Northwest US

If you don'thave a toad you will have a problem at Glacier NP. They have a limit on length of the MH onthe Going To the Sun Hwy. If you want to get to the other side you will have to go around. If you go to Banff be sure to visit Lake Moraine, and then also the tour on the Icefields. You may need a little more time to get to Washington.

Need 2 days in McMinnville Or. the Evergreen Aviation Museum home of the Spruce Goose and there water park next door can't miss the building there a 747 on the roof where the water slides start. There is a nice campground next door, or stay in there parking lot.

I really think the suggestions including the drive from Michigan would take a lot more time than 10 days. It's going to be at least 3 days back and forth to Michigan... and you should allow at least 3 nights in Glacier. So that's at least 10 days right there. Sometimes it's best to not plan a very full schedule. Once you get across the Cascades you could do a 'little' of the Olympic Peninsula but don't drive around the whole peninsula on this trip. Although there are some pretty spots, there are also a lot of forests and just by driving you won't see much. Stay in the Port Townsend or Sequim area and do a few day trips. It's an easy 1/2-day drive to Olympic Nat'l Park from these two small towns. Then head south via I-5 and head over to the Oregon coast. Do as much as you can along the Oregon coast. The Washington western coast isn't as accessible as Oregon. In Oregon, coming from the north to south is the perfect way to see this beautiful country and the ocean pull-offs will be on your right side so you won't have to cross traffic. Any of the state parks in Oregon along the coast are great. With your timeframe you won't see it all but you can get a 'taste' of it. Perhaps plan to stay midway Oregon at perhaps the Florence area or around there and then a stop south at Bandon. There are many lighthouses to tour and beaches to walk. Then it will be time to head home although this might even be too much to take in for only 3 weeks. You can always return ..... and you will!

Looking to go in July.

The information received has been very helpful.

Thanks

UMAlum wrote:
We are hoping to spend 3 weeks with our 3 boys (10 to 17). We are not big hikers but would enjoy short hikes. No pets on this trip. Probably not long distances on gravel roads.

Thanks

It's still raining quite a bit - almost every day for the last two weeks and last week it was cold enough that parts of the Cascades got 6" of snow in the campgrounds that are open.

You didn't say when you were planning to come out... but no matter, in the mountains you take what you get as it comes. Dress in layers when you go on hikes. Sun screen, Special hiking socks (not cotton) and good shoes....twice the water you think you'll need.
ok, enough of that.

I'd pick the end of July for Glacier. Going to the Sun might be closed until just before then. Keep Checking Progress
You need 5 days minimum to see Glacier NP without rushing through it.
That's a whole thread on itself - and has been talked about plenty.
Depending on the weather...skip it and hit it on the way back after Washington/Oregon.

If you come out in August - the area around Bridgeport WA, Omak and the Methow Valley will have a variety of fruit stands to enjoy. Queen Ann cherries are the yellow/gold colored ones...fresh picked mmmmmm!!

Take Interstate to Hwy 20 (North Cascades Highway)through Winthrop up and over Washington Pass. FHU's at Good Sam CG between Winthrop and Twisp. Do you have a toad? Lots of day trips around there. Do you have bikes along? Lots of biking trails in the Methow Valley Methow Valley Recreation There is a Smoke Jumper base in Twisp. They give tours. It has quite a bit of history. Don't be fooled by the size. Two of my favorite hikes... Maple Loop at the Rainy Pass parking area ( ABOVE Lake Ann) but it would be an all day hike for you (there is a handicap paved trail for a flat hike out of that same parking area). Or if you have a car and don't mind gravel on an steep mountain road... head to Hart's Pass (above Mazama) and take a 3 or 4 hour hike on Grasshopper hiking Trail. Information can be gathered at the National Forest office in Winthrop (up on the hill at the far west end of Winthrop, across from the baseball diamond...look for the American Flag on the hill...that's it.)

Favorite CG on the east side of Washington Pass... Klipchuck CG. No hookups. Pit toilets. Incredible amount of birds and deer birth fawns in the campground around June 10th to the 20th...and then they hang around most of the summer. Should have a camp host. 1.2 miles off hwy 20 on a PAVED road. Two hiking trails out of the campground. one easy (trail starts between tent sites 8 and 9)and one very very steep trail, Monument hiking trail, from the horse . Watch for bear on the trails. Watch for rattlesnakes, too. The campground is a figure 8... tent sites to the left and MH sites to the right. The camp host site is across from the fee box and he's parked in the MH loop. There's probably only 4 sites to put 36 ft to 40 ft units into. Watch for tree limbs.

North Cascades highway is well paved, not steep, only has one switchback at the top and is an easy drive to do. Of all the paved mountain highways in the NW... it's the easiest. jmho.


The bridge over the Skagit River (near Mt.Vernon) on I5 is OUT and it's going to be a month before they temp in a bridge and a couple more months to get it fixed. Hwy 20 crosses I5 on the west side of the Cascades. Pick your time of day to get to the west side. I think it will be bearable and certainly worth it to get to "the end of hwy 20". Do at least a walk on or take the bikes along and go on a San Juan Ferry ride. Not worth taking the big RV but worth at least a day trip. Others gave you advice on Deception Pass and other campgrounds. Seattle info has been given, too. I'm not a person that likes city stuff.

Then head south to Port Townsend and check out Olympic NP... Forks, WA... I heard there is a fantastic cg in LaPush, WA right on the cliffs above the ocean and you can hike along the shore.
Hike a rain forest.. Hoh Rain forest

Doing all of the above... driving from Michigan (not stopping at Glacier NP yet)... I'd guess would be a full 10 days worth of doing.

There are only five ways to cross Washington East-West.
Hwy 20 - AWESOME -North Cascades highway / Mt. Baker
Hwy 2 - Pretty
I90 - Kinda nice
Hwy 12 - 2 lane but wow ... side trips to Mt. Rainier
and I-84 The magnificent gorge... stop to see Multnomah Falls

And then it's back to Glacier Park if you didn't do it on the way out.

Our area is very scenic, too, but some of it is not practical RV country. Good area for parking the RV and using a toad, though. The following suggestions assume a toad.

Use Deception Pass SP, off SR-20 at the north tip of Whidbey Island as a base for two or three nights. Come into Anacortes the first day and wander around for a few hours. Stop off at the city's tourist office on Commercial Avenue and get maps, a ferry schedule, etc. Go up to the Cap Sante outlook for the view of Mount Baker and the north Cascades (including the oil refineries!). Head south of town on I-Avenue to Mount Erie and drive to the top. there are lookouts to the east, over the Skagit Valley and to the south over the northern part of Whidbey Island and the smaller islands around. Headed back down, there's a third lookout, looking WNW with views of the western end of Anacortes (where we live) and the San Juans. Anacortes has a big park (Washington Park) west of the ferry terminal, with several miles of waterfront and a 2.3 mile road (single lane) around the park, with stop-off areas at several viewpoints.

Then take a day to go island hopping. Take the State ferry from the Anacortes terminal and visit the three islands it stops at (Orcas, Shaw and San Juan). Shaw is small and sparsely populated and has just one general store at the terminal, but it's an interesting place and an hour or so will do it all.

Orcas is bigger and has interesting places to go. Eastsound is the "major" town, and further east is Rosario Resort, which is centered around the Moran mansion built by an early Seattle ship-builder. It's on the National Historic list and you can get a tour through it. If you go there on a Saturday, there'll probably be an organ recital in the afternoon. Also on Orcas is the highest point in the islands, Mount Constitution. It's in Moran SP and another "mount" you can drive to the top of. Form the observation tower, Vancouver BC is visible, and with a decent set of binoculars, you can see the traffic on Lion's Gate bridge.

The third island, San Juan Island is the biggest and Friday Harbor, where the ferry docks, is the biggest town. On the north shore of the island is Roche Harbor, a Mecca for boaters. John Wayne used to keep a yacht there. The old Hotel de Haro at the marina displays a guest book with a President Roosevelt's signature. The area was known for its limestone, and the old lime processing and mining equipment is still around. there's still a lot of logging activity and Roche Harbor is where the logs are dropped into the water to form rafts, which are towed to lumber mills on the mainland.

Also on San Juan is the site of the "Pig War", which almost resulted in a war between the US and the UK. The American camp is on the southwest tip of the island and English Camp is on a bay north of Roche Harbor. The west coast of the island is a good place to see grey whales, and there's a State Park at Lime Kiln Point on that coast with a big area along the beach for whale watching.

If you or family members are aviation enthusiasts, you should visit Everett, 60 miles or so south of Anacortes for the Boeing factory tour, Paul Allen's Flying Heritage museum and the Museum of Flight Restoration Center.

The Museum of Flight is a major attraction in south Seattle at the King County Airport (Boeing Field). It has walk-throughs of a British Airways Concorde, one of the Presidential 707s and the training simulator for the Space Shuttle, as well as major exhibits inside the museum. That's almost a full day, even without going into downtown!

Had a great hamburger in the town of Yaak, Montana. Furtherest Northwest designated town in state. Roads are beautiful up there.

We are hoping to spend 3 weeks with our 3 boys (10 to 17). We are not big hikers but would enjoy short hikes. No pets on this trip. Probably not long distances on gravel roads.

Thanks

Could you tell me these things? (It will help me give input.)
What is the time span for this vacation?

1. Do you have kids along (what ages).

2. Do you like to hike? (mostly flat, moderate or are really healthy)

3. Do you have pets along? (what kind)

4. So you have a toad ? (How do you feel about traveling on gravel?)

Like technical stuff? The Hanford "B" Reactor tour. Magnificent visit to a true National treasure. It was the world's first full scale nuclear reactor, and there are now tours available, which are extremely well run. Check here:

http://manhattanprojectbreactor.hanford.gov/

If the tours are not available on your dates, they are often open by calling the office listed on the website.