6 Day Seattle & Mt Rainier Road Trip Itinerary
I saw my parents for the first time this July after three years. Ever since their visit, we’ve taken day trips here and there, mostly around Olympic Peninsula, and my favorite Olympic National Park in particular. As my comfort zone quickly expanded, I planned for a longer trip: a 6-day road trip to Seattle and Mt. Rainier for 5 of us: me, my parents and two little ones.
Blue Angels Show over Kerry Park, Seattle
Although neither Seattle or Mt Rainier were new to me (check out our previous trips to Mt Rainier National Park), this trip was undoubtedly a new experience to all of us.
It was the first trip to Seattle for my parents, and kids. Believe it or not, even we have lived in Washington for two years, we’ve never toured around Seattle during the pandemic. So my kids never really saw the city other than occasional pass-through.
Different from most of our own family trips, I had to design a pace slow enough to accommodate my parents, who were not used to long hikes in the nature.
I booked three Airbnbs, 2 nights each at Seattle, Greenwater and Ashford. It turned out to be just right to balance activities and rest.
Day 1 & 2: Seattle Highlights
We stayed at a 6-bedroom Airbnb in Ballard, northwest part of Settle. The house gave us access to a local private beach and opportunities to watch sunset.
Unfortunately and fortunately, we were hit by a heat wave during our stay. I didn’t sleep well at night and woke up super early.
Early enough to enjoy the changing sky colors during sunrise as well.
Note: Following two sunset shots were taken at Golden Garden Park (left) and Sunset Hill Park (right) in handheld position.
We started with a few “must-see” touristic spots: Seattle harbor ferris wheel, Seattle Aquarium and Pike’s Place.
Pike’s Place (pictures below) was the most crowded place we’ve been over the past two and half years. We were almost “obliged” to watch the fish toss every time we passed the scene as the crowd was so dense. Fortunately it was entertaining and we didn’t mind the stop.
In a failed attempt to find Seattle’s seafood chowder that could rival the east coast, we found a rooftop table at Maximilien, a French restaurant, by accident. It gave us perfect view of the harbor, and surprisingly, some random sight of Blue Angels.
I used to photograph Blue Angels every year in San Francisco. It was a pleasant surprise this time. I had no idea there was a show in Seattle during our visit, nor did we make plans to see them in the right spot.
We were either super lucky, or they were flying above our head everywhere we went. At Kerry Park, I finally took out my telephoto lens and couldn’t resist photographing them: the Blue Angels with the iconic space needle view!
I’ve never heard of Hiram Chittenden Locks until this time. In addition to the harbor seal we spotted in the water, our 7 yo enjoyed watching his favorite fish, salmon, tirelessly swim upstream in a live window display. The best of all, the walk on the locks was easy and suitable for my parents as well.
We also spent some time at Discovery Park, Inspiration Playground in Bellevue, Carkeek Park just to keep the kids entertained. My reward as a tour guide and family driver each day was the sunset photo time.
Day 3 & 4: Mt. Rainier - Sunrise Highlights
I’ve been using Airbnb for over a decade and have booked places across 4 continents. This one in Greenwater was one of my favorites.
It was not the first time we booked a place with hot tub, but definitely the first time we actually used it, thanks to the heat wave. In fact, my kids didn’t even wait till the water turned hot before jumping in to “swim”.
The house, and the town itself, was surrounded by nature. After a home cooked meal, my little ones simply hiked around the house in their PJs.
Sunrise in Mt Rainier was one of my favorite areas of the park. There were so many hiking trails. We stopped at Emmons Vista (see story and pictures in our last trip), an easy stop to take pictures with Mt. Rainier.
Kudos to my step-father, who took part in every mountain hike this summer. Oftentimes, my 4 year old, my step-father and me were the trio-hikers while my mom and 7 year old stayed in the car. As usual, he came along for the Sourdough Ridge Trail hike this time.
There weren’t that many people in their mid 80s on the mountain trail. My step-father often had to be on his own as I chased after my 4 yo, who was a pro hiker and never stopped. Guess who won more thumbs up from random travelers?
We also made plans to hike the Greenwater Lakes Trail. It was a 2-mile hike that I thought would be easy for everyone, but I was too optimistic about my mom’s knee situation, so we had to turn around. This trail was not part of Mt. Rainier National Park, but the ride to the trailhead was beautiful and totally worth it.
Day 4 was our travel day from Greenwater to Ashford. After a brief stop at Tipsoo Lake (pictures below), we went on the road.
We had different GPS guidance from different phone apps, and I chose a shorter route. It was no brainer to travel through Mt. Rainier National Park, as we did before, rather than drive around it.
This ended up a mistake, as the road beyond Box Canyon Tunnel leading to Paradise was closed. Nevertheless, this gave us an opportunity to explore a new territory we haven’t seen before. We walked a very small portion of Wonderland Trail, a 22-mile trail from Sunrise to Box Canyon. The canyon was so narrow that it more resembled a crack between the rocks. The view from the bridge looking down the canyon was beautiful though. Even better, you could get a glimpse of Mt. Rainier from the southeast side as well.
After Box Canyon, we had to take the long route through Packwood to Ashford. We made a couple of stops on Forest Road 52, also known as Skate Creek Rd, a forest road along Skate Creek. The road was dotted with campers and tents along the creek. Our 7 yo even made some new friends. Our 4 yo, had a blast with his red bucket, the most useful photo prop for the last several years.
We spent the evening at the river near Nisqually Entrance of Mt. Rainier National Park. It was where our 4 yo had the accident fall last year (see story on our winter/spring trip to Mt Rainier).
We’ve visited this place in 3 different seasons. It had a unique look in every season. The fog this time perfectly added a nostalgia feel to my photos.
Day 3 & 4: Mt. Rainier - Paradise Highlights
Paradise is the only area in Mt. Rainier that opens all four seasons. In the summer, it is still popular and crowded.
Similar to our last visit, parking was challenging this time. After a few days in the heat wave, we just didn’t feel like walking in the heat, and crowd, again.
We skipped all the popular trails near the Paradise Visitor Center, and made stops at Narada Falls and Reflection Lake instead.
In fact, my step-father and I went back to Reflection Lake in the evening to capture Mt. Rainier during sunset. Even I knew it was not the best time of the day to photograph Mt. Rainier, I sort of fulfilled an unfinished task in my previous trips - to capture Mt. Rainier in a lake (Tipsoo Lake still remained as unfinished).
Mt. Rainier in Reflection Lake
This pretty much wrapped up our 6-day road trip. We stopped by Ranch 99 in Seattle on our way home, the first time we did Chinese grocery shopping over the past year. We stuffed our large cooler with frozen food, only to get caught in the traffic in the scorching sun for 3 hours. What an adventure home! Fortunately, I had photos, of all the better part!
you may also love…
It’s that time of the year again. I’ve started writing our year in review since 2019, and find it a healthy “habit”, even this habit takes me just once a year to practice.