Wyoming to Pacific NW through Montana

[Cal]

We are going to the PNW (Seattle, Portland, Roseburg,OR and Northern CA) in Late August-September. Suggestions for a scenic route as well as camping sites (35 ft'er)?

[Dam Worker]

I assume you will be on I-90. I really enjoyed stopping/camping by Custer's battleground, not a fancy park at all but I loved the location. I also stopped in Missoula area depending how far you like to travel in a day. There are some really nice RV parks near Coeur d'lane Idaho you could also check out. Then when you hit Washington it all depends on if you are staying on I-90 or not. Have fun and drive safe.


Tom Marty

[Carl n Susan]

The quickest, most direct routes to your identified destinations are I-90 west to I-5 south. But if you are like me, I try to avoid the interstates as the scenery typically sucks. I don't know where you are starting in Montana and my knowledge of the state is limited. However I have navigated much of the route you desire, while minimizing my time on the 70 MPH, 6 lane freeways.

You say

quote:"We are going to the PNW (Seattle, Portland, Roseburg,OR and Northern CA)".

I can't tell if these are real destinations (why Roseburg?) or the general directions you want to travel. I am going to assume you want to be off the interstates and are willing to day trip to Portland and Roseburg. Hopefully you are aware Seattle is not RV friendly.

If you are coming from Glacier or Yellowstone I could provide some routes. But lets start at Missoula as that is sort of a midpoint. I like to take Hwy-93 north to Hwy-200. Follow Hwy-200 along the river to Sandpoint ID. Here switch over to Hwy-2 into Spokane. Or you can take Hwy-95 to Coeur d'Alene which is lovely and then take (gasp) I-90 to Spokane.

From Spokane, Hwy-2 continues into Seattle. Take I-522 to I-405 to Bothell and stay at Lake Pleasant RV Park while you explore Seattle.

Unfortunately exiting Seattle is ugly. You have limited choices for much of it and they are all bad news. My preference from Lake Pleasant is I-405 south to Hwy-167 south near Renton. Follow Hwy-167 to Hwy-161 south and then onto Hwy-512 west until it intersects I-5 south. Do this during non-commute times to avoid the worst of the traffic. It is still going to be crowded. This route will take you around Tacoma and the perpetual I-5 construction there which has regular backups of an hour (unless there is a wreck and then who knows). Stay on I-5 until Exit 104 at Olympia. Take Hwy-101 from Exit 104 to Hwy-8 west to Hwt-12 west to Hwy-107 south to Hwy-101 south (again) to Hwy-4 to Hwy-401 to Hwy-101 over the Columbia Ricer and into Astoria, OR. This sounds complex but really isn't.

Astoria, OR is not too far from Portland and is home to many scenic state parks on the OR and WA border. My favorite is Fort Stevens an OR State Park outside Astoria. If you want to camp in Portland, then take Hwy-101 south to Hwy-26 into the Portland area.

The most scenic drive in OR is Hwy-101 from Astoria to Florence. You will be going south along the Pacific Ocean with numerous pull offs on the right side to stop and look. Hopefully whoever is in the passenger seat is not afraid of heights and steep drop-offs. The good news is most of the guardrails are still intact. If you decide to spend the night in Florence, make dinner reservations (in advance) at the Waterfront Depot. You will not regret it.

Stay on Hwy-101 from Florence to Reedsport. I highly recommend the Winchester Bay RV Resort just south of Reedsport. Reserve a back in site next to water and the view of the ocean meeting the river. If you really want to go to Roseburg, take Hwy-38 to Hwy-138, a scenic byway along the Umpqua River, from Reedsport to Roseburg.

While you can get to Northern Cali from Roseburg via I-5 it isn’t what I would do. I would continue along Hwy-101 south from Reedsport/Winchester Bay all the way to California and down to the area north of Napa/Sonoma. You can cut over to Hwy-101 from Roseburg by going south on I-5 to Exit 119 and Hwy-42 west to Hwy-101 (south of Coos Bay) and avoid having to back track to Reedsport.

I can probably come up with more details depending on what you decide to do

[jcurtis934]

The 7th Ranch rv camp in garryowen is a very good park. You will be sitting about thousand feet from where Maj Reno was ordered to cross the little bighorn to attack the sioux camp. I could see the different parts of the battlefield from the rv park with my binoculars...but visiting the grounds was better. John

[navybanker]

We have traveled a similar route twice with a 38' fifth wheel. We came on I 90 from Wyoming staying in Billings (within driving distance to Little Big Horn battlefield) at KOA (expensive but nice), Missoula at CG just north of I 90 (several to choose from) and Wilbur, Washington CG (that was interesting on a high ridge above Lake Roosevelt (a little drive from Highway 2). That night drove up to Grand Coulee Dam to watch the light show. You can drive up to the Dam with your camper as there is plenty of parking for your rig. We detoured from 2 to stop for lunch at the dam on the first trip. We continued on Highway 2 on our second trip and stopped for lunch at one the German restaurants in Leavenworth. There is a large parking lot on the right side of 2 going west in the middle of town. You can easily walk around this Bavarian themed town from the parking lot. The first time through Leavenworth, we stayed at Icile River CG for a couple of nights. We stayed in Squim, Washington and took ferry over to Victoria as walk on passengers. Next day drove down to ferry over to downtown Seattle and walked to Pike Place. We love the Northwest!

[J-KB]

Pioneer trails in Anacortes is a nice park to stay in, try to stay out of Seattle to I5 is awful lat time I took the 101 on the Olympic peninsular south, it very scenic, the Lewis and Clark RV & Golf resort in Astoria is very nice, Barview Jetty campground in Garibaldi I would recommend, also Winchester Bay and the Waterfront Depot for a really good meal.