Road Trip from Sequioa National Forest to Seattle

I've done similar road trips over the years! Some of my personal favorite stops are: Kings Canyon/Yosemite (during that part of the year, I would suggest Kings, since it will be less crowded), Lassen Volcanic Park, Crater Lake. You're obviously able to make it an in depth outdoors camping experience since there are tons of options in the Pacific Northwest. I personally love Mendicino and Big Sur as well. As you cross from Oregon into Washington, check out the Hood river (The Columbia Gorge is famous for their windsurfers!). Since you will only have about 10 days, I'm assuming you'll probably want to get a fairly direct route to Seattle with some key spots in between. If you want to throw in some fun city/town experiences, then it really comes down to figure out where you have or haven't been! Spend a day in San Francisco or wine tasting in Napa/Sonoma on your way up the coast. Or if you've been to the bay area before, you can try a stop in Sacramento for some historical charm.

Obviously, I love traveling in California and the Pacific Northwest. I'm sure I'll think of a thousand other options soon, but this can at least get you started on some ideas. Let us know of any particular interests and I'm sure the SDers will be able to come up with more individualized answers.

Thank you! i have only been to vegas and grand canyon... I want to save SFO for a different trip... am I stupid to do that?? I am not much into camping or at least i have not camped before so afraid for the first time...but is it possible to get cabins inside the National parks like yosemite? if so do you know the links... I have not been to seattle before... so i want to be able to see the city as well.. yes i have already thought about staying a night at crater national park... do you know where to stay there?

Quote from slickyes : I've done similar road trips over the years! Some of my personal favorite stops are: Kings Canyon/Yosemite (during that part of the year, I would suggest Kings, since it will be less crowded), Lassen Volcanic Park, Crater Lake. You're obviously able to make it an in depth outdoors camping experience since there are tons of options in the Pacific Northwest. I personally love Mendicino and Big Sur as well. As you cross from Oregon into Washington, check out the Hood river (The Columbia Gorge is famous for their windsurfers!). Since you will only have about 10 days, I'm assuming you'll probably want to get a fairly direct route to Seattle with some key spots in between. If you want to throw in some fun city/town experiences, then it really comes down to figure out where you have or haven't been! Spend a day in San Francisco or wine tasting in Napa/Sonoma on your way up the coast. Or if you've been to the bay area before, you can try a stop in Sacramento for some historical charm. Obviously, I love traveling in California and the Pacific Northwest. I'm sure I'll think of a thousand other options soon, but this can at least get you started on some ideas. Let us know of any particular interests and I'm sure the SDers will be able to come up with more individualized answers.

If you're going up to Seattle you might as well bring your passport and drive an additional two hours north and visit Vancouver, BC

Sent from the official Slickdeals App for iPhone & iPod Touch.

Quote from writetocynthia : Thank you! i have only been to vegas and grand canyon... I want to save SFO for a different trip... am I stupid to do that?? I am not much into camping or at least i have not camped before so afraid for the first time...but is it possible to get cabins inside the National parks like yosemite? if so do you know the links... I have not been to seattle before... so i want to be able to see the city as well.. yes i have already thought about staying a night at crater national park... do you know where to stay there?

I would definitely save San Fran & the surrounding areas for another trip, in my personal opinion, since you would want to dedicate at least a few days there.

You can reserve a cabin in Yosemite valley, however I doubt that there will be any availability for your time frame. For future reference, the following link shows the days that reservations open to the public to reserve spots in Yosemite valley. Warning, reservations normally fill up the day they open! http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourv...amping.htm

Wouldn't be able to goto Canada... I am not a US citizen and would need to get the passport stamped to re enter the country.... So wouldn't be doing that.. Thanks anyway...

Quote from slickyes : I would definitely save San Fran & the surrounding areas for another trip, in my personal opinion, since you would want to dedicate at least a few days there. You can reserve a cabin in Yosemite valley, however I doubt that there will be any availability for your time frame. For future reference, the following link shows the days that reservations open to the public to reserve spots in Yosemite valley. Warning, reservations normally fill up the day they open! http://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourv...amping.htm

Quote from sye46 : If you're going up to Seattle you might as well bring your passport and drive an additional two hours north and visit Vancouver, BC Sent from the official Slickdeals App for iPhone & iPod Touch.

I'd skip Canada anyway. Going along the coast is nice but it's slow. i5 is a quick drive but not a lot to see along the way.

Quote from writetocynthia : I want to take a road trip from Sequioa National Park , CA to Seattle WA during May 24th to June 2nd. What are the stops that i should stay and what are all the activities that i should do??? Also when is the tulip festival in Portland,OR?? will i be able to combine that to my trip? Any suggestion will be repped!

You'll be too late for the tulip festival, it's in April.

The Oregon coast is beautiful, you can drive up highway 101 and stop at the various parks and points for the gorgeous views. Oregon has an excellent travel planning website.

http://traveloregon.com/trip-ideas/

Some of my favorites are the Cape Meyer Lighthouse and that entire scenic loop, which takes a couple of hours to drive, not counting stops. Canon Beach is a very pretty seaside town and is a good place to stay overnight, as it has tons of hotels and beautiful beaches.

If you want to do some shopping, there's a great outlet mall in Woodburn (just south of Portland) and Oregon doesn't charge sales tax so you can get things really cheap.

One of the must see things for a trip from Oregon to WA state is the Columbia river gorge and especially the iconic Multnomah Falls, it's one of many waterfalls but it's the most impressive. There are also quite a few wineries in that area.

You could stop at Mount Rainer National park, which is quite pretty and you can drive the entire way around the mountain on the east side of it, stopping at the various sites along the way then head towards Seattle from there.

http://www.nps.gov/mora/index.htm

Seattle has everything so it's hard to narrow down the things to do. One thing that I suggest to people is to take the ferry over to Bainbridge Island for the wonderful waterfront views you get of Seattle from the vantage point of the ferry. While on Bainbridge, you can check out Polusbo, which is a quaint little Scandinavian ancestry town with lots of little shops, restaurants and a pretty harbor. There are several tribal casino's on Bainbridge too, if that's your thing, I haven't been to any of them though so can't say which is best.

Of course in Seattle you have to go to Pike Place Market, everyone does. You can park downtown and walk to all the shops and tourist sites. Then you can take the monorail over to the Space Needle, it's cheaper than driving to it and having to pay again for parking, plus it's an interesting view of downtown.

http://www.seattlemonorail.com/

Near the Space Needle is the EMP Museum, which has an excellent exhibit about Jimmy Hendrix right now, be sure to check out his concerts playing on the big screen. But I would skip the Sci-Fi museum (housed in the same building) as it costs extra and was disappointing, there wasn't much to it.

http://www.empmuseum.org/

Yosemite- Glacier Point 4 sure.

either:

1) drive through Yosemite to South Lake Tahoe, North Lake Tahoe, Reno back to Sacramento

or

2) shoot over to the Pacific Coast Highway and drive from San Simeon to Monterey (BIG SUR). ----amazing.

further north Mendocino and Humbolt County, Portland's nice and friendly, Seattle's impossible driving and you'll be hitting it at beginning of tourist season. Find a cheap hotel around the airport and take the light rail SLUT into town.

Too bad about Vancouver. Technically a part of it's in the US but you can't get there from here. There's a beautiful ferry trip from Seattle to Victoria, but again, I don't know if you can.

Thanks all.... Keep the suggestions coming... Does anyone know a good car rental.... Even the cheapest seems to be 700$ since the drop off location will be different from the pick up location

Quote from tomdc : Yosemite- Glacier Point 4 sure. either: 1) drive through Yosemite to South Lake Tahoe, North Lake Tahoe, Reno back to Sacramento or 2) shoot over to the Pacific Coast Highway and drive from San Simeon to Monterey (BIG SUR). ----amazing. further north Mendocino and Humbolt County, Portland's nice and friendly, Seattle's impossible driving and you'll be hitting it at beginning of tourist season. Find a cheap hotel around the airport and take the light rail SLUT into town. Too bad about Vancouver. Technically a part of it's in the US but you can't get there from here. There's a beautiful ferry trip from Seattle to Victoria, but again, I don't know if you can.

The entire island of Vancouver is part of Canada.

The only 'Vancouver' that's part of the USA is Vancouver WA, which is along the Columbia River, on the border with Oregon and there's not much to see there.

Quote from writetocynthia : Thanks all.... Keep the suggestions coming... Does anyone know a good car rental.... Even the cheapest seems to be 700$ since the drop off location will be different from the pick up location

Last time I needed a rental, we had more family visiting than our car could hold, I had to dig a little to find a good deal.

If you rent from a location that isn't at or near an airport, you can get a better deal for the same class of vehicle. I caught a special offer and was able to use a coupon code too, and rented from the Enterprise location in Redmond, instead of at Sea-Tac and got a great deal. In fact the rental guy in Redmond asked me how I managed to get such a low rate, he said he'd never seen a deal that good before.

Do a search on google for keywords enterprise and code (or budget and code, etc.) to find a valid coupon code for the type of vehicle you want then book the rental online. Also, try playing around with the pickup and drop off locations too, to see which ones have a lower base rate, it does vary with some rental companies. I went through several Seattle area locations to find the cheaper base price in Redmond.

Also if you have or know someone who has Allstate insurance, they send out discount coupons for rental cars (and other things) every quarter or six months, can't remember exactly.

Quote from writetocynthia : I want to take a road trip from Sequioa National Park , CA to Seattle WA during May 24th to June 2nd. What are the stops that i should stay and what are all the activities that i should do??? Also when is the tulip festival in Portland,OR?? will i be able to combine that to my trip? Any suggestion will be repped!

Quote from writetocynthia : Thank you! i have only been to vegas and grand canyon... I want to save SFO for a different trip... am I stupid to do that?? I am not much into camping or at least i have not camped before so afraid for the first time...but is it possible to get cabins inside the National parks like yosemite? if so do you know the links... I have not been to seattle before... so i want to be able to see the city as well.. yes i have already thought about staying a night at crater national park... do you know where to stay there?

For me personally it's hard to recommend a really busy trip because you basically have a week to do all that. You don't want to be in situation where you need a vacation from your vacation. Keep it simple and don't do too much, pick your spots. Unless you're made of money, the less you do the better. Keeping San Francisco out of your itinerary will help, SF isn't cheap.

I moved to Seattle 4 years ago, I was born in San Francisco and I used to visit Yosemite an average of 4 to 5 times per year, done Half Dome many times, so I'm familiar with it. If you want lodging inside the park it will be tough but it's doable. You have to call every day and see if there's cancellation. Some of the more popular are the upper and lower Pines campgrounds which are right in the valley.

I would do like I always did, stay just outside the park. My fav jaunt is Yosemite Lakes Hostel which is in Groveland, a small town just outside the park's boundary. 10 years ago I would pay $35/night to stay there. The last time I stayed there it was closer to $100/night but it's worth it to me though cause I feel so comfortable there. There are numerous other hotels in Groveland as well as other small towns just outside the southern boundary of the park (Google Map it).

If you are really diligent, you can always stay at Sunnyside Campgrounds which is inside Yosemite Valley, arguably the best location because you're right at the heart of all the action and a great hub for other activities. There are no reservations, it's first come first served but there will be a boatload of people at that time. Get there early in the morning, get in line and you'll be ok. You'll need a tent.

From Sequoia Park I would head straight to Portland, OR. I just did Multnomah Falls on Thursday, it was so beautiful. See pic...(I took this picture)



Multnomah Falls is a magical area. I've seen the falls, hell I've climbed the falls at Yosemite and I've been to Olympic Mountains, but there's a charm at Multnomah that I've never seen before. You'll see some weird rock formations and cliff shapes that give the area a unique character. Best of all, Multnomah is free and it's only a little less than 30 mins from Portland and it's an easy walk to the waterfall.

I love Portland. It is a foodie city. There are so many (they say 100's) of food truck stops, not trucks, but parking lots where you'll see maybe half a dozen food trucks in a circle and you get to savor a taste of what fancies you. Yesterday I ate at Big Ass Sandwiches:



I would recommend not to actually eat at Big Ass Sandwiches because I wasn't all that impressed, but there are other food trucks inside this little food court like the pizza truck where the guy manages to cook his pizzas inside a little brick enclosure. I had the pizza and a Big Ass sandwich and I thought the pizza was really good. The sandwich was big, but not refined. They like to put curly fries inside the sandwiches which makes them so big. They get a little upset if you try to order it without the fries according to other reviews.

I also ate at a great deli called Elephant Deli. The beef stroganoff was really good. I went here twice around 7pm where hot foods are half priced so they won't hurt the wallet so much. Foods here can get pricey but are worth it.

By this point you'll have spent maybe 3 or 4 days and you'll be tired from all the driving, trust me, I've been there done that. From here it's about 3 hours to Seattle. You can take an interesting excursion to Ape Cave. It's a bit dark and spooky but very unique. It's a cave that was created by molten lava hundreds of years ago and is about 2 miles long.

The reason I recommend Ape Cave is because there's other things to see in this area like Mt St Helens. Turns out there's a little tourist area called Lava Canyon if you don't care for caves. They built this area for tourists. It's a little road that meanders a bit. It shows where the lava went when Mt St Helens blew it's top in 1980. There's a nice area where you can walk to a waterfall with a nice metal bridge.

From here it's a half day drive to Seattle. I would stay here for the next few days and not do too much. You can wander around Pike Market or you can try some of the hikes. Rattlesnake Ridge is probably the most popular hike. Take I90 east exit 31 or 32 (can't remember sorry cause my brain is tired, just got back from Portland a few hours ago) and go right for about 3 miles.

It's about an hour up and and hour down. The view from the top is spectacular if it's a nice day. If you're really aggressive you can try Little Si or Mount Si which is also in North Bend. It takes about 3 to 4 hours to get to the top of Mt Si but the views are spectacular.

Visit the Chinatown in Seattle and eat at Pnomh Penh House which is Cambodian food (it tastes like Chinese food). Prices are good. Harbor City has some of the best dim sum. You can try Marrakesh (not in Chinatown) which is Moroccan food for a really unique experience. Sometimes they have belly dances as well.

You can also catch a baseball game if the Mariners are in town. Visit the Kubota Gardens, a large well maintained Japanese garden (pretty authentic) and it's free! There are numerous beautiful red painted bridges with koi fish in the water. Visit Greenlake and stroll around my favorite park. Rent a kayak on this lake or in Lake Washington.

At this time of year Seattle is transformed. Literally every freaking weekend there's something going on, either a street fair, or a big show, or something. When I first moved here I was in awe because of all the activity going on. It's almost like a movie set, so many people out and about. Do a search for goings on that weekend. Oh, I don't think the traffic here is that bad. Compared to Los Angeles, traffic here is a cakewalk.

Shopping - Seattle is a great place for outdoor clothings and outdoor gear. The REI flagship store is downtown. You might be able to do the rock climbing wall. It's not a normal store, it's pretty cool in there with a mountain bike path that goes round it. The army surplus store on 1st has some good deals on Thermarest self inflating mattresses. They supposedly have defects or were extras which is why they are so cheap.

If you want outdoor clothing Outdoor Research has their factory right in downtown Seattle with pretty good prices. Filson is another premier clothier with their factory in Seattle. Nordstrom's flagship store is also downtown. If you like wool clothing, Pendleton has a wool outlet store in Pendleton, Oregon. There are numerous outlet stores around Marysville and exit 230 just off I5. They are good stores but I like the one in North Bend. The reason is because the Canadians like to shop at the outlets near Seattle. You'll see their license plates everywhere when you get here. They come during the day and go home in the afternoon.

The outlet stores in North Bend are too far for the Canadians to drive, and many of them do not know about it. I can easily find my size shoes at the Nike Outlet. The outlet near Marysville may or may not have my size.

If you really want to push the itinerary you can try to visit the San Juan Islands like Friday Harbor or Orcas Island for an extra unforgettable vacation. You can make a day trip out of it or stay overnight which would be quite expensive, and maybe not even possible at this time. The San Juans are really special, so beautiful.

Re: Rental cars - When I moved to Seattle 4 years ago I went with Enterprise Rental Cars. I got a 2 day special Dodge Caravan. I loaded it up with all my worldly belongings and drove that thing all the way to Seattle. I think it cost me $180, I got a special. The first 800 miles were free, after that it was like .50 cents per mile or whatever. Since Seattle was only 850 miles I only had to pay a small penalty.

Quote from stevenq : For me personally it's hard to recommend a really busy trip because you basically have a week to do all that. You don't want to be in situation where you need a vacation from your vacation. Keep it simple and don't do too much, pick your spots. Unless you're made of money, the less you do the better. Keeping San Francisco out of your itinerary will help, SF isn't cheap. I moved to Seattle 4 years ago, I was born in San Francisco and I used to visit Yosemite an average of 4 to 5 times per year, done Half Dome many times, so I'm familiar with it. If you want lodging inside the park it will be tough but it's doable. You have to call every day and see if there's cancellation. Some of the more popular are the upper and lower Pines campgrounds which are right in the valley. I would do like I always did, stay just outside the park. My fav jaunt is Yosemite Lakes Hostel which is in Groveland, a small town just outside the park's boundary. 10 years ago I would pay $35/night to stay there. The last time I stayed there it was closer to $100/night but it's worth it to me though cause I feel so comfortable there. There are numerous other hotels in Groveland as well as other small towns just outside the southern boundary of the park (Google Map it). If you are really diligent, you can always stay at Sunnyside Campgrounds which is inside Yosemite Valley, arguably the best location because you're right at the heart of all the action and a great hub for other activities. There are no reservations, it's first come first served but there will be a boatload of people at that time. Get there early in the morning, get in line and you'll be ok. You'll need a tent. From Sequoia Park I would head straight to Portland, OR. I just did Multnomah Falls on Thursday, it was so beautiful. See pic...(I took this picture) Multnomah Falls is a magical area. I've seen the falls, hell I've climbed the falls at Yosemite and I've been to Olympic Mountains, but there's a charm at Multnomah that I've never seen before. You'll see some weird rock formations and cliff shapes that give the area a unique character. Best of all, Multnomah is free and it's only a little less than 30 mins from Portland and it's an easy walk to the waterfall. I love Portland. It is a foodie city. There are so many (they say 100's) of food truck stops, not trucks, but parking lots where you'll see maybe half a dozen food trucks in a circle and you get to savor a taste of what fancies you. Yesterday I ate at Big Ass Sandwiches: I would recommend not to actually eat at Big Ass Sandwiches because I wasn't all that impressed, but there are other food trucks inside this little food court like the pizza truck where the guy manages to cook his pizzas inside a little brick enclosure. I had the pizza and a Big Ass sandwich and I thought the pizza was really good. The sandwich was big, but not refined. They like to put curly fries inside the sandwiches which makes them so big. They get a little upset if you try to order it without the fries according to other reviews. I also ate at a great deli called Elephant Deli. The beef stroganoff was really good. I went here twice around 7pm where hot foods are half priced so they won't hurt the wallet so much. Foods here can get pricey but are worth it. By this point you'll have spent maybe 3 or 4 days and you'll be tired from all the driving, trust me, I've been there done that. From here it's about 3 hours to Seattle. You can take an interesting excursion to Ape Cave. It's a bit dark and spooky but very unique. It's a cave that was created by molten lava hundreds of years ago and is about 2 miles long. The reason I recommend Ape Cave is because there's other things to see in this area like Mt St Helens. Turns out there's a little tourist area called Lava Canyon if you don't care for caves. They built this area for tourists. It's a little road that meanders a bit. It shows where the lava went when Mt St Helens blew it's top in 1980. There's a nice area where you can walk to a waterfall with a nice metal bridge. From here it's a half day drive to Seattle. I would stay here for the next few days and not do too much. You can wander around Pike Market or you can try some of the hikes. Rattlesnake Ridge is probably the most popular hike. Take I90 east exit 31 or 32 (can't remember sorry cause my brain is tired, just got back from Portland a few hours ago) and go right for about 3 miles. It's about an hour up and and hour down. The view from the top is spectacular if it's a nice day. If you're really aggressive you can try Little Si or Mount Si which is also in North Bend. It takes about 3 to 4 hours to get to the top of Mt Si but the views are spectacular. Visit the Chinatown in Seattle and eat at Pnomh Penh House which is Cambodian food (it tastes like Chinese food). Prices are good. Harbor City has some of the best dim sum. You can try Marrakesh (not in Chinatown) which is Moroccan food for a really unique experience. Sometimes they have belly dances as well. You can also catch a baseball game if the Mariners are in town. Visit the Kubota Gardens, a large well maintained Japanese garden (pretty authentic) and it's free! There are numerous beautiful red painted bridges with koi fish in the water. Visit Greenlake and stroll around my favorite park. Rent a kayak on this lake or in Lake Washington. At this time of year Seattle is transformed. Literally every freaking weekend there's something going on, either a street fair, or a big show, or something. When I first moved here I was in awe because of all the activity going on. It's almost like a movie set, so many people out and about. Do a search for goings on that weekend. Oh, I don't think the traffic here is that bad. Compared to Los Angeles, traffic here is a cakewalk. Shopping - Seattle is a great place for outdoor clothings and outdoor gear. The REI flagship store is downtown. You might be able to do the rock climbing wall. It's not a normal store, it's pretty cool in there with a mountain bike path that goes round it. The army surplus store on 1st has some good deals on Thermarest self inflating mattresses. They supposedly have defects or were extras which is why they are so cheap. If you want outdoor clothing Outdoor Research has their factory right in downtown Seattle with pretty good prices. Filson is another premier clothier with their factory in Seattle. Nordstrom's flagship store is also downtown. If you like wool clothing, Pendleton has a wool outlet store in Pendleton, Oregon. There are numerous outlet stores around Marysville and exit 230 just off I5. They are good stores but I like the one in North Bend. The reason is because the Canadians like to shop at the outlets near Seattle. You'll see their license plates everywhere when you get here. They come during the day and go home in the afternoon. The outlet stores in North Bend are too far for the Canadians to drive, and many of them do not know about it. I can easily find my size shoes at the Nike Outlet. The outlet near Marysville may or may not have my size. If you really want to push the itinerary you can try to visit the San Juan Islands like Friday Harbor or Orcas Island for an extra unforgettable vacation. You can make a day trip out of it or stay overnight which would be quite expensive, and maybe not even possible at this time. The San Juans are really special, so beautiful. Re: Rental cars - When I moved to Seattle 4 years ago I went with Enterprise Rental Cars. I got a 2 day special Dodge Caravan. I loaded it up with all my worldly belongings and drove that thing all the way to Seattle. I think it cost me $180, I got a special. The first 800 miles were free, after that it was like .50 cents per mile or whatever. Since Seattle was only 850 miles I only had to pay a small penalty.

Wow.... That's a lot of info... Thank you... Will try to cover the falls you have mentioned... For sure.. Yes I have also heard that Portland has loads of things to do... Really waiting for the trip... I know I'll be exhausted.... But I m sure that's the way to travel... Thank you for the suggestion....