Best way to Gig Harbor

I82 will have some hills between I84 and I90. But it will also have the fewest miles of city traffic. I would tow I82 before fighting the traffic around Portland and then Olympia north on I5.
Of course if your going to end up on 101, then I84 into Portland, I205 to I5 north might be better. At Olympia you can cut over to 101 north.

Completely and totally avoid I-90 to I-5 in Seattle, most especially avoid I-5 from Olympia up thru the Fort Lewis/ McChord AFB/ Tacoma area.

Horrible highway construction, and traffic delays between 6:30 am - 10:30 am morning rush hour and 3-7 pm evening rush can be two hours or more long. Even the best alternate - WA-512/WA-167 is jammed bumper to bumper for many miles.

Taking US-101 from Olympia to WA-3 to WA-302 to WA-16 to Gig Harbor is about 62 miles at not fast speeds, but the 40 miles route up I-5 to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge will take a longer time and more frustrating traffic most days/ times.

Google maps shows I82 - I90 - WA18 - I5 - WA16 (bridge) as shortest, by about 50 miles. Choosing a departure time of 9am weekday it shows potential traffic issues on the I5 piece through Tacoma.

This route also has several passes - I82 north of Yakima, I90 over the Cascades, and WA18.

I205 and I5 past Portland is longer, and can have traffic issues (though it largely bypasses the cities), and doesn't have any passes. I5 Olympia to Tacoma can be slow, but that's mostly commuter rush hour traffic in/out of Tacoma.

Avoiding Tacoma and the Narrows bridge by way of Shelton and WA3 adds 20 miles and half an hour to that southern route. It replaces the city freeway with 2 lane semi-rural roads. WA302 is curvier.

GMaps has streetview for the whole route. WSDOT website has traffic cams, alerts and construction notes. So you don't have to take our word for any of this.

Tacoma Narrows tolls are collected east bound (away from Gig)

Tacoma area construction news

PawPaw_n_Gram wrote:
Completely and totally avoid I-90 to I-5 in Seattle, most especially avoid I-5 from Olympia up thru the Fort Lewis/ McChord AFB/ Tacoma area.

Horrible highway construction, and traffic delays between 6:30 am - 10:30 am morning rush hour and 3-7 pm evening rush can be two hours or more long. Even the best alternate - WA-512/WA-167 is jammed bumper to bumper for many miles.

Taking US-101 from Olympia to WA-3 to WA-302 to WA-16 to Gig Harbor is about 62 miles at not fast speeds, but the 40 miles route up I-5 to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge will take a longer time and more frustrating traffic most days/ times.

Pretty much spot on!
Driving on the two lane state highways is far more relaxing then the crazy traffic on I5!

The best way to get there is by boat. If you want to bring a TT take the ferry.

I’d recommend I-84 to 205 (Portland), north to join I-5 then 16 to Gig Harbor. You can go the back way, Olympia, Shelton to Gig Harbor and miss the mess from Fort Lewis on north to 16 in Tacoma.

Avoid Seattle because of construction and always heavy traffic plus the hills on I-82, I-90 west from Ellensburg is an easy drive. Several good pulls on 18 and traffic going south from I-90/the North Bend area if you are considering that option.

With a max elevation of 3,000' on 90 and then 18 south I'd take that route. And then there would be Tacoma to look forward to. :B

We suggest 84 to 205 to 5 to 16. It is slow through DuPont, but not terrible. I wouldn’t bother going the long way around. We take this route frequently with our fiver to GH.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I’m going to try RVcrazy’s route. Seems to be the least hassle.

lgblau wrote:
Thanks for all the suggestions. I’m going to try RVcrazy’s route. Seems to be the least hassle.

I would go the I90, Hwy 18 to Tacoma. Just time your trip to hit Tacoma about 1100 am and you will be fine. Traffic is bad at rush hours. Weekends are fine, really is not bad as people say as long as you time it right.