State of Washington through northern border states to MI

That would be a very long trip going WEST from Olympic Peninsula to Michigan.
I would go east and take the Port Townsend Ferry to Whidbey Island. Take WA 20 across the North Cascades. There is some nice Forest Service campgrounds.
Stop off at Grand Coulee for the evening laser show on the dam.
Continue east and pick up US 2 near Spokane and take it all the way home. Great highway most of the way.

For sure, spend some time in the Rainy Pass area on your way east -- great hiking, great campgrounds. There is not much boondocking available in the high country, but the campgrounds are excellent.

I hope you are taking #20 as far east as Omak/Okanagan? Then south to #2, which is just a great wandering drive. If you wanted to have some International travel, you could hang a left at Omak and drive up into Canada, then follow #3 right across to Pincher Creek, Alberta, turn south again, heading to Waterton Nat Park for a visit, then back into the US, to St Mary's and taking the To The Sun Highway, down into Glacier National Park.





hints...if you consider the Canada part,it is much prettier than the US routing, but, you require your passports to return to US. And no weapons into Canada. Yes...you 'could' take a shotgun but no handguns.


Gary Haupt

We take US2 from the Mackinac bridge to I-15 in western Montana each time we go to Alaska (six times so far). We boondock ar local town parks, turnouts, rest areas, and unused weight stations along US2. You will also find Walmarts along the route that can be used. We love the laid back run along 2 and the scenery. If you want something to keep you looking, see how many US Minuteman Missile sites you can spot along that route. Some are right along the highway.

One tip, however, is that you should not try to stay anywhere near Williston, ND due to the huge growth of the oil drilling and support structure in that area. No overnights in the Williston WM, and even getting a rig into that parking lot is problematic due to the heavy traffic.

pigman1 wrote:
We take US2 from the Mackinac bridge to I-15 in western Montana each time we go to Alaska (six times so far). We boondock ar local town parks, turnouts, rest areas, and unused weight stations along US2. You will also find Walmarts along the route that can be used. We love the laid back run along 2 and the scenery. If you want something to keep you looking, see how many US Minuteman Missile sites you can spot along that route. Some are right along the highway.

One tip, however, is that you should not try to stay anywhere near Williston, ND due to the huge growth of the oil drilling and support structure in that area. No overnights in the Williston WM, and even getting a rig into that parking lot is problematic due to the heavy traffic.

We took US2 from eastern Montana back to Michigan last year. Having flash backs about the oil boom areas of ND. The area is so large we decided there is no good way around it so we plan to push right on through the area.

Care to share the name or location of any local parks you like to stay in?

We stayed at some of the casinos. Do not remember exactly where. Montana and ND, I think. We don't gamble a lot, but eat the buffets.

There's a Towne Pump truck stop at Shelby, Mt., a rest area at Ft Belnap Reservation, MT., an unused weigh station at Malta, MT., A very large rest area at Culbertson, MT and also a town park, the Minot, MT Walmart, a park along the river in Grand Forks ND, (check this one as it floods often in the spring). Lots of rest areas along the road in MN, and once past Duluth, many more rest areas and just vacant parking areas along US2 in WI and the UP of MI.

Hope this helps.

We took Hwy 2 across last summer and you absolutely can't go wrong. Couple of nice Forest Service campgrounds around Skykomish Wa on Hwy 2 and then on the east side, we have stayed at one called Tumwater, just west of Leavenworth, (a must stop BTW). Hwy 2 goes thru Coulee Dam and we were able to park right in town and they said it was fine, but there is also a City Park there. Beyond Spokane and north is Pend Oreille Park, heavily wooded, older campground which we checked out be didn't stay at. It would be okay for an overnight
I can't help you with Idaho and in Montana, after Glacier we found a great campground called Downstream COE near Fort Peak.

enblethen wrote:
That would be a very long trip going WEST from Olympic Peninsula to Michigan.
I would go east and take the Port Townsend Ferry to Whidbey Island. Take WA 20 across the North Cascades. There is some nice Forest Service campgrounds.
Stop off at Grand Coulee for the evening laser show on the dam.
Continue east and pick up US 2 near Spokane and take it all the way home. Great highway most of the way.

Thanks enblethen we were hoping to find a way around Seattle, this looks perfect!!

garyhaupt wrote:
I hope you are taking #20 as far east as Omak/Okanagan? Then south to #2, which is just a great wandering drive. If you wanted to have some International travel, you could hang a left at Omak and drive up into Canada, then follow #3 right across to Pincher Creek, Alberta, turn south again, heading to Waterton Nat Park for a visit, then back into the US, to St Mary's and taking the To The Sun Highway, down into Glacier National Park.





hints...if you consider the Canada part,it is much prettier than the US routing, but, you require your passports to return to US. And no weapons into Canada. Yes...you 'could' take a shotgun but no handguns.


Gary Haupt

Thanks Gary, we will be taking #20 as far east as Omak/Okanagan? Then south to #2. The Canada option does sound good but we do not have pass ports, so we will be staying in the good-old-USA. Do you have any favorite campsites in the National Park or Forests along that great wandering drive?