The Ultimate Washington Road Trip, From Seattle To The Sea And Snow

Western Washington State boasts four incredible travel destinations — Seattle, the San Juan Islands, the Olympic Peninsula and Mount Rainier.

Why visit them one at a time when you can discover all five of these incredible places on a single road trip lasting between 10 and 14 days?

Starting at SeaTac International Airport, of course, where road trippers can tap into 16 different rental agencies, many of them with economy, intermediate and even full-sized cars and with spring rates below $50 per day.

Seattle: Back to the Future

“Living in the Space Age” was the motto of the 1962 Century 21 Exposition in Seattle. And now that we’re in that century, it’s fun looking back to see what endures from a world fair that inspired more than 10 million visitors and earned headlines around the globe.

More than 60 years after it opened — and helped inspire The Jetsons TV show — the Space Needle remains one of the nation’s most iconic structures. Whether you consider it the ultimate expression of Mid Century Modern or the crowning glory of Googie architecture, the 605 -foot (184-meter) tower looks as futuristic as the day it opened. A recent renovation added a rotating glass floor with glass benches and windows that slant outwards for an even more vertiginous experience.

Down at ground level, the original exposition ground is now Seattle Center, an eclectic culture and entertainment complex that includes the Museum of Pop Culture (with its Science Fiction & Fantasy Hall of Fame) and the incredible Chihuly Garden and Glass.

From there you can hop the Seattle Center Monorail — another enduring relic of the 1962 World’s Fair — into downtown Seattle. Sleep someplace central like the hip State Hotel, a five-minute walk from Pike Place Market, the Seattle Art Museum, and waterfront restaurants.

San Juans: Washington’s Treasure Islands

With the Emerald City in your rearview mirror, cruise up Interstate-5 to Anacortes and drive onto a Washington State Ferry bound for Friday Harbor on San Juan Island.

Besides being a great place to chill out for a couple of days, the island offers an enticing blend of nature, history and surprisingly good food for such a remote destination.

The two units of the San Juan Island National Historical Park preserve buildings and battlements left over from the 1859 “Pig War” between the U.S. and Britain over control of the islands. The south unit is a great place to glimpse those utterly cute San Juan Island foxes.

Lime Kiln Point State Park is renowned for its photogenic lighthouse (built in 1919) and cliff-top perches to watch orcas and other whales in the Haro Strait.

Animals are the focus of wildlife cruises from Friday Harbor, outfits like Maya’s Legacy Whale Watching that meander through the islands in search of orcas, humpbacks, stellar sea lions, sea otters, bald eagles and other critters that call the San Juans home.

Among the island’s many cool eating and drinking spots are the Westcott Bay Shellfish Co. with its amazing oysters and waterfront picnic tables, and gourmet seafood at the romantic Duck Soup. Overnight options range from the cozy Bird Rock Hotel to the stylish modern cabins of Saltwater Farm.

Olympic Peninsula: Mother Nature’s Masterpiece

On clear days you can easily see the Olympic Peninsula and its jagged snowy mountains rising on the far side of the Puget Sound. Getting there from San Juan Island is a three-step process that requires the ferry back to Anacortes, a one-hour drive to Fort Casey via the colossal Deception Pass Bridge (built in 1935) and Whidbey Island, and then another vehicle ferry over to Port Townsend with its well-preserved Victorian mansions.

Highway 101 meanders across the top of the peninsula to Port Angeles and gateways to lofty Hurricane Ridge, the leafy Sol Duc Valley, and gorgeous Lake Crescent in Olympic National Park. The rustic Log Cabin Resort (open May-September) on the lake’s north shore is an excellent place to base your stay on the park’s north side.

Following 101 around to the park’s west side — via the town of Forks and its vampire stories — are the magical Hoh Rain Forest with its resident elk herd, and the national park’s coastal Kalaloch area and seminal sands like Ruby Beach with its artsy driftwood piles and rocky sea stacks. One of the icons of vintage national park architecture, Lake Quinault Lodge (opened in 1926) offers excellent digs and woodsy ambience.

Mount Rainier: One Who Touches The Sky

There are several ways to make the three-hour drive between Lake Quinault and the Nisqually (western) entrance station to Mount Rainier National Park. From there, scenic Paradise Road makes its way up the mountain’s south side with various trailheads, viewpoints, picnic areas, and Cougar Rock Campground along the way.

The Native American name for the mountain (Tahoma) translates into “One Who Touches the Sky,” and it certainly does. “Of all the fire mountains which like beacons, once blazed along the Pacific Coast, Mount Rainier is the noblest,” wrote John Muir after an 1888 visit. What the famed naturalist didn’t realize is that Rainier is still an active stratovolcano (although it hasn’t erupted since the 19^th century).

At the top of the road is Paradise, a cluster of buildings perched at 5,400 feet (1,600 meters) on the peak’s southern side. Henry M. Jackson Visitor Center offers exhibits, maps and advice on exploring the park. Just outside are several short trails across the rocky slope, covered in snow during winter and spring, and wildflowers in summer.

Another classic “parkitecture” hotel, Paradise Inn opened in 1916 and was later added to the National Register of Historic Places. The soaring A-frame lobby is a great place to hang out, even if you’re not staying overnight, while every table in the Paradise Inn Dining Room offers epic views.

From Paradise, the drive back to the SeaTac Airport Rental Car Center is roughly two hours.