Roads/Weather in NW in October?

Campgrounds operated by Hoodoo in Deschutes NF (around Bend) are closed by this weekend.

http://www.hoodoo.com/camping-rates-dates/deschutes-national-forest-rates/

I'd first look into one of the state parks in the area, such as LaPine
http://www.oregonstateparks.org/index.cfm?do=parkPage.dsp_parkPage&parkId=32

I've lived in Oregon for a very long time. I always say the best camping is usually in October. It is a beautiful time to be out and about.

One thing about the coast.... recently Oregon/ Washington had two severe storms for Sept. Very unusual. Looking like the coast; it may be very wise to watch the weather forecast. However, the mountains and eastern Oregon are sweet this time of year.

Try visiting areas around Sisters, Cascade Lakes Highway or Odell Lake Lodge areas. Most camps are open till the end of October without any crowds.

mockturtle wrote:

jamesu wrote:
It could start raining at any time and stay wet and gloomy until April.

You mean mid-July, don't you? :D

You're right...two winters ago it went on for 10 months.

Summery (dry period) starts the 4th (in Seattle)!

Seattle has a Mediterranean climate, hot dry summer, cool wet winter. Only the summer period is only 2-3 months long and not very hot. It's the the spring and fall transitions that are hard to predict. I've hit rainy periods in late August, but also 2 week long dry spells in September. The weather at the end of this Sept was more typical of mid or late October. And that storm is producing early snow in the Rockies.

jamesu wrote:
It could start raining at any time and stay wet and gloomy until April.

You mean mid-July, don't you? :D

Most of the CA Redwoods parks are state operated. I know the Federal website is down, but the state sites are still up. I would give the Redwoods a shot. A lot will be available, even if some areas are closed. especially along Avenue of the Giants, south of Fortuna.

Looks like the weather in W. Washington should be okay for the next few days. It is October so you're lucky. It could start raining at any time and stay wet and gloomy until April.

The norm up here is that you normally have a better chance of non-rainy weather east of the Cascades and there are plenty of great campgrounds over there. Wenatchee Confluence SP and Lincoln Rock SP in and near Wenatchee are a couple of our favorites. By sticking around into the Fall in the NW you'll find that rain is the norm west of the mountains and pretty soon it'll start getting cold with frost east of the mountains. Pretty soon snow will hit the mountain passes.

There are bits of the rainforest that you can probably get into at quinault,WA. Not sure but I think it's a town inside a National Forest. I don't think that they can block you from driving in there. I seem to remember a beautiful view of the lake from a campground. If the campground is USFS, it will be closed but there are private lodges in there, I think.

La Push is sorta straight west of Forks, WA and I've heard the hiking along the shore is quite nice. I've not been there. It's on my list though. It's on Indian Reservation so it should not be closed.

If you are heading into Oregon, one state park that is really pretty special is Silver Falls State Park. It really could be a National Park someday. It's that special. Lots of steps going down from the parking lot to get to the bottom of the water falls (no matter which end you start from) but there are 10 large waterfalls along the hike. Two of which you get to walk behind the falls to continue on the trail. I don't remember if you said how old your kids are but if they can totally listen to your command of WALK and are not afraid of taking a five to 10 mile hike... it's something to look into doing. If you have 8, 10 and 12 year olds, they are going to love this hike. If you have 8, 6, and 4 year olds... skip it. Mostly paved steps and paved trails but not pet friendly at all. I don't think it's allowed to take dogs on the trail. No Potty stops along the trail either. Those are at the parking areas.

If you toughed out that stormy weather in a camper... you are a bunch of troopers!! I hope you are able to get out and enjoy the weather now.

As far as Grant's Pass... there are actually 7 low elevation passes (all below 5,000 feet. Most are around 3,000 ft elevation.) It's very seldom that they get snow that sticks on the road until late November. Fog isn't fun either so it's not just snow that will make driving less fun. There's weather cams that let you see what's happening in real time. Oregon TRIP CHECK
http://tripcheck.com/Pages/RCMap.asp?mainNav=RoadConditions&curRegion=7

mockturtle wrote:
Some good alternative choices: In WA, Salt Creek Recreation Area (near Port Angeles), Cape Disappointment State Park (Ilwaco), Grayland Beach State Park (south of Westport), and any of a terrific array of Oregon State Parks along the coast.

X2 - we are currently working our way south and started at Grayland SP and on down the OR. coast. The Salt Creek Rec. Area is a GREAT location, on a bluff overlooking the straits of Juan de Fuca and Vancouver Island.

The "pineapple express" that we experienced last week was somewhat unusual this early in the fall. They generally don't start whipping through until later in the fall and winter and then we will only get 4 or 5 of them like we just experienced. Now rain and grey is common from sometime late in Oct. until next .....??

If you decide to come down the Oregon coast, the state parks are great. We are currently at Bullards Beach SP in Bandon. They almost always have easy beach access and provide many Kodak moments. We may want to go on their website, as they do get close to capacity on Fri. - Sundays, especially the popular ones.

Keep in mind, the Puyallup (now Washington State) Fairgrounds has RV parking and the fair is over. The Evergreen State Fairgrounds up in Monroe also has RV parking. Each may have horse shows on the weekends, but both are large enough to have enough space and room for you even if they do.

Oh, on the coast, your temps are generally very moderate, even later into the fall and early winter.

Good luck

Be sure to check that there is space available in the state parks - with the closure of the national parks, the nearby state parks are being overrun in some areas...