State of Washington through northern border states to MI

[redwingfans]

My DW and I will be traveling east from Olympic National Park, back to Michigan in early June. Would any of you like to share your ideas for Boondocking and/or Dry Camping along this route? We know that we will be stopping at Glacier National Park. We prefer staying in public parks. Finding a local campground is sometimes a great prize and great memories. We are thinking we want to take Highway 2 from the majority of the way, but are willing to try other routes. Our class B can get into some pretty rough places, and we are not limited by time. Thanks in advance. Happy Travels,

[redwingfans]

enblethen wrote:
East of Grand Coulee three miles is a BLM campground called Spring Canyon. Good park, no hook ups!
In Electric city just south of Dam on WA is Coulee Playland resort. Gets crowded and a little close to other rigs. Hook ups. 509 633-2671
We dry camp a lot and would select the Spring Canyon.

BLM campground are also our preference!!

[enblethen]

East of Grand Coulee three miles is a BLM campground called Spring Canyon. Good park, no hook ups!
In Electric city just south of Dam on WA is Coulee Playland resort. Gets crowded and a little close to other rigs. Hook ups. 509 633-2671
We dry camp a lot and would select the Spring Canyon.

[redwingfans]

enblethen wrote:
Near Twisp, you can turn south on WA 153, to US 97.
Great little tourist town of Winthrop, WA. It is a western motif.
Did you not want to go to Grand Coulee Dam? WA 17 and WA 173 takes you to Grand Coulee then ties back into US 2.
Warning there is a step climb on US 2 from US 97 junction. About fives miles long.

Thanks for the suggestion, looks like we are going that route, now looking for a campsite near the dam. Thanks again,

[redwingfans]

garyhaupt wrote:
redwingsfan..I can't say I have any in that neck of the woods. Been a while since I passed thru. However, earlier in the thread 'mockturtle' posted a link to a useful campground finder, and I used it to browse the area. Lots of opportunities.

http://www.ultimatecampgrounds.com/uc/index.php



Gary Haupt

Thanks for the reminder of mockturtles post, I have added the link to my ever increasing tool back of links.

[garyhaupt]

redwingsfan..I can't say I have any in that neck of the woods. Been a while since I passed thru. However, earlier in the thread 'mockturtle' posted a link to a useful campground finder, and I used it to browse the area. Lots of opportunities.

http://www.ultimatecampgrounds.com/uc/index.php



Gary Haupt

[enblethen]

Near Twisp, you can turn south on WA 153, to US 97.
Great little tourist town of Winthrop, WA. It is a western motif.
Did you not want to go to Grand Coulee Dam? WA 17 and WA 173 takes you to Grand Coulee then ties back into US 2.
Warning there is a step climb on US 2 from US 97 junction. About fives miles long.

[redwingfans]

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?

[redwingfans]

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!!

[Roy_Lynne]

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.

[pigman1]

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.

[enblethen]

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.

[redwingfans]

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?

[pigman1]

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.

[garyhaupt]

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