Pt. Townsend which is absolutely worth a day (gotta hit Ft. Worden while there). Dungeness spit in Sequim is cool with low tide, but then on to Hurricane ridge. After that, the Hoh rain forest is pretty awesome and you can wrap all the way around to the coast and the furthest NW point in WA.

Plenty of folks will talk up the N. Cascades, and it is great- Stehekin, Winthrop, etc. But I honestly think the Olympics is one of the most unique landscapes in N. America. Geologically young mountains, a giant fjord, a temperate rain forest, and maritime small towns....pretty cool place with lots to see.

I'd also say the Olympics are much less crowded in my experiences- there's just more area and less people funneling to the same places at the same

The Olympics are beautiful. I only like the east side better because I live on the west. Kind of taints the beauty of it all. But for somebody who is not from around here it would probably be really cool to check out the peninsula.

 

[JustABritCrazy]

Did this trip in mid September camping out of my mini van. The trail heads were packed where the Pacific Crest Trail crosses 20. Like a hundred cars at several spots. It was a nice Saturday afternoon when I rolled through. Camped at the Newhalem campground a couple of nights and did some day hikes. Took 20 to Coupeville and the ferry to Port Townsend. Deception Point State Park is worth a couple of hour visit. Hurricane Ridge Trails and Hoh Rain Forest worth the visit. Sol Duc Hot Springs is worth the soak but plan on a half day if you want to that. Looked like you could rent a cabin there. I camped at Hoh and drove but it takes several hours one way to get anywhere else. I was after the busy season so camping was first come first served. Had no issues finding good campsites.