Day Trip to Mt. Rainier National Park before cruise from Seattle?

[lawyer180]

We're arriving in Seattle 2 days before our July 2023 cruise departure to Alaska.  Has anyone rented a car and driven to Mt. Rainier National Park for a day trip?  Pros - Cons?   I'd also appreciate any other suggestions for an enjoyable day trip (preferably out of the city).    Thanks!

[Dan G]

Mt. Rainier is a nice day trip.  Other suggestion would go to the Wine tasting rooms around Woodinville and then  drive towards Snoqualmie Falls.  If you don't want to drive then a few tours do this route Look at

customizedtours.net

 

or

toursnorthwest.com

[DaveOKC]

We did this a couple of years ago.  Stayed the first night in Pullayup (to avoid the traffic the next morning), spent the day driving Mt. Rainier park (entered south), exited park from the north and drove into Seattle, staying near the Space Needle.  Took the monorail into the city center area for a bit of touring.  Next morning took a taxi for the short ride to the pier.

 

By the way - we rented the car at the airport and returned to our hotel near the Needle, I think it was a Marriott property.

 

[princeton123211]

19 hours ago, lawyer180 said:

Has anyone rented a car and driven to Mt. Rainier National Park for a day trip?  Pros - Cons?

Keep in mind that Mt Rainier is a FULL day trip. Its about 2 hours each way from the city center without traffic (before you even get to the National Park) and then you can spend multiple days, let alone a few hours, driving around/hiking etc. Its doable but you won't cover much ground in a day except for what amounts to be a drive by. As the previous poster mentioned it could be useful to stay the night prior not in the city and closer to the park maximize time the next day if this is a must do. Personally I would find an alternative and hope one of your days in Seattle the weather is clear enough to see the mountain from downtown. 

 

I would second the other poster's suggestion of Woodinville-- a lot of great wineries, a whiskey distillery, and some fun restaurants. The Hollywood Tavern there is a favorite. 

[Q Family]

We live in Lakewood Wa so closer to Mt. Rainer. Two tips

1) always leave early to hit arrival to when park opens as it can be up to a 2 hr wait in a backed up traffic line if you wait til mid morning/afternoon.

2) if weather is not clear you can be right next to Mt and not see it lol  Up here we use the phrase “ the mountain is out”

 

She is beautiful though 😁❤️

[psuboater]

I highly recommend ditching the car rental and exploring by foot. A perfect day trip is to Bainbridge Island. You can walk on the ferry from the pier downtown, and then enjoy the views of the Puget Sound (and Rainier if she's out!) and sea life on your 45 minute trip to Bainbridge. The town of Bainbridge is in walking distance of the ferry and has tasting rooms, cute shops and restaurants. If you want to go out a bit further Uber is available on the island -  we went to Bainbridge Distillery's tasting room, which was right next to a brewery and wine tasting room and had a wonderful day. As others have mentioned, driving here is not enjoyable in the city cooridor, and with only two days before the trip, you can get out of the city without putting undue stress on the trip.

 

Woodinville is also great, but a bunch of tasting rooms have closed in the past few months, so make sure the places you want to try are still there. 

[Gardyloo]

On 3/13/2023 at 12:51 PM, lawyer180 said:

 I'd also appreciate any other suggestions for an enjoyable day trip (preferably out of the city).    Thanks!

There are several.  Here are some at sea level in case the mountains are socked in, which is always a possibility.  As with Mount Rainier, these are best done on weekdays in order to avoid congestion at choke points like the park entrance at Mt. Rainier or ferry terminals for the routes that use them.  

 

Google the places on these maps.

 

1.  Whidbey loop:  https://goo.gl/maps/uoUnJBfesgdTcUjRA 

 

This includes four very picturesque waterfront towns (La Conner, Coupeville, Langley and Mukilteo) as well as stunning Deception Pass (the narrow gap between Fidalgo and Whidbey Islands - amazing at tide change) and fascinating Fort Casey, with its lighthouse, hiking trails an cool coastal defense gun batteries.  On the way back to Seattle you'd pass the Boeing Everett assembly plant, home of the big jets and the biggest building in the world.  

 

2.  Kitsap/Bainbridge loop:  https://goo.gl/maps/SyH7e7YgP28TnX7Q8

 

This includes a nice ferry ride from Edmonds, an attractive Seattle suburb, over to the Kitsap Peninsula, followed by visits to Port Gamble, a very pretty Victorian-era waterfront village, Poulsbo, fiercely proud of its Norwegian heritage, and a stop in the Native American village of Suquamish, site of Chief Seattle's grave, the city's namesake.  You'd then travel to Bainbridge Island (by bridge) and if time permits visit the Bloedel Reserve, one of the finest botanical garden complexes in the US.  The trip concludes with a stop for a meal or adult beverage (😉) at Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge Island followed by the incredibly scenic ferry ride back to downtown Seattle.  

 

3.  Tacoma/Vashon loop:  https://goo.gl/maps/3vsx2c5nQX3XBpLh7

 

This includes a couple of excellent destinations in downtown Tacoma, Chihuly's Bridge of Glass at the Museum of Glass, and the Le May car museum, one of the country's biggest.  It then includes Tacoma's Old Town en route to the short ferry ride to the south end of Vashon Island.  Vashon is a large and quite rural island, with a pretty village in Burton and fabulous views from the Point Robinson lighthouse.  (It the "mountain is out," this is a superb place to view Mount Rainier.)  The route then crosses back to the mainland in West Seattle, then loops past Alki Beach (with our own wee Statue of Liberty) and to the very enjoyable Marination Ma Kai cafe on the water taxi pier at Seacrest Park (Hawaiian/Korean food, great drinks from the patio with the best view of Seattle there is.)  

 

4.  Snoqualmie Valley, Snoqualmie Falls and Twin Peaks:  https://goo.gl/maps/amFxEc4qgbT2c7Yu5

 

This starts with the old town of Snohomish, home to numerous antique stores, then travels south through the beautiful Snoqualmie Valley to the home of Carnation Farms.  The valley in July might offer some fruit stands with berries or other produce; a stop at Remlinger Farms in Carnation is always enjoyable.  The next stop is Snoqualmie Falls, which in July should still be very impressive with snow melt from the mountains.  Between the falls and "downtown" Snoqualmie you'll see an impressive collection of old railway cars and locomotives, then down the road in North Bend you can have a piece of cherry pie and a damn fine cup of coffee at Twede's, made famous in the Twin Peaks TV series.   If you're still hungry and can tolerate sensory overload, a stop at the Triple XXX drive-in in Issaquah will fill your bellies and eyeballs, and how.

 

So these are a few possible day trips for you to consider.  These are pretty weather-proof for the most part, and any of them will show you a face of our watery region that many visitors miss.  Highly recommended.