Anyone been to Olympic NP and Mt Rainier NP in Washington??

[tempoct]

Might be an odd question in Alaska cruise forum :)

 

My returning flight is boarding in Seattle. My iternary have me choosing between one more day in Alaska (Anchorage/Denali area) or one more day in Washington.

 

Big question is, how does the nature beauty quality of those parks compared to Alaska? Not sure if it is worth sacrificing a day in Alaska for both parks (if not, I have to pick one).

 

So far, here is my post-cruise iternary;

 

Day 1. Seward: Kenai Fjord NP, Exit Glacier, 6-hrs NP cruise and AKRR to Anchorage

Day 2. Anchorage: city sightseeing, Matanuska Glacier 3-hr hike, drive to Talkeetna

Day 3. Talkeetna: Flightseeing, drive into Denali NP, about half day at Denali NP

Day 4. Full day at Denali NP

 

Day 5. About half day at Denali NP and drive back to board flight at Anchorage to Seattle

Day 6-7: Seattle, Mt Rainier NP + Olympic NP

 

or

 

Day 5-6. Denali or Anchorage activities? Board flight to Seattle at the end of day 6.

Day 7. Olympic NP or Mt. Rainier NP

 

What do you think is worth doing more?

[susiegpo]

Let me start out by saying I have not yet been to Alaska, will be making my first trip this summer. I have, however, been to the Olympic Nationional Park and Mount Ranier. Both are gorgeous, and I totally enjoyed our time there. The Olympic National Park in particular is HUGE and the distances between things that we did were quite long. My personal opinion is that you cannot see much of those 2 parks in 2 days, and since many only make it to Alaska once I'd spend the time there. Then make another trip to the other parks on another vacation and thoroughly explore them. What we did was start in Oregon, then head to Mt. St. Helen's (awesome!). went to Seattle, Ranier, into Vancouver, took the ferry back to the Olympic Penninsula and explored that. My personal opinion - enjoy whatever you chose to do.

[Chenega]

Been to both parks and they are both special. However, since you've come all the way up here, I think your time is better spent driving south from Anchorage to the Kenai Peninsula and Seward. Spend the night in Seward and take an all day boat cruise into Kenai Fjords National Park with one of the tour operators. You can also visit the Alaska Sealife Center and Exit Glacier.

All well worth your time and a special part of any visit to Alaska.

[Chenega]

Oops. Already noted that you are doing the Seward activities. You might consider going to Homer or taking a drive to Valdez or exploring the Matanuska Valley and Hatcher Pass.

 

Lots to do in southcentral Alaska. A good site to explore is http://www.anchorage.net

[tempoct]

Thanks so much for the info.

 

I'm thinking the same but can't think of what "must-see" place I miss. I don't think I could drive into Hatcher Pass with rental car, right?

 

I don't really interested much in activities like museum or fishing. I quite interested in visiting Valdez and might do some Prince William Sound tour. Not sure if this will be similar to my last day on the cruise ship (I'll travel with HAL, which will cruise Prince William Sounds on the last day before Seward). AFAIK, the view from the big cruise ship will be less, compared to small tour ship. Nevertheless, I'm not really sure if this will be similar to the Kenai Fjord NP 6-hour tour.

 

Any specific activity to suggest for Hatcher Pass? Sightseeing only?

 

Also, where can I extensively discuss about those Washington NPs? I don't think this board is very appropriate. Not sure which park to pick if I would travel only one day in Washington.

[tempoct]

Maybe I should consider add another day in Seward/Kenai Peninsula area??

[Suzanne123]

We visited Olympic National Park in 2004 as we had 3 days pre-cruise from Seattle. We took an early morning Bainbridge Island Ferry and drove up to Hurricane Ridge and Crescent Lake and spent 3 days touring the area. It is a gorgeous drive, but I agree with susiegpo--I can't imagine how you'd do it in just a day trip. I know they have Mt Rainier tours from Seattle, but those take a full day also, and in the opposite direction.

Just my opinion, but it's a lot easier to get to Seattle for a few days than to get back to Alaska; so while you're there, spend the last day or two near Seward or take one of the glacier tours out of Whittier. Yes, the Olympic National Park is beautiful, and I would go again in a heartbeat, but no, it's not as breathtaking as Alaska.

Good Luck!

[Suzanne123]

oops! Forgot to tell you about this link for good info on the Olympic National Park area:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attractions-g143047-Activities-Olympic_National_Park_Washington.html

[Chenega]

Hatcher Pass has the Independence Mine Historic Park and it is accessible by rental car. You drive to Palmer (45 min to an hour north of Anchorage) then look for the sign to Hatcher Pass just out of town. The road to the mine is now paved and the scenery is gorgeous.

 

Other sites in the Matanuska Valley include a musk-ox farm (very unusual) and the Iditarod Museum in Knik. A trip this way will take you the better part of a day and these places are somewhat off the beaten tourist route.

 

My wife and I also love Homer. It's a 5 or so hour drive from Anchorage through the Kenai Peninsula on a state highway. Homer is our "artist community" with a gorgeous location on Kachemak Bay. Several good hotels and many B & Bs down there. For a fun adventure take a small boat to either Seldovia or Halibut Cove to visit these small communities.

 

The drive to Valdez is long but beautiful, especially when you travel along the Matanuska River and behind the Chugach Mountains. Once you get to Glennallen, you head south along the Richardson Highway following the route of the Transalaska Pipeline. Thompson Pass is a spectacular sight as you drive down into Valdez past the Worthington Glacier and you'll also see the young mountains of the Wrangell-St. Elias range. There's an excellent visitor center for the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park along the way as well.

 

Valdez is an interesting town rebuilt after the 1964 earthquake and is the terminus of the Transalaska Pipeline. There are boat tours into the Prince William Sound and Columbia Glacier area where the big cruise ships don't go.

 

For more on these places, just search Homer or Valdez Alaska on the web.

 

Of Olympic or Mt. Rainier, I much prefer Mt. Rainier although my favorite in the area is the Mt. St Helens Volcanic National Monument. Access to the monument is from Castle Rock, Washington, or Randle, Washington, and you drive right into the area devastated by the 1980 eruption. The road from Castle Rock takes you to within 5 miles of the mountain itself and the relatively new visitor center. Impressive to see what nature can do which is somewhat of the theme of your Alaska visit anyway.

 

Whatever you decide to do, by all means enjoy the trip!

[kyriecat]

I've been to both Olympic Peninsula and Mt. Ranier but on a land vacation to Seattle. In two days there is no way to do justice to both parks. I think I would spend a day in Seattle - try Pike Market, Pioneer Square, Space Needle. That will fill your day! Take the earliest Bainbridge ferry you can get around 6:30 AM and drive to Olympic Pen. You will not have time to see it all in one day!! We tried. We drove up Hurricane Ridge and played in the snow (April) then drove down to the rain forrest. We took the Mary Falls trail through the rain forrest in the rain. We saw deer and the trail was gorgeous in a mossy green way. We had a late picnic lunch then drove to the west coast to see the Pacific Ocean. The water was extremely cold and the "beach" was pebble and rocks with large driftwood piled up. We drove back to the ferry to Seattle after that. It was already getting dark and it was around 9:30 or 10 when we made it back to our hotel. We wished we had another day. We would have spent the night on the peninsula so we could drive around more the next day. I think Olympic Peninsula is a better choice for the day since there are so many mountains in Alaska that Mt. Rainier won't be very special. The verying terrains of Olympic Peninsula are more interesting.

 

If it is a clear day, definitely go up the Space Needle and look at Mt. Ranier. In April it was still covered in snow and it looked so white that it almost appeared to be a illusion hovering on the horizon. I have a photo of it but several people have commented that it looked like I had cut-and-pasted a mountain in the background.

[tempoct]

Thank you so much!

Quite an info! I used to hear that Hatcher Pass is prohibited but it is good thing to know that I can drive up to the mine from Palmer.

What about driving from the mine to Willow? Are they paved? How's the condition? How long does it take to cross the hatcher pass?

 

For Washington, I probably drive a loop through Mt. Rainier. The Olympic NP seems to take longer than expected. I thought it was accessible by car by I-5 or US-101.

[Gardyloo]

Well as one who's lived many a year in both Alaska and Seattle, my take is option ©.

 

Arrange a stopover on your way south, someplace where you didn't stop northbound or where your excursions kept you seeing just one thing.

 

You can do day trips to various nearby scenic areas (Tracy Arm, etc.) from Juneau or go whale watching or look for bears. If you want, there are numerous one-day fly/cruise, or overnight packages to Glacier Bay, with small-boat cruises into the heart of the 'bergs. Or just explore Juneau itself - historic, fun town. Most cruise pax don't see it overnight as they've upped anchor by dinnertime.

 

The same thing is possible with Cordova, Ketchikan, or Sitka but flights are less convenient. At Ketchikan, though, you could do a day trip into Misty Fjords NP, a pretty remarkable area, or go totem pole hunting at Totem Bight or Saxman. Sitka (which many cruise ships now bypass because of poor berthing conditions) has a lot to offer - Russian heritage, great country nearby...

 

The airfare will be a little more, but not intolerable, and hotels in SE Alaska are not as pricey as Anchorage because most tourists come on ships and already have their accommodation arranged ;)

 

Mt. Rainier NP is wall to wall humanity for a daytrip (and the Paradise Lodge is currently closed for renovation) and Olympic NP is hard to get to (meaningfully) in one day. Which is not to say that there aren't many wonderful things to do within a day's drive of Seattle (or in the city itself) but SE Alaska is way less convenient to get to for most folks, so I'd make the most of your time there.

[Chenega]

The Hatcher Pass road runs about 50 miles with the first 14 miles from the Palmer side paved to the Independence Mine park and the first 10 from the Willow side as well. The rest is gravel and often potholed and washboarded which can slow you down.

 

We've seen regular rental cars on the road but, frankly, unless you are used to this type of road, we wouldn't really recommend it. However, we own both a Toyota 4Runner and Tacoma and have no trouble with it. The scenery is pretty special with rugged peaks and multiple lakes at the summit.

 

If in doubt, approach from the Palmer side and go to the Independence Mine State Historical Park. The summit is only 2 miles further so you can check road conditions with the staff and judge from there.

 

Something else to keep in mind is that the road past the mine is often closed until late June or early July due to snow conditions and whether or not they've graded the road.

 

Since you are interested in driving in Alaska, a copy of THE MILEPOST is a must. Most major bookstores carry it or you can get a copy up here. They also have a website at http://www.themilepost.com Driving allows you to see much more than you'll ever see from the window of a tour bus.