Coastal Oregon, Kalaloch Olympics, Orcas Island, Yellowstone (looking for some advice)

[First Settler]

Hey OB,

My wife, daughter (age 7), and I have booked some locations around the PNW to explore/camp. We have a destination campground at each place planned so far but are thinking about either finding/exploring/sightseeing/camping too and from each location. I would love to hear everyone's advice or thoughts on traveling around these areas. The biggest questions I have are from here, Western WA -> Coastal OR and Western WA -> Yellowstone Lake, Yellowstone.

April: Coos bay area, OR
July: Kalaloch, WA and Orcas Island, WA
Aug: Yellowstone

Thanks so much for everyone's thoughts and ideas! I really appreciate it. If anyone wants more information, let me know! Happy to provide and bounce some ideas off each other.

 

[Smileyshaun]

This is not a overlanding thing but your little one will love it when your In coos Bay Area head down to west coast wildlife park , they bring out baby bears and tigers lions and let you pet them really cool and unique place to go .

West Coast Game Park Safari

West Coast Game Park Safari is located 7 miles south of Bandon, OR and is dedicated to providing amazing and educational animal experiences for its visitors.

www.westcoastgameparksafari.com

Then there’s the normal things to check out on the coast this is all northern coast stuff . the peter Ardell ship , fort Stevens ( you can drive on the beach for a while there , hug point ( neat waterfall on the beach )Tillamook cheese factory , cannon beach , Thor’s well . There’s tons and tons to see on the coast .

 

[M Rose]

This is not a overlanding thing but your little one will love it when your In coos Bay Area head down to west coast wildlife park , they bring out baby bears and tigers lions and let you pet them really cool and unique place to go .

West Coast Game Park Safari

West Coast Game Park Safari is located 7 miles south of Bandon, OR and is dedicated to providing amazing and educational animal experiences for its visitors.

www.westcoastgameparksafari.com

Then there’s the normal things to check out on the coast this is all northern coast stuff . the peter Ardell ship , fort Stevens ( you can drive on the beach for a while there , hug point ( neat waterfall on the beach )Tillamook cheese factory , cannon beach , Thor’s well . There’s tons and tons to see on the coast .

dont Forget to stop at Whale Cove to see if you can see the humpback migration. The air-space museum in Tillamook is really cool.

 

[First Settler]

dont Forget to stop at Whale Cove to see if you can see the humpback migration. The air-space museum in Tillamook is really cool.

Wait, Thor's well and a cheese factory!? This is going to be great! Haha. Awesome I will start noting all these down and looking them up. The safari sounds like a lot of fun thanks for suggesting that! Also thanks for all the suggestions I really appreciate it.

I was looking at the Hoh Rainforest ranger station when visiting the Olympics. I also was looking at the Twin Lakes on Orcas Island.

 

[First Settler]

I mapped out a route from the most North to the most South of all the suggestions above if anyone was curious. It looks like an awesome adventure we have. Maybe hit some on the way there and then some on the way back home.

 

[Smileyshaun]

If you or your lady are wine drinkers there’s a neat little winery called Nehalem bay winery , good unique wines and down the road there’s a place called Kendras river inn , fantastic food .

 

[First Settler]

If you or your lady are wine drinkers there’s a neat little winery called Nehalem bay winery , good unique wines and down the road there’s a place called Kendras river inn , fantastic food .

Awesome okay, Yeah my wife does enjoy wine. We are more beer drinkers though so if anyone has some awesome suggestions on kid-friendly breweries with food trucks or food. That would be great. I have a ton of suggestions up here in the Bothell, WA area if anyone ever needs any :)

 

[Smileyshaun]

Well the good thing about the Pacific Northwest is I don’t think I’ve been to a single brewery that is not kid friendly and typically they usually have really good food.

 

[First Settler]

Well the good thing about the Pacific Northwest is I don’t think I’ve been to a single brewery that is not kid friendly and typically they usually have really good food.

Haha yeah so true! I remember when we first moved up here we got invited to a brewery and we had asked: "is it kid-friendly?" We got a funny smirk and laugh from them haha. Love it up here!

 

[Smileyshaun]

But McMenamin’s Rogue and pelican Are good ones I’ve gone to on the Coast

 

[shortbus4x4]

Stop at the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport. My kids used to love going there.

 

[First Settler]

Nice! Okay, will look that up as well. I booked another spot along the coast now since I think we will want to spend more time driving around before we got to our destination.

 

[First Settler]

Has anyone explored along the 191 on their way to Yellowstone, near Big Sky?

 

[Bigskykb]

Has anyone explored along the 191 on their way to Yellowstone, near Big Sky?

It's a pretty drive, but there aren't many opportunities to get off the pavement between Big Sky and Yellowstone on 191. Everything bordering the hwy is private with very few accesses to natl forest.

You mentioned breweries earlier. If you happen to come across I-90 through Missoula, stop at Missoula Brewing Company (although most of the craft breweries in MT are kid-friendly). MT's craft brewery scene blows the doors off of WA & OR.

Couple of thoughts on your Yellowstone trip:

- Aug is a horrible time to visit the park unless you're dying to see what a Mumbai traffic jam is like. 4 million people visit annually and the vast majority do so between Memorial Day & Labor Day. If you could delay your trip until mid-Sept, it would be a much better experience, IMO. Around 9/15 the crowds will be gone, the leaves will start turning, the elk will be in rut, and the moon will be new so they'll bugle during the day instead of all night long. The grizzlies also get more active in the fall as they start to fatten up for hibernation. Yeah, I know... kid is in school. It's worth missing a couple of weeks.

- Unless you are taking a boat, staying at Yellowstone Lake may be anticlimactic. It's beautiful, but ice cold year round & very little to do after you arrive. The travel time required to other park features doesn't make it a very good jump-off point. Every time I've been there, I felt like I wasted 1/2 of a day. If you don't want to spend most of your days driving back & forth, you might consider camping in 2 or 3 different locations over the course of a few days.

- If you question about 191 was because you're looking to do a little wheelin', the areas northwest of the park and in ID present much better opportunities. The Tobacco Root Mountains between Twin Bridges & Virginia City are filled with old mine sites. Virginia City is a popular tourist trap old west town your kid would probably enjoy. And if you do want to explore some trails, order "4x4 Routes of Southcentral Montana" from montana4x4trails.com. It's the absolute best resource available for that area.

- If this were my trip, I'd probably enter or return through southern ID to get through Lowman & Stanley. There are a lot of natural hot springs throughout that region. And then I'd enter or exit through the Grand Teton National Park.

Enjoy your trip & don't forget to pack the bear spray!

 

[First Settler]

It's a pretty drive, but there aren't many opportunities to get off the pavement between Big Sky and Yellowstone on 191. Everything bordering the hwy is private with very few accesses to natl forest.

You mentioned breweries earlier. If you happen to come across I-90 through Missoula, stop at Missoula Brewing Company (although most of the craft breweries in MT are kid-friendly). MT's craft brewery scene blows the doors off of WA & OR.

Couple of thoughts on your Yellowstone trip:

- Aug is a horrible time to visit the park unless you're dying to see what a Mumbai traffic jam is like. 4 million people visit annually and the vast majority do so between Memorial Day & Labor Day. If you could delay your trip until mid-Sept, it would be a much better experience, IMO. Around 9/15 the crowds will be gone, the leaves will start turning, the elk will be in rut, and the moon will be new so they'll bugle during the day instead of all night long. The grizzlies also get more active in the fall as they start to fatten up for hibernation. Yeah, I know... kid is in school. It's worth missing a couple of weeks.

- Unless you are taking a boat, staying at Yellowstone Lake may be anticlimactic. It's beautiful, but ice cold year round & very little to do after you arrive. The travel time required to other park features doesn't make it a very good jump-off point. Every time I've been there, I felt like I wasted 1/2 of a day. If you don't want to spend most of your days driving back & forth, you might consider camping in 2 or 3 different locations over the course of a few days.

- If you question about 191 was because you're looking to do a little wheelin', the areas northwest of the park and in ID present much better opportunities. The Tobacco Root Mountains between Twin Bridges & Virginia City are filled with old mine sites. Virginia City is a popular tourist trap old west town your kid would probably enjoy. And if you do want to explore some trails, order "4x4 Routes of Southcentral Montana" from montana4x4trails.com. It's the absolute best resource available for that area.

- If this were my trip, I'd probably enter or return through southern ID to get through Lowman & Stanley. There are a lot of natural hot springs throughout that region. And then I'd enter or exit through the Grand Teton National Park.

Enjoy your trip & don't forget to pack the bear spray!

Wow, thank you so much for writing this up! We booked our spot already at the end of Aug :/ which is okay for the first time. It won't be our last that's for sure. I think we are looking to either extend our trip before/after with some friends now that they want to go as well. They had mentioned going through Big Sky so I thought I would ask on here.

I am thinking though maybe doing the entrance/exit like you had mentioned because that seems like a great loop to/from WA. Maybe Home -> through Yakima -> Lowman (camp) -> Grand Teton -> Yellowstone lake (camp) -> Bozeman -> Spokane -> Home? I am thinking we might need one more spot from Yellowstone camping to back home heading northeast? Each leg seems to be about 8hrs so maybe more frequent overnighters might be worth looking into.

Thanks again for all this information. It helps a ton! I really do appreciate it.

 

[pnwexplorer]

Camping at Kalaloch is a lot of fun. Check out the Hoh Rain Forest if you get a chance. You can also stop by Lake Quinault is nice but one of the best lakes up there is Lake Crescent. Pack a lunch and eat it at the camp sites there it is so beautiful. If you going through Olympia and your kid needs a break out of the car try going to the Hands on Children's Museum.

 

[First Settler]

Camping at Kalaloch is a lot of fun. Check out the Hoh Rain Forest if you get a chance. You can also stop by Lake Quinault is nice but one of the best lakes up there is Lake Crescent. Pack a lunch and eat it at the camp sites there it is so beautiful. If you going through Olympia and your kid needs a break out of the car try going to the Hands on Children's Museum.

Awesome! Thanks for the suggestion. I now have that drive to the Hoh river visitor center and Obstruction point as well on our way. Both seem like a good drive!