Washington State - The Cascades and Olympic

The Pacific Northwest is an enchanting part of the United States, and while it is absolutely stunning, I would say it is one of the most difficult to efficiently navigate, but worth every single mile driven nonetheless.

I took on this adventure in a few separate chunks. My friend Jordan and I had loosely planned a trip through Washington with a goal to hit the North Cascades and Olympic National Park. My husband had his yearly work trip to Napa that ended up falling 2 days after our trip in Washington would end. So instead of flying across the country two more times in the next two days, I decided to solo road trip through Oregon and California to meet my husband in Napa.

We started our trip to Washington by flying into Seattle and then heading north to the Mt. Baker Wilderness (right outside the North cascades). When I was researching the Cascades and some must-do/see hikes, the Mt. Baker Wilderness seemed to be on everyone’s list even though it wasn’t in the park. The drive up to Artist Point in the Mt. Baker Ski Area was an experience in itself. Lots of switchback roads and epic mountain views. We ended up hiking the Chain Links Loop (about 6-7 miles)  which honestly felt like a panoramic view of every sight in Mt. Baker. It was the perfect mix of mountains, lakes, rock, trees, and wide-open spaces. We hiked clockwise, which a lot of people say not to do because the last mile of the hike is a super steep up-hill. But the hike overall was gorgeous and satisfied our need to stop in the Mt. Baker Wilderness on our way to the Cascades. 

A little disclaimer, I say “on the way” with a bit of sarcasm. Because nothing in Washington seems to be an easy or direct shot. There is a lot of backtracking that you have to do, and rarely ever a cut-through that makes driving logistics easy. 

We had an hour drive back into the town of Maple Falls where we stayed in the most adorable “Unplug and Unwind” Cabin. The town of Maple Falls is super small, but has everything you need as far as general stores for food as well as gas stations. Speaking of gas stations, fill up every time you see one. They are few and far between in the back roads of this state. Back to the cabin… it was right on the river and had a wood-fired hot tub. SO cute, and so opportunistic to bring out your crunchy side to start up a fire and heat up your own hot tub. This place was the perfect sport for campfires and at-home cooking, and we soaked up every moment.

The next day we trekked a bit further east to North Cascades National Park. There is so much beauty in this area, but we really only had one day and wanted to make the most of it. So we drove straight to the Diablo Lake Scenic Overlook and it is honestly the picture-perfect view of the lake. We didn’t stay too long because it was really just a viewpoint. We then drove to hike Maple Pass Loop (7 miles), and it was an incredibly beautiful hike. We hiked counter clockwise- it is a longer, more gradual hike up to the top and a steeper descent. There was so much beauty all around, and the views of the mountains and lake from the top was unreal. You hike up to the ridge of the mountain and stay on the ridge for a while, getting all of the panoramic views of the Cascades. Once we finished our hike, we drove to the Instagram-famous Ross Lake Resort because we were dying to see it. You hike about 1.5 miles from the road to get to the water where you can see the resort across the lake. I can’t lie, I was underwhelmed when we saw it. I am not saying that I wouldn’t want to stay there for a night, but I felt a little bit better about not being able to get a reservation for this trip. So we took our quick peek from across the lake and felt fulfilled that we got to see the iconic social media spot with our own eyes. But moral of the story, don’t put it at the tippy top of your bucket list. I actually am glad that we did what we had planned instead. 

So moving into our evening, we started to head out of the park and stopped at Diablo Lake to take an evening dip. Then we headed to the town that we were staying in for the night, Marblemount, Washington. We went to Upriver Grill and Taproom for dinner and drinks, and then checked into our hotel, The North Cascades Inn. We were not expecting for it to be a hostel, but it kind of was. We had a private room with a shared bathroom and living space with the rest of the Inn… but it was a place to sleep for the night. 

The next morning we woke up super early and started our drive over to Olympic National Park. Our first stop was in Port Angeles for brunch because we saw a lot about this town when looking for Airbnbs. Let me tell you, we were so happy that we did not choose to stay here. Not to knock on the town but… it was not a place I would prefer to stay, and it is even farther out of the way when trying to navigate the park. I would say that this national park is one of the least accessible and most inconvenient from a driving perspective. There are really no short-cuts. So be ready to drive, turn around, and drive the same road over and over again. Nonetheless, the park is so unique in its own way. After brunch, we drove to the Sol-Duc Hot Springs and soaked for about an hour. While the source is natural hot spring water, it is not a very natural looking or aesthetic place. And it has a very strong smell of sulfur. After soaking, we drove to the Sol-Duc Falls hike. It was super popular, super easy, and super short! Every hike that we did in this park was very touristy, but they are worth seeing at least once in your lifetime. We then drove to the Marymere falls hike and it was all-around very comparable to the Sol-Duc Falls hike. Same distance, easiness, views, all of it.

After we finished hiking, we went back to check in at our hotel at the Lake Crescent Lodge. 

The Lake Crescent Lodge honestly MADE our trip. We totally lucked out on getting to stay here two nights in a row. I had tried to book the lodge a few weeks before our trip and it was sold out, and I had then read that the lodge books out a year in advance. Jordan happened to call the week before our trip and they just had a cancellation that day, so she got us in. We then learned that the easiest way to get a spot here is to call the week/day of to see if there are any cancellations. It is definitely not a definitive way to plan a trip, but it ended up working out for us. We did the same thing for the next night. We booked a second night there the day of the stay. The risk was worth the reward because this place was magical. We pulled in and it felt like we were pulling into summer camp on the lake like you would go to back when you were a kid. There was a main lodge with rooms, a restaurant, bar, and a super gorgeous sitting porch with a lake view. There were also cabins all around the lake campus. There were ots of people hanging on the lake beach and jumping off the dock, So we grabbed a drink and went outside to hang and had the best time. The water was so clear and so blue. You can take kayaks and paddle-boards out on the lake, there are trails to walk, and so much more. If you are visiting Olympic, this is  my number 1 recommendation. It is a little oasis and will make your entire trip worthwhile. 

Our second day at Olympic we also ended up visiting the Hoh Rainforest, The Tree of Life, Rialto Beach, and Ruby Beach. The Hoh Rainforest was #1 on our bucket list in this park and to be honest I was a bit underwhelmed. It looked very similar to the other two hikes that we did the day before and we waited 1.5 hours to get into that part of the park. (Pro tip- get there before 8am or after 5pm if you are going to go to the Hoh Rainforest to avoid lines). The beaches were super pretty, and very crowded. They are cool to see but not much to do there, so we only stayed at each for a few minutes. We wrapped up Olympic back at The Lake Crescent Lodge and  drove to Seattle in the morning where I dropped Jordan off to fly out. 

My road trip continued down through Oregon and California, so be sure to check out those blog posts for more PNW beauties and adventures, but overall, Olympic and the Cascades are so worth seeing. They are filled with foggy forests, epic mountains, and crystal clear lakes- the epitome of a lush adventure.