Learn Me: Trip from Seattle to Glacier National Park.

All right1 We've all been helping one of our folks with ideas for a trip to WA/OR, now how about some ideas for activities along the way from Seattle to Glacier National Park?

I'm planning on 2 days to drive, 7 days there, and 2 days back. I'm set for what we are going to do at Glacier (hikes, drives,, animals, etc), but I usually like to sprinkle activities along the way there and back to break up the time (waterfalls, short hikes, scenic drives or overlooks, interesting roadside attractions or Americana, natural landscapes, etc).

I'm considering North Cascades Highway or Hwy 2 and Grand Coulee Dam but am at kind of a loss for anything else along the way.

Thanks for the help.

The best cross country road trip that I have been on was with my uncle Don ( my grandfather's brother) . We drove a Cadillac STS from Laguna Beach to Flint Michigan. We had 3 rules, once we left California 2 Lane road when ever possible, if either of us saw something of interest we would stop and investigate it until our curiosity was sated and no more than 300 miles per day.  I would highly recommend a similar strategy. We never had any disappointment that I would have liked to see this or stopped there.  We saw the grand canyon, stopped at pawn shops, went to canyon de chelle, stopped to see dinosaur footprints in stone , had lunch near 4 corners at a roadside tent that two mud bogging Navajo ladies served BBQ mutton and a delicious soup from . Our only goal was to be in Flint in 10 days. Don was  85 and I was 38 at the time. Sorry to digress but I really like the idea doing what catches your fancy instead of pressing on and being disappointed

In reply to pilotbraden :

I hear ya. We have been making 3000-5000 mile RV trips like this for 15 summers all over the Western US with our 4 girls and have always enjoyed the small stuff just as much as the main attractions.

In 1992 my brother rode his bicycle from Seattle Washington to Nantucket. He talks often about the trip from Seattle to Glacier as being absolutely wonderful I will ask him if he remembers anything that he believes that you have to stop and see. I do remember him talking about the road through Glacier Park and the fact that the RVs going either way would often smack mirrors. On his bicycle he often thought he was going to be the next thing that got smacked

He told the story of being in Eastern Washington and stopping at a small General Store ,Gas Station ,Post Office ,hardware store type place in Eastern Washington and sitting at the counter to have lunch. He is the only customer and sets his bike against the wall outside with his bags front and rear carrying his camping equipment. He has ordered lunch and  sitting there when two guys on horses pull up and tie their horses to The Hitching Post on either side of his bicycle. These guys look like late 1800s Cowboys . chaps, guns ,hats ,Etc. My brother looks as if he's riding the Tour de France. One of these guys sits on one side of him and one on the other side. One Cowboy says to him," is that your bike". My brother's response "is that your horse". They ended up spending about 2 hours chatting over the Wonders of being on your own doing your own thing. The guys with the horses were envious of my brother . they wanted to ride their horses from where they were to the east coast and back but they didn't think they could do it. I will definitely find out where that town is and let you know the name of the place.

Bulldog's Saloon, Whitefish MT.  Has a lot of character and my wife's favorite video keno machine.

My wife and I spent our anniversary at the Blackwell Hotel in Couer d'Alene or however you spell it. We also enjoyed a 40 minute stop at Dry Falls. White's Boots in Spokane makes great boots but also was an interesting stop as a shop. The Mazama General store is also a quirky little place to stop. Winthrop is a very tourist spot on the map. Highway 20 is my preferred route though 2 isn't bad either. Too many good stops and routes from Seattle east. You can even go north and go through Kamloops, Kelowna, and Oosayoos.

I know I want to visit there really bad. I've been to Great Falls, MT twice a few hours away with the ex. 

Which is a really awesome little town with a surprisingly large amount of stuff to do, I'd recommend spending a day down there if you can. 

Lewis & Clark Muesem, C.M. Russell Mueseum, Giant Springs State Park, the World Famous Sip and Dip, etc.

I grew up in central Washington and now live in Spokane and this would be my route there and back. I'm not sure if your trip includes kids or not, and 2 days each way isn't much time for stops so plan accordingly.

Start across the North Cascades Highway. Winthrop is a really cool little town. Once you reach the Columbia head north to Brewster and then over the top of the ridge and right down into Grand Coulee. If you haven't seen Grand Coulee Dam you need to. Take the tour, its going to eat up a lot of time, but it is worth it. You probably won't be there for the nightly laser light show on the face of the dam, but if you are its also worth it.

From Grand Coulee head to Coulee City and Dry Falls. Its out of your way, but worth a stop. If you don't know about the Lake Missoula floods google it. Dry Falls will make more sense if you know what happened. From here to Montana you will see evidence of the floods once you know what to look for.

Take Highway 2 to Spokane, mostly farm land and small towns in between. Spokane is a little big city, and CDA is a little smaller. Lakes, rivers, mountains, fun downtowns, history, museums. Frankly with your schedule I would skip over and save for another trip.

From CDA take I90 through the Silver Valley. Wallace is another fun little town. Old mining town in a steep valley that was saved from I90 by elevating the freeway and building it into the side of a mountain. Wallace being a mining town was full of brothels in the day with the last one closing in the late 80s. The museum is interesting.

From Wallace stay in I90 until you get to St. Regis. The big gas station has the best huckleberry milkshakes, and a cool fish aquarium in the back. Across the street is an antique store that sells great beef jerky. 20 minutes and you are back on the road headed to Kalispell. 

Kalispell is another cool town, but the one stop you must make is Moose's Saloon. Great pizza, and you can carve your name into the wood walls.

White Fish is another small town that's cool, but the out of town money crowd has found it, and it has changed accordingly.

Enjoy your time at Glacier. Its definately worth the drive. The one thing you have to do is the Going to the Sun Road.

On your way back stay to the north and travel to Sandpoint and then back to CDA/Spokane. Get on I90 and drive until you get to Quincy, and then take the road to Wenatchee. At that point you are back on Highway 2, and can drive over Stevens Pass, and back to Seattle. You can take Highway 2 from Spokane, but you will back track a little. You could always stop at Dry Falls on the way back if you take this route, but I think it would be better to go on the way there. Leavenworth is on the way along with many other small towns.

Honestly you could spend all 11 days just driving to cool places along the way, and that would cover only northern Washington, Idaho, and Montana. There are so many good 2 lane roads, and you are going to see everything from high mountain passes to desert. Another option would be to do the route I gave you in reverse. Get to Glacier as fast as you can. You may find you don't need to spend all 7 days there. Then you would have more time on your way home to explore.

I 90 is boring. Hwy 2 takes longer but is just better. You go through small farm towns and you'll feel like you're gonna see Doc and Marty McFly lookin all back to the future-ey. Do you just have time for seattle to Glacier? No side trip to craters of the moon or the rabbithole to end all rabbitholes? Cuz if you haven't been, Yellowstone is a must. But prolly requiring it's own specific vacay. 

If you don't go hwy 2, see to it you turn off 90 to check out the Potholes. Amazing place. Howling desert, volcanic rocks and sagebrush, and you walk over a rise and are confronted with a trout pond. Or maybe several. Unexpected, really. Feels a bit odd to hike through the desert with a fishing pole but there it is. Go for the scenery even if you don't plan on harassing the fish.  

Make sure you drive the "Going to the Sun" road in Montana.

In reply to Jay_W :

We have RV'd all over the Western US the past 15 summers including Yellowstone, Craters of the Moon, Devil's Tower, and nearly everything south of there clear to Arizona. This is our second trip to Glacier, but now with older-teen and early twenties children that can do some serious hiking.

In reply to Dave :

Going to the Sun is definitely on the itinerary (probably several times). We have to sweep around the south end of the park to get to St Mary's to set up camp (Can't take RVs on Going to the Sun), then we will plunge into the park both west and north.

Thanks everyone for the ideas along the way. This year I haven't left a lot of slack during the travel days, but we will have a great time anyway. The  small stores, treats, and Americana you are listing are just the things I was looking for.

In reply to Cadman5 :

Well done!