RVing around the Pacific North West (USA) - Part II - Bend, Portland, Mt. St. Helens and the Olympic Peninsula

After 2 weeks on the road (you can read details about it HERE, in part I), we arrived in Bend (OR) and stayed at a fun RV park in town, The Camp: where you can camp your RV or rent one of their cool retro trailers. Service is friendly, it’s clean and the location is perfect as you can easily walk to restaurants, breweries, and stores. Since we had our tubes from Lake Tahoe, we launched them the Deschutes River, downtown Bend. We started at Riverbend Park and get out around Bend Whitewater Park. This was a 1hr float and fun!! There are also many amazing breweries and restaurants in town. Bend is a fun town to explore and we wish we could’ve stayed longer.

**** We highly recommend 10 Barrel Brewing West Side bend and Crux Fermentation Project.

Once again we headed north and spent the night in the small town of Madras at another favorite Harvest Host member called Mecca Grade Estate Malte. This was a fun place for Jason to learn more about the making of malts, try some delicious beers and kids had fun playing in their fields!

After a night we headed northwest to Mount Hood! We started by exploring the area around the Timberline Lodge. It was July 3rd and there was still snow and people skiing!! We hiked a bit of the Pacific Crest Trail and admired the historic lodge. We spent 2 nights in the area and enjoyed some great hiking!

From here we headed west to Portland. As this was about 3 weeks of RVing, we had arranged a home exchange in a comfortable house in the suburbs of Portland. We spent 5 days enjoying a big equipped kitchen, long spacious showers and baths, ‘real beds’, laundry, and comforts of a home! We also explored Portland and we did day trips to the coast to visit Tillamook Creamery (yes, 100% worth the visit!), Cannon Beach, and Astoria (where The Goonies were filmed and there is some great seafood to be had!)

The delicious seafood around the Olympic Peninsula!

****We recommend: Hike to the Wahkeen and Multnomah Falls, walk around The Grotto, try the delicious ice cream at Salt & Straw, get some delicious tofu at Ota Tofu, Modern Times Beer (super fun interior design, delicious and creative food, and beer!), berry picking at Koch Family Farm, fun outside drinks and Wolves & People Farmhouse Brewery. Tillamook Creamery, South Bay Wild Fish house, and Buoy Beer Company.

From here we headed north and crossed the border into Washington! Our first 2 nights were on the base of Mount St Helens. This National Park is very interesting. This volcano erupted in 1980 causing major destruction and 57 casualties. It also reduced the height of the mountain by 400 feet. It was impressive to see! There are many hiking options, giving beautiful views from the mountains and surrounding lakes.

From here we headed northwest towards the Olympic peninsula. Our first (quick) stop was in Aberdeen to see the Kurt Cobain memorial. (Josefine had really gotten into Nirvana…) but spent by the Coast in Ocean City. It was windy and cold but enjoyed some fresh oyster we head picked up in the drive between Aberdeen and Ocean City (there are many places sending delicious and fresh seafood along the 109).

From here we headed north and stopped along the coast. The coast here is beautiful and unique with huge driftwood and long empty shorelines. We also saw many bald eagles throughout!
One stop of interest in this southern part of the Olympic peninsula is Quinalt lake. There are many hiking options as well as lodging (from camping to the historic Lake Quinalt Lodge).
**** We recommend the Quinalt Rain Forest trailhead which is a short and popular hike but can be extended with a hike by the lake to the Lake Quinalt Lodge and can connect with the Falls Creek trailhead back to the parking lot.

Once again we headed north and spent 3 nights at Mora Campground. A lush and quiet campground near Rialto Beach. For the next few days, we enjoyed Rialto beach, First beach, Second Beach, and Third Beach (yep, that is literally their name). Mora Campground is run by the national forest and offers activities for kids like the ranger walk, ranger talk, hiking recommendations, etc. We saw many bald eagles!!

Our next stop was the Hoh Rain Forest National park. This is a lush and gorgeous rain forest that offers great and a vast variety of hikes (from just a quick 1 mile through the forest to wilderness hiking and backcountry camping! Get there early as there is only one road in and they control the number of cars entering the park. We arrived around 9am, with no waiting and by the time we left, around 1 pm, there was a mile long car line to enter the park!

*** Look out for the banana slugs!

We had planned to head to the most north western point of Washington but due to covid, some of the Native American reservations were closed to tourists. This region is rich in history.

So we headed north east towards Lake Crescent. This is a popular area for hiking, camping and enjoying the lake.

**** We recommend the Marymere falls trail, this is a busy trail and can be extended and even combined with back country camping.

Heading east we stopped for dinner and a drink in Port Angeles. A cute coastal town and has an amazing and very helpful visitors center with information about the entire region, up to date leaflets, magazines, events details and an enthusiastic staff.

As we couldn’t find a camping spot we headed east to Sequim, a bigger city in the area and know for it’s lavender festival and mild temperatures for the area, which makes it a sprawling retiree community.

**** We recommend the Dungeness National Wildlife refugee and if you have the time to hike all the way to the New Dungeness lighthouse!!

Our final stop at the Olympic Peninsula was Port Townsend! Here we enjoyed walking around the historic downtown and exploring the Fort Worden Historical State Park and the Fort Townsend Historical State Park

**** We recommend stopping at the Key City Fish Company for some fresh fish and oysters!!! (And you can also grab a beer at the Port Townsend Brewing Company nearby!)

The next morning we took the car ferry across to Fort Casey. See part III of our PNW road trip HERE!