Washington State itinery

With a rig your size, you could go thru Tacoma and Seattle during slack time, but if you're coming from the Peninsula, it would actually be cheaper and easier to take the ferry. Fare from Port Townsend to Whidbey Island is $41.00 for a vehicle 20-30' and over 7'6" high and from Bainbridge or Bremerton into the main downtown Seattle , it's $53.00. And having worked for the Bremerton school district, I have driven school buses across all the ferry crossings and in and out of downtown Seattle many times. The most fun is going to Victoria and putting a 40' on the boat out of Port Angeles. You can park your rig in P.A. and ride the boat across to Victoria for an awesome walking tour of the downtown area.

Bigdog has good advice.

I'm not a huge fan of Crater Lake. But the drive up the east side of the Cascades, from Klamath Falls / Medford area, is beautiful. So is hwy 199!

If you take hwy 58 from there towards the coast you can stop at Salt Creek falls. Other routes have waterfalls, too, but I like that one.

The road from Roseburg to the coast is a pretty one.

Somebody on the previous page said you should consider driving the coast on a southbound route rather than a northbound one. That's because it puts the views out your driver's-side window instead of the passenger side. But it's amazing, either way. Don't miss the bit between Florence and Bandon -- high cliffs and sea lions.

you can't go wrong with an Oregon coast trip. If you continue into Washington state, the coastal roads are pretty good, but do avoid Seattle if possible.
You could cut across the middle of Washington from the coastal region to Tacoma, then skirt around on I-5. If you go into the Olympic Park, cut back south to Tacoma.
We've pulled our trailer on these routes with no problems. If you do tackle the big cities, plan ahead for EARLY morning or LATE evening travel and then it's not to bad. There is so much to see and do, that it's worth a little effort. Enjoy!!

THAKS all, especially Bigdog. Good advice.

TOMMY47 wrote:
Camper van pulling a very small trailer.
Coming to Oregon from Redwoods NP to Crater Lake, then back to coast near Bandon, then up 101.
In Washington, this is my planned route--Up 101 to Olympia NP, to North Cascades NP, to Mt Ranier NP and Mt ST Helens, to Columbia River Gorge, to, possibly Devil's Gorge, to Glacier NP.
Is this an efficient route for these stops?
Is it better to take ferry from Port Townsend to get to North Cascades or is it better to drive through Tacoma and Seattle?
Time is not an issue. Will be going Through tis part of trip in late July to end of August if warranted.

Since time doesn't seem to be an issue, I think that the way you have planned yout wanderings is kinda cool. I would do the redwoods to Crescent City and then 199 to Grants Pass with a stop at the Oregon Caves, then to Medford and up to Craster Lake and plan on staying at Diamond Lake CG as the ones at Crater Lake are gonna be pretty full. Then up to Bend and across to the coast via Sisters and Corvallis and then to Newport on the coast. Or... Oregon 138 to Roseburg and then 42 to the coast and wend your way up 101 to Olympic NP around to Port Townsend and across 0n the ferry to Whidbey Island,to North Cascades,down to Lake Chelan and Yakima over US 12 and White Pass to Mt Rainer NP. (with your small rig,you could take 410 to the Stevens Canyon rd and over to Paradise). From there to Elbe and back south to US 12 at Morton and west to I-5. Then Mt St Helens,Portland,east up the Gorge to Walla Walla and over to Lewiston again on US 12. At Lewiston,you'll want to take the jetboat up river for an awesome trip up into Hells Canyon. from Lewiston, you'll head up to Pullman,home of the awseome WSU Cougars, cross over to Moscow Id and take US95 all the way north to US 2 and from there to Glacier.

Your talking about home to me. I would certainly do the Redwoods, and missing Crater Lake would be a shame, but know that if you plan to stay at any of those places early reservations would be a great idea.
I would also think about taking 97 north to Hwy 2. There are some awesome places to visit along that route, When you get to the Columbia River and 97, turn east and stay at Crow Butte Country Park. It is really nice.
Continue north on 97, to Yakima but once in Yakima take a little know Hwy 821 to Ellensburg. It follows that Yakima River and is so scenic. There are also dry camping along the river. Continue on to Ellensburg where you will pick up 97 again and follow it thru some amazing scenery. Make sure you stop in our little German-like town of Levenworth. Wenachee has some great campgrounds, Confluence State Park has a wildlife refuge right next to it and has some easy walking trails.
Another great stop is Lake Chelan and take a ferry ride up the lake. There are three Hwys going over the Cascades, I 90, Hwy 2 and Hwy 20. You'll have to return to Wenachee to pick up Hwy2, but Chelan is well worth the trip. Or take Hwy 20 over. Stopping in Wintrop for an old time cowboy experience. Hwy 20 is mountain driving with lots of twists and turns and hairpins and lumber truck. Hwy 2 is a bit better. Anyway, 20 will take you to Whidbey Island and if you can get reservations, stay at Deception Pass State Park and then drive down to Coupville and take the Coupville-Port Townsend Ferry Fort Worden State Park is another place to not miss. Now your back on 101 and heading west. Once you get to the Pacific Ocean, make sure you stop at Ruby Beach and that your camera has lots of film. No camping there but its beautiful. Follow the Pacific south. Happy travels

The drive from WA14 at Carson up the Wind River Hwy and then on Curly Crk Rd to FS90 has one of the best east side viewpoints of Mt St Helens. It's a double loop as Curly Ck drops to the Lewis River.

The Lewis falls and campground are to the east on FS90 (earlier I wrote FS99). These are all paved two lane FS roads. Not as well signed and graded as state highways, but still quite driveable.

It's FS25 that runs north from FS90 to US12. That has some twisty sections, but no curve is too tight for RVs (after all they were built with logging trucks in mind). FS99 is the side road to Mt St Helens. Iron Ck is a nice FS campground on 25 just south of Randle.

I have also enjoyed exploring the Nat Forest closer to Mt Adams, with the most challenging (but enjoyable) campgrounds being Bird Lake on the Yakima Reservation on the southside of Adams.

Around St Helens check out the Lower Lewis River Falls Campground. It's dry camping but super nice paved spots and usually water is available. I say "usually" because one of the two pumps has been out each of the last two years I've been there and last year both were down the day I left.

Anyway, the water falls are AMAZING and there are great day hikes from the campground. It's a bit remote but worth it. Distance wise you're about 2 hours outside of Portland or a little more than 1 hour outside of Hood River and beautiful Columbia River Gorge.

Will be up that way late July till I finish.

When are you planning to go?