We have been planning summer road trips since 2020 and have made plenty of fun (and often chaotic) memories over the years. In 2024 we road tripped through the Pacific Northwest for the second time. We checked off our last two national parks on our list for that region and played on the beautiful beaches. And although we did a few of the things we had done in 2020 during our first drive through, we crossed a lot of new things off our Pacific Northwest road trip bucket list too. Today I wanted to share some ideas for planning your own Pacific Northwest road trip. Be sure to save this post so you can plan your own Pacific Northwest national parks road trip! Some links contain affiliates, all opinions are my own.
how to plan an epic Pacific Northwest road trip
Originally I wanted to plan an ideal Pacific Northwest road trip itinerary with each place mapped out. However, I know not everyone has the same starting point or can take off the same amount of days. And I wanted this blog post to be helpful for anyone planning a family road trip!
With that in mind, I’m sharing three different Pacific Northwest road trip ideas that you could complete on their own, or combine in any number of ways. The possibilities are endless, and with the rugged Oregon Coast and wild Washington woods as your backdrop, you can’t go wrong. If I have a specific blog post for the location I’m referencing, I’ve linked it so you can easily find out everything you need to know!
Pacific Northwest Road Trip route one: the wild waters of Oregon
For this loop road trip, if you’re flying and renting a car you’ll probably want to start in Medford or Portland. For the sake of this post, I’m going to start in Medford and circle back around, but know that you could easily start at any point on the loop that works for you.
Stops long this route:
- Start in Medford
- Crater Lake National Park
- Silver Falls State Park
- Multnomah Falls
- Astoria
- Cannon Beach
- Florence
- Cut over to Eugene and back to Medford
If you stopped at every place on this list, your longest travel day would be 234 miles. However, if your family is used to driving longer distances at once (like ours!) you can easily combine some fo these legs of the trip together. For example, Astoria to Cannon Beach is only 26 miles, so those should be done on the same day.
Don’t try to cram too much into one day though! One of the wonderful things about driving the Pacific Northwest coastline is all the incredible places to stop along the way. Places like Tillamook and Heceta Head Lighthouse are must-dos in our opinion and easy to pull over and stop for an hour or two.
Pacific Northwest Road Trip route two: Washington national parks
Again, we always start with a drive from our homebase in northern California. However, if you’re coming from out of the area you’ll probably fly into Seattle to explore Washington state. For this road trip itinerary, you’ll be exploring three national parks, so there’s a lot to explore! My suggested list starts in Seattle, but you can really go in any direction that works for you!
Stops long this route:
- Start in Seattle
- Mount Rainier National Park
- Olympic National Park
- Port Angeles
- North Cascades National Park
- Back to Seattle
- *BONUS* Mount Saint Helens National Monument
For this Washington State road trip your longest drive day is 167 miles. However, keep in mind that you will be doing a lot of driving in the national parks, especially Olympic National Park. This park is very spread out and diverse and to truly explore it you’ll need multiple days.
That’s why I included Port Angeles as a stop. It’s a great homebase while you explore the northern portions of Olympic National Park. And if your kids (or you) are Twilight fans, make sure you leave time to check out the town of Forks, Washington and La Push. It’s La Push, baby.
Bonus points if you can make a stop at Mount Saint Helens National Monument! It’s out of the way form this road trip itinerary, but totally worth it if you have the time. Just have realistic expectations that Mother Nature may not cooperate and the whole thing might be covered in clouds.
Pacific Northwest Road Trip route three: the ultimate Pacific Northwest adventure
If you have the time, or this is a once-in-a-lifetime trip for your family, consider combining any of the stop for an ultimate road trip route. My suggestions are a great jumping-off point to soak in everything the Pacific Northwest has to offer.
family road trip tips
- National Park Pass: Buy the America the Beautiful Pass—it covers all entrance fees.
- Bring layers: Even in summer, mornings and evenings can be chilly.
- Snacks & games: Pack plenty of car snacks and travel games. Audiobooks are lifesavers on longer drive days!
- Junior Ranger Programs: All three parks offer great booklets for kids! Olympic even has a special one just for their beaches!
- Check for ferries: Sometimes the most direct routes include ferries, make sure you research this ahead of time so you can be prepared. This can be a really fun experience for kids!
Follow along with our family’s adventures on Instagram!
