Between the three national parks in Washington state, you can see USA’s fourth highest peak, the world’s only temperate rainforest, and one of the most remote and beautiful regions of the country. If you’re looking to see beautiful coast lines with tide pools, rainforests and jagged glacier capped mountain peaks all in one trip, head to the PNW! In this post, I’ll share our one-week itinerary for a Washington road trip that includes North Cascades, Mount Rainier, and Olympic National Parks.
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What you need to know before planning a trip to the PNW:
- Expect a lot of fog, clouds and rain. Pack layers and rain gear and know that your views may be obstructed by fog and clouds. We only got one glimpse of the summit of Mount Rainier our entire time in Washington. In fact, we got a better view from our airplane. However, even with the clouds, Mount Rainier was still one of the most beautiful parks I’ve been to so don’t let this deter you!
- Summer is technically the “dry season” but expect rain and cool temperatures any time of year. We went in early September to try to beat summer crowds, but still experienced a lot of rain and temperatures were mostly in the 50s.
- Pay attention to the tides when exploring the coastal region of Olympic National Park. Stop by the Visitor Center or Ranger Station and pick up a tide chart and make sure you know how to read it. Some parts of the coast are only passable during low tide.
- If you’re planning on camping, I’d recommend having a bear canister or bear vault. In fact, these are actually required in certain parts of Olympic and North Cascades. Although this isn’t exactly bear country, the bear canisters will protect your food and toiletries (or any scented items) from bears, raccoons and other critters. Just don’t keep the bear vault inside your tent!
Our Washington Road Trip Itinerary:
Washington National Parks on Roadtrippers
Day 1-2: Seattle.
We flew into Seattle at night, and spent the entire next day exploring the city. Pike Place Market is a must! We also went to Chihuly Garden and Glass and had dinner at the Space Needle for a little bit of luxury before embarking on our adventure!
Day 3: North Cascades National Park. (Seattle to NCNP: 107 miles, 2 hours).
In the park, drive the North Cascades Highway all the way to Washington Pass Overlook, the road’s highest point, stopping at the many viewpoints along the way. Although Diablo Lake Overlook is a must stop along North Cascades Highway, I recommend also enjoying the lake from the shore! We stopped near the Thunder Knob Trailhead to have a lakeside snack. The intense turquoise color of the water is caused by glaciers grounding rocks into a powder, which then gets carried into the lake by creeks.
We also drove the narrow, steep and bumpy 23-mile Cascade River Road to Cascade Pass. It rained most of the day, so we didn’t hike as much as we had wanted to. Although we were disappointed we couldn’t hike the Cascade Pass Trail, the views just from this parking lot were well worth the scary drive here. You can see waterfalls and glaciers cascading down the jagged peaks of Johannesburg Mountain and Boston Peak.
The plan was to spend the night at Newhalem Campground right with a campsite right on Skagit River. The site looked amazing but since it was pouring and our day ended early, we decided to start our drive down to Mount Rainier. We got about half way and spent the night at a hotel instead. At least it cut down on our driving for the next day.
Days 4-5: Mount Rainier National Park. (NCNP to MRNP: 190 miles, 4 hours. MRNP to Skokomish: 107 miles, 2.5 hours).
We started at the Nisqually Entrance and drove through Paradise to Ohanapecosh Campground the first day. The Trail of the Shadows is definitely worth a stop for the quick 0.5 mile walk. We also stopped at the 168-foot Narada Falls. Once we got to Paradise, we explored the 1.2-mile Nisqually Vista Trail and the 5-mile Skyline Trail to Panaroma Point. Despite the clouds, we still really enjoyed this hike and the views of the alpine meadows and waterfalls. Since we had way less driving to do than we anticipated due to our change of plans at NCNP, we had time to make a quick stop at Reflection Lake and hike the 2.5-mile trail to Snow and Bench Lakes on our way to Ohanapecosh where we spent the night.
On day 2 in the park, we drove up to Sunrise stopping at Grove of the Patriarchs Trail, an easy 1.3 mile loop. In the area of sunrise, we hiked the Sourdough Ridge Nature Trail for 1.5 miles and the 0.5-mile Emmons Vista Trail. We also hiked the 6-mile Burroughs Mountain Trail to Second Burroughs. This is not only my favorite hike of this trip, but probably my favorite hike that I’ve ever done. Many hikes offer grand views at the end, but this hike was stunning the entire way, even with the clouds obstructing a lot of our view. This hike is a must!
We began our drive towards Olympic after the day in Mount Rainier, again to cut down on our driving time for the next morning. We camped at Skokomish Park Lake.
Days 6-7: Olympic National Park. (Skokomish to Sol Doc: 130 miles, 3 hours. Sol Duc to Seattle: 255 miles, 5 hours).
We stopped in Port Angeles for a quick breakfast and to get tide tables for the next day at the visitor’s center. We then drove to Hurricane Ridge and hiked the 3-mile Hurricane Hill Trail which offers expansive mountain views. We then drove the 8-mile road to Obstruction Point. This was a pretty scary drive. The road is unpaved and narrow with some pretty steep drop offs. Once there, we hiked some of the Grand Valley Trail. The views in this area are definitely worth the scary drive! Back on the road, we drove to Lake Crescent. This is a great place to stop for a lakeside picnic! We hiked the 1.75-mile Marymere Falls Trail through a forest to a 90-foot waterfall and finished our day’s hiking on the Sol Duc Falls Trail, which was about 1.5 miles roundtrip. We spent the night at Sol Duc Campground.
On day 2 in Olympic, we started by driving to Hoh Rain Forest, a 2.5 hour drive from Port Angeles. Here, we hiked the easy but enchanting 0.75-mile Hall of Mosses Trail. Right at the start of the trail, we found ourselves face to face with a massive elk, an experience I will never forget. Pictures or words won’t do this area justice. You simply need to see it for yourself!
After enjoying the rain forest, we got back on the road and headed to the coast. We stopped at Ruby Beach, full of driftwood, then Beach 4 where we hiked to see the tide pools full of starfish, green sea anemones and purple sea urchins. Next, we headed down to Beach 1 and hiked the short Spruce Burl Trail to see the strange growths that develop on the Sitka spruce trees. Next, we drove to Quinault and hiked the 0.5-mile Maple Glades Natural Trail for one last stretch of the legs before heading back to Seattle.
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