Hi Guys and girls, I will be coming to visit Seattle next month and would like to get some help in planning for my trip. I would like to know which is easier if I will be going from SEA to Olympic National Forest/NP.

Shall I take the ferry from Seattle to Bremerton? or to Bainbridge Island? It will be on a Sunday. Will traffic be bad? I am planning to do this on a daytrip. Will it sound impossible?

Any other suggestion in places to visit? It will mostly be a photo-shooting trip. I also planned to go to Mt Rainer NP.

Thanks everyone.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by lklkw
Hi Guys and girls, I will be coming to visit Seattle next month and would like to get some help in planning for my trip.

 

Where are you going on the Peninsula?

To get to the southern Olympics or the west coast, it is actually easier and quicker to drive down to Olympia and around the south end of Hood Canal.

From Seattle, if you want to go to the northern olympics the easiest way is to take the Edmonds/Kingston ferry, then drive across the Hood Canal Bridge.

Scenic places that are accessible by car: Hurricane Ridge, Port Townsend

Scenic places that are accessible by short, flat trails: Sand Point and Capa Alava, Hoh Rain Forest, Hurricane Hill

Scenic places that are accessible by short steep trails: Mt. Elinor, Mt. Angeles, Lake Constance

(I'm sure there are many more, these are just the places I've been.)

It takes a good deal of time to get over to the Peninsula and back again no matter how you go. If at all possible, it would be much more efficient to go over one day, stay the night, and come back the next.

I trust you are aware that May is not yet summer in the mountains. Rainier in particular will have lots of snow. Paradise is open year round, but Sunrise does not open for car access until about July 1. Hurricane Ridge Road is kept open year round, but Hurricane Ridge may be under snow. Or it may be just coming out from the snow, which is actually a really pretty time of year.

 

Thanks for everyone's help. I appreciated.

As far as Olympic NP, I am only planning to visit the hurriance ridge and port angeles area. I picked port angeles because the ferry ride supposes to be very scenic (at least from the travel guide) My stay is pretty time limited. I wanted to go visit some scenic places by Seattle and not just going to see the "city."

In regards to the Rainer NP, I am hoping that I could drive to Paradise and take some sunrise photos. I just hope that I won't be stuck on the roads there with my rental car. (I bet it will be worst if I take my S2k) :-P But then, according to this site, silverstone can outrun anything. hahaha

 

I just checked the current status from NP service. It looked like Mt. Rainier NP is no go. Only 2 public roads are open and they both require snow chain. I don't think my 20 dollars car rental will able to make it to the road. Bummer.

Any good 1 side exursion?

 

By May you should be able to drive to Paradise w/out snow chains unless you are very unlucky with the weather. However, there will still be many feet of snow on the ground everywhere except on the road.

Highway 20 is now open. This is the North Cascades highway. It is very scenic, but again you may need to consider the weather forecast before you go.

The spring is a great time to see the many waterfalls in the state, because of the snowmelt. If you like waterfalls, that could be an option.

For instance, just along I90 there is Snoqualmie Falls, Twin Falls, and Franklin Falls (the latter two of which involve a small hike; Franklin Falls should be snow-free by later in May).

In Mt Rainier NP Christine Falls and Narada Falls are accessible from the Paradise Road, and Comet Falls is accessible by trail (may be snow) from Christine Falls.

-Mike

 

If Mt Rainier is out for you and you like the idea of a senic water trip, you might consider taking the Victoria High-Speed Catamaran Passenger Ferry. Don't know the details, but I believe it's a one day up and back trip to Victoria, B.C. No driving. If there is any chance of taking in a side trip to Buchart Gardens, DO IT! Should be a fantastic time of year for Buchart.

Guess what? Found it and more details than I care to explore:

Check out the Victoria Clipper Web page and look for the "Victoria Day Trip"

http://www.victoriaclipper.com/marketing/h.../homepage.shtml

Looks like they give you enough time to go th Buchart Gardens too. And I see something about an Internet Special until May 13
Check their Options & Add-ons for the City and Buchart Gardens Tour.

Check out the Buchart Gardens main web page.. I see there are many other pages from other sources too:

http://www.butchartgardens.com/main.php

And if this is too much for one day and you would prefer to take your car along, consider a day trip through the San Juan Islands. If you go early, you can stop off and drive around on San Juan Island and Orcas Island before going home.

Drive to Anacortes, WA and take the ferry across. Come home driving the length of Whidbey Island to the Mukilteo / Clinton ferry. On the way, stop at the Deception Pass Bridge.

Anyway, there's TONS of stuff to do... just need the time and $

Good Luck and have a great time!

Curt

 

If he does go to Vancouver Island and also Hurricane Ridge, it would be pointless to return to Seattle in between. There is a ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria. Victoria has many places to stay the night, and it would be off-season so it should be cheaper.

You need to cross a border, of course, so all the standard border-crossing caveats apply.

 

If he takes the foot traffic Victoria Clipper, he can leave from Seattle.. No special hastle... but no car.. Make this trip instead of going to Mt Rainier... Not combine it with Hurricane Ridge. Of course, if you have the time and money, staying over night and making a big loop is a very nice vacation too.

 

I was at Paradise on Sunday - no chains required! Lots of snow though, and a little hail... oh yeah, and some rain.

Marek