Pacific NorthWest July/august

Three of our top five parks/campgrounds are along the Washington Oregon Coast
137 miles from Seattle is Pacific Beach State Park WA
255 miles from Pacific Beach State Park WA is Beachside State Park, Waldport, OR
87 miles from Beachside State Park is Oceanside RV Park Charleston OR
Check out the gardens at Shore Acres State Park

If you don't mind, just drive around the large cities---leave them alone. There is soooo much to see without the cities.
Port Angeles (Salt Creek County Park), La Push, WA. the Washington coast, either side of the Columbia River-Tillamook, OR (air museum),and any place along the Oregon coast will be special. The summer will require reservations for most places.
NOTE--if you travel North to South along the coast highways, you are on the side with best views of the ocean.
Search the state park websites for info. Enjoy our little corner of the world.

Well my suggestions for the Portland Oregon Coast segment. You might get a reservation at LL Stub Stewart SP it is about 30 miles west of Portland. Biking and Hiking, north end of wine country (very North End).

Then you have the option of taking 26 to the North Coast, or going south on 47 to the Tillamook area and a couple SP in that area.

Two weeks will fly by so don't try to get too far away and probably not down the Oregon Coast unless just to the Astoria, OR or Long Beach, WA area.

From Coeur d' Alene take Hwy 2/20 across the Cascades (national park) in Washington. Continue to Anacortes and drive down to Oak Harbor/Coupeville and pick up the short ferry (RVs o.k. - reservations) which will take you to Port Townsend. Fort Worden State Park is a great place to stay but there are other parks in the area. From there you can do day trips to Olympic National Park and also drive without the RV down to Bainbridge Island, park your car and pick up another short ferry which docks right at the Seattle Aquarium and Pikes Market area (shop before reboarding the ferry). You can pick up the monorail which will whisk you over the city to the Space Needle. It makes for a fun, easy day without a lot of walking. Board the ferry to take you back to your car. This is the most pleasant way to tour some of Seattle without the traffic issues. Seattle doesn't have good RV parks.

When you're ready to leave Port Townsend take Hwy 16 south into Tacoma to I-5 and down to Portland area where there are lots of wineries.

If you're willing to skip Portland, from Tacoma you could take I-5 south to Hwy 12 and find a RV park between I-5 and Packwood on Hwy 12. Then you could easily take a day trip to Mt. Rainier Nat'l Park and perhaps even Mt. St. Helens Nat'l Park either by Hwy 504 from I-5 or the back way via Hwy 12 at Randle to Windy Ridge Viewpoint.

Ready to leave that area, continue east on Hwy 12 to Yakima (more wineries) and I-82 to I-90 toward Spokane and home.

You definitely need reservations for this short, fast trip. Have fun planning!

cinandtim wrote:
We are planning a summer trip (late July-August) with our grown children. We will meet them after crossing the country in the rv in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. From there we will have approximately 14 days. Visiting Seattle and Portland is on their bucket lists along with seeing National Parks, the Oregon wine country and the Oregon coastline. We love the outdoors, hiking and great food! Would prefer to camp in state parks whenever possible with our 31" motor home and tents. Appreciate any thoughts/recommendations.

Glacier Park is a must see. Grand Coolie Dam is another one. and the north cascade highway.

Sounds like you are in pretty good shape, and maybe up for some "soft adventures"
May I suggest
1) Timberline zip line out of Coeur d'Alene. (very, very cool) 5 stars
2) Rouge river jet boats out of Gold Beach. (very, very cool) 5 stars
3) Ediz hook for hiking out of Port Angeles WA. (very cool) 5 stars
4) Grayland State park for hiking and camping. (vey cool) 5 stars
5) balloon ride from Arlington WA. (very cool) 4 stars
6) I-fly Seattle (sort of cool) 3 stars
7) Seattle and Portland, ok but one big city same as the next 3 stars.

As for hiking in my opinion it is hard to find a Wa or Or. park that does not offer good hiking.

if you can extend your stay you will be rewarded.you could spend 14 days on the northern oregon coast and not see it all let alone pdx and seattle area's
reservations are strongly advised this is the prime time here in the nw.

better make reservations! Oregon and Washington SPs are usually booked up early, for the summer.
especially coastal or popular ones.

You might have some real problems actually seeing Portland and Seattle, because there aren't that many places to park an RV and those that exist are in very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very high demand. It might already be too late to snag a campsite for next summer. Also, I assume you'll have a towed vehicle to actually explore in.

Here are my picks for nearby campgrounds:

Portland: Ainsworth in the Columbia Gorge waterfall area; fantastic and easily accessible scenery
Tollgate and other campgrounds on Hwy 26 west of Mt. Hood (a terrific area to explore)
Seattle: Dash Point in Tacoma, Denny Creek on I-90 west of Seattle, Seaquest near Mt. St. Helens
Also, north of Seattle: Deception Pass state park, huge park, great hiking and scenery. Consider a drive into North Cascades National Park, whether or not you camp there. Fantastic scenery, and not quite as crowded as places closer to Seattle.

On the OR coast, the fairly numerous state parks are your best bet. Reserve well in advance, and don't even try to go there on a weekend without reservations.

I can't overemphasize how popular and bloody CROWDED the PNW is in the summer. Still, it's a wonderful place to be. Plan ahead and make your reservations yesterday. In fact, make them the day before yesterday.

Both DW and I are from Portland area. I grew up in the Columbia river Gorge and we have lived near Dayton for 30 years. Have made the trip back many times. Coeur d'Alene is a nice stop. We have stayed at Blackwell Island a private campground close to town and very nice. The Oregon State Park campgrounds we like in the Gorge are Memaloose close to the Dalles and Ainsworth near Troutdale near Portland. Some great hiking in the Gorge, plenty of waterfalls. Hood river has a lot of wind surfers and it's less than an hour drive to Mt Hood. We like Fort Stevens State Park and it is close to the Lewis and Clark exhibits. Plenty of good State Parks on the coast but they are pretty full on week ends so need reservations. You won't have any problem finding things to do. mount St Hellens is interesting on the way to Seattle and so much more like the Rain Forest.