Best Places to visit between Sacramento and Seattle?

[rich]

Hi Guys,

I am driving from Sacamento to Seattle for Christmas with family. We have 5-9 days to get home after christmas from Seattle and we are in the throws of deciding what to do with that time. We can drive the prius and save a $300 + in gas or we can load the camper on the truck and do some wandering on the way home. Being that it's winter I am going to bring my snowboard no matter what. What I am most interested in is if you were doing this route in the winter with all options ahead of you 5, 101 or any other backroad route where would you go and what would you see. Camping, interesting stop overs secret campgrounds for New Years whatever you know about I'd love to hear about it so I can decide if it's worth going the camper route.

Hope everyone is well and enjoying the holidays.

Rich

 

[rich]

We may also be open to hopping a ferry to Victoria too but not sure if it wouldn't be better to do that in the summ
er.

 

[4llamas]

I wouldn't count on much snow in the Oregon Cascades, maybe in Washington. I would look for snow in the Washington Cascades then come down the Oregon coast or Hwy 97. Can't say for sure what the weather has been in Washington, but maybe they have received more snow than Or. Wouldn't take much. Very to extremely foggy in the Willamette Valley and sunny on the coast. Have a good trip, be safe.

 

[MarkBC]

Have you been Crater Lake before? It's a world-class place...and beautiful in winter.
Unfortunately, the rim road and north entrance are closed during winter, but you can still get to the lodge at the south rim via OR 62, from either US 97 to the SE or NE (via 138 and 230) or I5 from the SW.

 

[rich]

Have you been Crater Lake before? It's a world-class place...and beautiful in winter.
Unfortunately, the rim road and north entrance are closed during winter, but you can still get to the lodge at the south rim via OR 62, from either US 97 to the SE or NE (via 138 and 230) or I5 from the SW.

View attachment 13339


Hi Mark,

Thanks for the suggestion, I should have prefaced the request by saying that I have been to crater lake before, actually I have been broken down smack dab in the middle of the lake in a boat for most of a day. I have also spent a fair bit of time in Ashland, a bit of time in Portland, rafted the Rogue river and spent a night sampling adult beverages in Bend once. I spent a summer working for the forest circus in Levenworth Washington once and have spent a lot of time in Seattle. Other than that my knowledge of the Pacific Northwest is pretty limited.

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

We may also be open to hopping a ferry to Victoria too but not sure if it wouldn't be better to do that in the summ
er.



Rich Victoria is really nice during the holidays or other times.There are ski areas north of Victoria that you might check out.It would be easy to catch a ferry out of Anacortes .You could even stop over at Orcas Island.Have a good holiday wherever you wander.

Frank

 

[ntsqd]

I'll leave the searching to you, but some suggestions:

McKenzie Falls/Pass (OR)
MacArthur-Burney Falls (CA)
Round Barn (OR)
Christmas Valley (OR)
Smith Rock (OR)
Deschutes (sp?) River (OR)
Lava Butte (OR)
High Desert Museum (OR)
Matz Ice Cave (OR)
Crooker River Gorge (OR)
Abert Rim (OR)
Fort Rock (OR)
Any OR state park with a Yurt, rent one for a night.

 

[rich]

I'll leave the searching to you, but some suggestions:

McKenzie Falls/Pass (OR)
MacArthur-Burney Falls (CA)
Round Barn (OR)
Christmas Valley (OR)
Smith Rock (OR)
Deschutes (sp?) River (OR)
Lava Butte (OR)
High Desert Museum (OR)
Matz Ice Cave (OR)
Crooker River Gorge (OR)
Abert Rim (OR)
Fort Rock (OR)
Any OR state park with a Yurt, rent one for a night.

That's a good list, thanks!

 

[rich]

Rich Victoria is really nice during the holidays or other times.There are ski areas north of Victoria that you might check out.It would be easy to catch a ferry out of Anacortes .You could even stop over at Orcas Island.Have a good holiday wherever you wander.

Frank


That's good to hear, my wife doesn't ski so I will only get a day in here or there but we have always wanted to check out victoria. Still need to find out the cost of cars on the ferry, if they allow dogs on the ferry, if they would allow the truck w/ camper on etc... but Victoria could be an option.