Ideas for next year's west coast trip

[azjeffh]

We'll be leaving San Diego in May headed to Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana before working our way back to Arizona. May even consider Vancouver and Calgary as well.

I'm looking for suggestions on "must see" places along with any "must stay" big rig RV parks (full hookups).

Have no route/itinerary planned yet but will be able to do so based on input received here.

Thanks,

[rhagfo]

Murphsmom wrote:
If you can, do the coast from north to south. Much better for sightseeing if you are in the lane on the ocean side. Better turnouts without crossing traffic, too. We have always used state parks in Oregon, but there are any number of nice RV parks along the way.

Off of I-5 in Oregon, check out the Evergreen Air and Space Museum, the home of the Spruce Goose. There is a full service RV park next door. Lots of great wine tasting in central Oregon and central Washington.

Just noticed the above post...Lewiston is actually in Idaho, across the river from Clarkston, WA. Highway 12 really is a pretty drive.

The great park next to the Evergreen Aviation Museum is called Old Stone Village. Very nice park, spent Thanksgiving there to be close to DD.
Old Stone Village

[azjeffh]

Gave me some good ideas, now to start planning.

Thanks all!

[TyroneandGladys]

Have made the trip up the 101 several times some of our favorites
most full hookups all have at least electric
Morro Dunes RV Park CA
Moss Landing KOA CA walk to the docks next door for whale watching cruise
Half Moon Bay State Park CA
Willits KOA CA overnight splurge for site with personal hot tub
Harris Beach State Park OR
Beachside RV Resort OR visit Shore Ares State Park
Sea Perch RV Resort OR
Pacific Beach State Park WA One of our all time favorites
2015 we left Pacific Beach State Park with these stops
Elwha Dam RV Park WA visit Hoh Rain Forest and Cape Flattery
The Waterfront at Potlatch WA
Lincoln Rock State Park WA overnight with a stop at Fort Nisqually
Riley Creek Recreation Area ID overnight
West Glacier KOA MT
Saint Mary/East Glacier KOA Took tour of Glacier National Park
they have a dog walking service if you have a dog.
Miles City KOA MT overnight
Whistlers Gulch Deadwood SD Mount Rushmore and The Mammoth Site of Hot Springs, SD
BJ's Campground Lusk WY overnight
Estes Park KOA CO for Rocky Mountain National Park Very crammed in sites our least favorite stop of the trip
Rifle Falls State Park CO Electric only but FANTASTIC PARK
Montrose KOA CO Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
Cortez KOA CO Mesa Verde National Park and Durango CO Durango Silverton Railroad
Fools Hollow State Park AZ
Then home
You need to make reservations now for a lot of the places and in fact it might already be to late for some of the places.

[Roy_Lynne]

If I were you, I'd come up 101 and enjoy the redwoods and then the Oregon Coast. If your a history buff, plan to spend some time another Astoria so you can check out the Lewis and Clark exhibits. (If your military stay at Camp Rilea, if not both Fort Stevens in Oregon or Cape Disappointment are well worth staying at.) Continue up 101 and loop around the Olympics, checking out the Hoh (not for big rigs, might want to park at Forks) and Ruby Beach, (day use only but a must see for anyone who has a camera.)
Continue around to Port Angeles and if you have passports or enhanced drivers licences, take the early ferry to Victoria and spend the day just walking around, its awesome. A couple nights at Fort Townsend is also of interest to military and history buffs. Cut over to I5 thru Bremerton and by pass Seattle by getting on Hwy 18 east to 90. I also recommend Grand Coulee and you use to be able to park overnight night near where you watch the laser show.
I'd head back on Hwy 395 and check out John Day, both the fossil beds and the Chinese Doctor museum. I'd then hop on 26 to Hwy 97 and stop at Crater Lake and then Lava Beds in Calif. Personally since I've done I5 more than I ever need to Id head back to Hwy 395 and take it to Mojave and then home.

[IdaD]

If you're swinging into Idaho from Montana head south from Missoula and spend some time exploring your way down to Stanley. The Sawtooths are more impressive than the Tetons, imo, with a fraction of the people. Honestly that stretch of wilderness and forest service areas that run through Central Idaho into Montana starting north of Highway 20 is to me the most scenic and impressive wild country in the lower 48. It's relatively unknown because none of it is designated national park, it's remote and a lot of it can be tough to access. But it is without a doubt the biggest chunk of wild country left in America outside of Alaska.

Do some google image searches for the following to get an idea: sawtooth wilderness, sawtooth mountains, boulder white clouds, frank church river of no return wilderness, selway mountains, bitterroot mountains, and gospel hump. Most of these spots have very few people because the access is tough but if you're able there are some world class backpacking opportunities in some of these areas. If you're not into backpacking you can access a lot more of it if you'd be willing to park the trailer and tent camp out of the truck. You can drive to spots like Atlanta, Yellow Pine or the Magruder Corridor but not with a big fiver. But if you're going to restrict yourself to highways you'd be fine coming down 93 from Missoula to Stanley and then either cut south into Ketchum or cut west through Lowman to hit 55. If you do the latter you could head up to McCall - it's popular among Boise residents and there's a big park south of town that's pretty nice.

But you're really missing out on a lot of Idaho if you only stay in big campgrounds, imo.

[Murphsmom]

If you can, do the coast from north to south. Much better for sightseeing if you are in the lane on the ocean side. Better turnouts without crossing traffic, too. We have always used state parks in Oregon, but there are any number of nice RV parks along the way.

Off of I-5 in Oregon, check out the Evergreen Air and Space Museum, the home of the Spruce Goose. There is a full service RV park next door. Lots of great wine tasting in central Oregon and central Washington.

Just noticed the above post...Lewiston is actually in Idaho, across the river from Clarkston, WA. Highway 12 really is a pretty drive.

[donn0128]

Central Oregon and the Oregon coast are definitely must visit areas. Basically any of the Oregon state parks are great value. But be aware are extremely popular, so either get reservarions or be prepared to be turned away often. We camp host and this summer we had to turn away a LOT of people with no reservations.

[agesilaus]

Lassen Volcanic NP, Redwoods NP, Mt Rainier, St Helens, Olympic NP, Cascade NP. For Olympic we found that this park was good: Glen Ayr. It's right on the Hood Canal and my son especially liked fishing off their dock.

The way the Olympic NP is set out you'll have to camp in at least two different CG to see most of the park. There are no roads that cross the park itself. On the back side of Olympia NP we stayed at a park in Forks WA, which was a mud hole, the Forks 101 CG. Of course with all the rain that they get it is somewhat understandable but I'd look for a better park in that area.

We camped in the Lassen CG inside the park, it was the usual no services national park CG but just about all the sites are pull thru and the cg is set into the forest.

Going up the coast on the 101 there are any number of good commercial parks and state parks.

There is a Ferry that runs from Port Angeles to Victoria BC that I'd look into.

Hwy 12 from Lewiston WA and thru ID and into MT is very scenic, if you end up in that area.

Of course MT means Glacier NP. The Going to the Sun Rd was closed because of fires last time we were there. We ended up going from the east side up to Banff, then across and down back into the US and the west side of Glacier. I very highly recommend a trip up to Banff and the Icefields PKWY. You'll need passports to do that.

And of course there is Yellowstone and Grand Tetons. Idaho is mostly bereft of national parks. Craters of the Moon is the exception and worth a visit. The Sawtooth Mountain area around Stanley is also very scenic. We stayed at a very good CG in western Idaho but I just can't recall what town it was in.

[enblethen]

In Washington, you may want to visit
Grand Coulee Dam, nightly laser show on dam face
North Cascades Highway WA 20
Whidbey Island
Mt St Helens
Olympic National Park and US 101 loop. Port Angeles is a good place to cross over to Victoria on Vancouver Island
Crossing into Oregon at Astoria is Fort Stevens State Park. Only place in lower 48 shelled by Japaneese during WWII
US 101 is a nice slow paced trip along Oregon coast
Southern OR stops would be Oregon Caves and Crater Lake.
Timberline Lodge on Mt Hood is nice to visit whether winter or summer.