Best Route From Vancouver BC to Bend OR

I would take your first choice.
Worst area on any choice is Seattle! No good time through there! Mybe middle of the night if no construction.

enblethen wrote:
I would take your first choice.
Worst area on any choice is Seattle! No good time through there! Mybe middle of the night if no construction.

Aren't all 3 routes have to go through Seattle?

Do you really want to drive through the Gauntlet from Everett to Olympia??
Two options, first to take Hwy 2 over the Cascades through Leavenworth then head south on Hwy 97 to I90 at Ellensburg. Then east on I82, pick up Hwy 97 again just south of Union Gap and follow to Bend.
Not the flattest or Fastest route, but avoids Everett to Olympia!

The only way I know to avoid "Rush Hours" in that strech of I5 is to travel between about 10 pm to 5am!

Second choice is to head west on Hwy 20 at Burlington, down Whidbey Island to Coupeville ferry to Port Townsend west on Hwy 20 to 101 then south on 101 to Hwy 12 east to Olympia and connect to I5 South.

Yes, all routes go through Seattle.
Highway 2 is an option but would be over several passes, US 2 Stevens and US 97 Blewett and Satus.
Not sure if it would be worth it.

WSDOT has various resources for planning travel through the state, especially the Seattle metro.

travel times - best and current

http://www.wsdot.com/traffic/seattle/default.aspx

enblethen wrote:
Yes, all routes go through Seattle.
Highway 2 is an option but would be over several passes, US 2 Stevens and US 97 Blewett and Satus.
Not sure if it would be worth it.

I drove daily in that nightmare of greater Puget Sound traffic for 14 years for work both commuting and travel between store locations. That was 22 years ago, and I know it has not gotten any better!!

Both of the routes I posted are beautiful drives, not FAST, but Beautiful! I took my DW on a weekend to Orcas Island, I chose the Olympia to Port Townsend to Whitby Island route, NO STRESS!

Grades are pretty much unavoidable in the PNW. I would take 2 to Leavenworth then south, anything to avoid Seattle and Portland.

Flattest route, I-5 south to I-84 east 197 and 97 south.
Simply time your travels thru Seattle.

Tom/Barb wrote:
Flattest route, I-5 south to I-84 east 197 and 97 south.
Simply time your travels thru Seattle.

That's what I lean towards. Between steep grades and traffic congestion, I'd rather fight the traffic then driving with one eye on the temperature gauge.

Last September I pull through Siskiyou Summit on I5 on a 90F+ day and barely survived. My transmission was at the verge of overheating. On the same trip, I rubbed shoulders with LA commuters for a few days, Seattle traffic is nothing to it comparing to LA.

North end of Vancouver, WA, take I-205 south to I-84. Misses downtown Portland I-5 traffic