National Park Road Trip: The Ultimate PNW Itinerary

November 22, 202213 min read
Home ยป Blog ยป National Park Road Trip: The Ultimate PNW Itinerary

National Park Road Trip: The Ultimate PNW Itinerary

A national park road trip through the US is the best way to see multiple parks on your bucket list in one trip, and it is absolutely worth it. Back in 2017 I (Sylvia) lived in a remote area of Washington, called the Tri Cities. When Satish visited, instead of flying to the Tri Cities, I would meet him in Seattle or Portland and make a vacation of it. Over 4th of July 2017, we made a 10 day vacation of it, and saw all the best national parks in the area. Looking back, this trip is still one of our favorite road trips ever.

National Parks to Add to Your Road Trip

When planning for our road trip, we tried to fit as many National Parks as we could in 10 days. From our road trip and personal experience living in the PNW, here are the best PNW National Parks to add to your road trip:

Glacier National Park

Glacier national park road trip
Scenic views along Going to the Sun Road, Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park is our favorite National Park to date. Though it’s *technically* not in the Pacific Northwest, it’s in the general area. We spent only day in the park, and regret not having spent at least 3. For a full guide to the park, check out our blog post Going to the Sun Road: Everything You Need to Know for a Trip to Glacier.

Why Glacier? For us, Glacier had the best mix of scenery, hikes, and wildlife spotting. It was also incredibly convenient to just drive down one road (Going to the Sun Road) to hit all the major stops. In Glacier, we saw mountain goats and bears, some incredibly beautiful lakes. But, the best part was honestly the drive. You can’t keep your eyes off the scenery as you drive through the park.

Crater Lake National Park

Crater lake national park road trip
Crater Lake

If the picture above isn’t convincing enough, we must have different tastes. Crater Lake National Park is jaw-dropping. It’s a collapsed volcano that created a lake, hence, “Crater Lake”. The lake is one of the deepest lakes in the world and, yes, it is that blue. First thing in the morning, when no person or boat has touched the water, it’s a perfect mirror of the surrounding rim.

Make sure you start your day early at Crater Lake National Park, so you can see the lake undisturbed for a beautiful mirror effect.

North Cascades National Park

north cascades national park road trip
Diablo Lake Vista Point, North Cascades National Park

North Cascades National Park, like Glacier and Crater, also has beautiful lakes – this time, a powdery blue. But, somehow, you never get sick of them. We spent a day driving through the park on our road trip, but have returned on multiple occasions as it’s an easy day-hike from Seattle. Again, there’s a convenient road (State Route 20) that stretches across the National Park that makes it easy to road trip and do hikes along the road.

Olympic National Park

Overlooking the Salish Sea in Olympic National Park

Olympic National Park is situated in the northwest peninsula of Washington State. The park offers treks through rainforests, peaks of mountains, and to views of magnificent Pacific coastlines. The majority of the hikes are on the north side of the park, which is about a 3 hour drive from Seattle.

Mount Rainier National Park

mount rainier
Mt. Rainier, Mt. Rainier National Park

Mount Rainier, when visible, is a photographer’s dream. And, the park is a hiker’s paradise. The park is conveniently close to Seattle, which makes it an easy add-on to a long weekend in Seattle, or, a start/end to a PNW national park road trip.

Best Time to Visit PNW National Parks on a Road Trip

The best time to do a National Park road trip through the PNW is in the summer, July – September to be specific.

In springtime, the snows are still melting, which means not all trails and roads are open. In fact, when we went to Crater Lake NP and Glacier NP in beginning of July, the road at Crater wasn’t completely open, and some trails in Glacier were closed.

How Many Days for a PNW National Park Road Trip

The time you spend on a National Park road trip depends greatly on how you like to travel. If you’re like us, who like to knock out as many destinations in as little time as possible, 1 day/park is enough. However, we probably didn’t do the parks justice. There’s definitely a lot of hikes in each park we regret not having the time to get to. Here’s our general rules of thumb:

Budget 1-2 days/national park.

  • Driving through each National Park on our list is more than doable in 1 day. Add days if there’s longer hikes you want to do.
  • Budget 1 day to travel between national parks. Don’t spend more than 8 hours on the road! There’s too much to see in the PNW to not add a stop somewhere. (Example: Crater Lake to Glacier NP is 13+ hours, budget an extra day for a stop somewhere).
  • Budget time to explore destinations outside of the National Parks. Bend, Leavenworth, Portland, and Seattle are all great options.

PNW National Park Road Trip Itinerary

If you’re in need of a National Park road trip itinerary for the PNW, check out ours below. We’ve also included changes we would make based on things we forgot, missed, or would’ve like to do with more time. As always, we like to include a Google Map with all our destinations tagged, for your convenience.

Note: don’t forget to get your National Park Pass (can also be purchased at a visitor entrance) and check for additional entrance fees in advance! Some parks, such as Glacier, sometimes have a timed-entry permit.

Note: we recommend driving through North Cascades from Winthrop and then through State Route 20. The road partially closes in the winter, so Google doesn’t have it properly routed right now.

Day 1: Seattle, Port Angeles, Crescent Lake – Start of National Park Road Trip

Start your National Park road trip in Seattle. Seattle is a great starting point because it has a major airport and it has close proximity to two National Parks. For your first day, you’ll likely want a shorter drive time, especially if you are driving or flying into Seattle. Start the drive out to Olympic National Park, 2.5 – 3 hours.

Google Maps will automatically route your through a ferry on the way from Seattle to Olympic National Park. Skip it or be prepared to wait and pay for the ferry.

You’ll want to stay near Port Angeles, as this has a close entrance to Hurricane Ridge, the top destination in Olympic National Park. If you get to Port Angeles early enough, I recommend driving out to Lake Crescent for the view.

If you have time, plan a hike by Lake Crescent. Here are two options:

Day 2: Olympic National Park and Portland

olympic national park road trip
Views on Hurricane Hill Trailhead

Start your day bright and early in Olympic National Park, first at Hurricane Hill Trailhead. Hike Hurricane Hill via Hurricane Ridge, which takes about 2 hours. Afterwards, you can sprinkle in a few smaller hikes before you hit the road again. Some other good, short hikes from AllTrails in the area you could add:

Eat lunch in the park, and hit the road towards Portland/Eugene. We chose to eat dinner in Portland, and spend the night in Eugene. This gave us a 6 hour drive in the afternoon/evening.

Things To Do Differently

  • You could easily spend another day in Olympic National Park.
  • Break the drive up with an additional day in Portland.
  • Visit Rialto Beach in La Push. There is a beautiful 3.3 mile hike called Hole-in-the-Wall from Rialto Beach.
brown rock formation on sea under white sky
La Push, Photo by Vlada Karpovich on Pexels.com

Day 3: Crater Lake National Park

panorama of crater lake
Panorama of Crater Lake

If you stayed in Eugene, you’ll have a 3 hour drive to the park. Head to the park as early as possible to beat the crowds in, and get to see the lake undisturbed. Once inside the park, spend the day driving the Rim Road around the Crater. Check out our recommended viewpoint stops on our Google Map above. Here are some hikes to do as well:

After you’ve sufficiently enjoyed Crater Lake, hit the road again. We recommend driving to Bend, Oregon and spending the night (and next day) there. To Bend, it’s about a 2.5 – 3 hour drive.

cleetwood cove trail
The bottom of Cleetwood Cove Trail

Things to Do Differently

  • Spend another day in Crater Lake National Park and do more hikes. Protip: make sure the trails will be open when you go!
  • We forgot our swim suits! If you’re going in summer, definitely bring them and hike Cleetwood Cove Trail.
  • Consider taking a boat tour. This isn’t really our thing, but I imagine the views inside the lake would be spectacular.

Day 4: Bend, Oregon

tumalo falls
Tumalo Falls, Bend, Oregon

For our National Park road trip, Bend was a pleasant surprise. We chose to spend the night there with no plans on hikes in the area. Our Airbnb host actually recommended three areas to explore, which we absolutely loved.

Afterwards, drive northeast towards Glacier National Park. Because I lived there at the time, we chose to spend the night in Richland, WA. Richland is a 4 hour drive from Smith Rock. Alternatively, you could keep driving and take a break in Spokane, WA or Coeur D’Alene, a 6+ hour drive. These are the three areas you are most likely to find plentiful hotels, grocery stores, etc.

smith rock state park
Monkey Face, Smith Rock State Park

Day 5: Eastern Washington to Montana

whitefish lake, mt
Sunset on Whitefish Lake, MT

The drive between Crater Lake and Glacier NP is the worst of this national park road trip, as its the longest. Hence, why we recommend stopping in Bend to break it up. We spent most of this day driving straight to Whitefish, Montana (5 – 7 hours driving depending on where you spent the night). For places to stay near Glacier, we recommend Whitefish, Flathead Lake, or Kalispell. Or, you can camp or get lodging right inside the park!

Day 6: Glacier National Park

Lake McDonald on a glacier national park road trip
Lake McDonald, Glacier National Park

For Glacier, definitely get up early so you can beat the rush into the park. For everything you need to know to visit Glacier, check out our previous blog post. To summarize, this is how we recommend you spend your time:

Afterwards, you can hit the road west, towards the North Cascades. We decided to take it slow and spend another night in Whitefish, leaving our long drive for Day 7.

Things to Do Differently

  • Spend another day (or two) in Glacier. Spend a whole day hiking in the Many Glacier area for quieter (less people) hikes.
  • Do the Highline Trail or Garden Wall Hike. We didn’t have time for these as they take almost a full day.
  • If you’re short on time, consider skipping Glacier and save it for another time, it’s a bit out of the way.

Day 7: Coeur d’Alene or Leavenworth

The drive from Glacier NP to North Cascades is another very long drive, which we decided to break up by going kayaking in Coeur d’Alene (4 hour drive from Whitefish). If you can stomach an additional hour drive, Leavenworth is a cute European-looking town in Washington that is worth a visit. However, it adds an hour to the drive (7.5 hour drive from Whitefish). In preparation for our next day in the North Cascades, we spent the night in Winthrop, WA (total of 8 hour drive from Whitefish).

Day 8: North Cascades National Park

Liberty bell group
The views of Liberty Bell Group from Blue Lake Trail

The road trip through North Cascades National Park is very similar to Glacier, you drive along the main road, do some hikes and see some viewpoints. Along Route 20 we recommend (all tagged on our Google Map):

  • Washington Pass Overlook (Short for time? Skip this and due Blue Lake Trail for the view above)
  • Blue Lake Trail: 4.6 mi, Moderate, 2.5 hours – the views of the mountains and the lake on this trail are stunning!
  • Ross Lake Overlook
  • Diablo Lake Vista Point

Afterwards, start your drive down to Seattle, up to 2 hours driving.

Blue Lake, north cascades
Blue Lake, North Cascades

Things to Do Differently

  • Spend another day hiking in the North Cascades. Many of the best hikes are 9+ miles and take an additional half or full day.
  • Skip the hikes, drive straight through with some scenic stops, and spend more time in Seattle.

Day 9 and 10: Seattle and Mt. Rainier – End of National Park Road Trip

Luckily, if you want time to visit Seattle and Mt. Rainier, they are only about 2 hours driving from each other. So, you could spend the evenings and mornings in Seattle, and day trip out to Mt. Rainier. Here are a few hikes we recommend in Mt. Rainier:

kerry park viewpoint
Seattle viewpoint from Kerry Park

For Seattle, the city has too much to offer for us to summarize here (Seattle blog post coming later). But here’s a few highlights we recommend:

  • Seattle Panoramic View from Kerry Park
  • Pike Place Market: skip the Starbucks, get Beecher’s mac & cheese
  • The Gum Wall
  • Space Needle
  • Chihuly Garden and Glass
  • Bainbridge Island

Finally, sadly, it’s time to end your national park road trip and leave from Seattle – or, extend your trip and stay longer!

Found this post helpful? Subscribe to our blog or follow us on Instagram for our latest travel tips!

Subscribe
Instagram

Related posts