Salt Lake City to Bellingham, WA Recommendations

[TN Traveler]

I'll have about 8 days to get from Salt Lake City to Bellingham, WA in mid May of this year. I surely believe I need to go through Missoula, MT on the way. I'm interested in the Salmon River area as well.

I'd welcome any recommendations on CGs, points of interest and any of your experiences on must see locations. DW and I prefer moderate hikes to see a waterfall versus any shopping mall.

[hornet28]

A shorter route would be I-15 to I-84 to I-82 to Wa-14 to Wa-221 to I-82 to I-90. Google maps says it's 166 mi and 2 hr and 22 min shorter. But being as you have 8 days to do it I guess that wouldn't really matter a whole lot

[Hankster]

Come up from SLC and hit the craters of the moon, and then up the wood River valley through Hailey, and Sun Valley. Then up & over Galena Summit. Below Galena summit is the birthplace of the mighty Salmon River, you can jump across it in places. Follow along through Stanley and up into Darby Mt then Up to either Hwy 12, or up to 90. If you go all the way up to I-90 be sure and take a day for the Hiawatha bike trail. It starts at the Montana side of the great divide, and runs down 11 miles towards the west going over several trestles, and thru several tunnels the longest of which is 1.6 miles long. Most of the ride is downhill, and there's a bus to bring you and you bike back to the starting point.

[Ken / Claudia]

I-84 in the Columbia river gorge has many trails with creeks and water falls. Most are short part of day hikes up to overnighters on the trail. Some maybe still closed to due a large man set fire several years ago. There are also state parks with overnight available in throughout the gorge. The problem with those is the freeway and train traffic. You will listen to all day and night. The trains up come by on either side of the gorge. They can be heard on either side and can be about every 15 minutes. I have timed them. I spend years working that area and also doing surveillance standing on the river bank or in a boat.

[TN Traveler]

Ken - do you think mid May will be okay for traveling on up to Glacier National Park - or too early?

[hornet28]

Glacier is open year round it depends on what you want to do there. In May do not expect to travel Going To The Sun Rd. Typically that's into mid June or later.

[Miloski]

I think you would love Wallowa Lake and mountains in NW Oregon. Take the tram up Mt. Howard, Beautiful and breath taking. When you get to Bellingham stay at Larabee State Park. After you see the beauty there take a road trip to Deception Pass you won't regret it. Was Just up there a few weeks ago. We'll be heading back to the Wallowa's this summer.

David Seals

[bfam5]

+1 on Craters of the Moon.

We were in Glacier during the 3rd weekend of June last year. The road through the park was not yet open.

[JRTJH]

+2 on Craters of the Moon. There is a small campground at the park. No hookups, so not a good place for summer stays, but with the right size (less than 25') trailer, a couple of nights there is worth the trip. Plan to spend a couple hours in the visitor's center learning about the connection between the Yellowstone "hot spots" and those that caused Craters of the Moon. Very interesting and enlightening.

[bfam5]

When we were at Craters, we camped at Picabo, ID. It's 32 miles from the visitor center. It has water and electric with an on site dump. 2037320374

[jsmith948]

When we visited Craters of the Moon, we stayed at the Mountain View RV Park in the town of Arco. Nice, clean, well maintained, smaller park with full hook-ups. While there we drove/walked around the town of Arco. Has the distinction of being the first city in the U.S. powered by nuclear power in 1955. Part of the post war "atoms for peace" project. Neat town. There is a church there constructed of black lava rock. Also agree with previous posts - Craters of the Moon is awesome.

[66joej]

+2 on Craters of the Moon. There is a small campground at the park. No hookups, so not a good place for summer stays, but with the right size (less than 25') trailer, a couple of nights there is worth the trip. Plan to spend a couple hours in the visitor's center learning about the connection between the Yellowstone "hot spots" and those that caused Craters of the Moon. Very interesting and enlightening.

John who is the attractive woman standing beside the person with the glasses and baseball cap?:D:hide:

[JRTJH]

John who is the attractive woman standing beside the person with the glasses and baseball cap?:D:hide:

Joe,
Ahhhhh, I could say most anything here, but in the interest of keeping myself safe, I'll say that's my best friend of over 50 years and probably the only person on earth that'll put up with all my crap..... :whistling:

Oh, and she's faster and more accurate than Garmin or Ford's navigation systems.

Jack,
We also stayed at Mountain View RV Park. Great little campground and the "quick walk to the restaurant for a loaded smoked potato was definitely worth the visit. We also tried the smoked ribs, they were good, but that smoked potato..... Now, I suppose I'll have to start planning a return trip this summer..... LOL

[jsmith948]

Jack,
We also stayed at Mountain View RV Park. Great little campground and the "quick walk to the restaurant for a loaded smoked potato was definitely worth the visit. We also tried the smoked ribs, they were good, but that smoked potato..... Now, I suppose I'll have to start planning a return trip this summer..... LOL

Didn't visit the restaurant - now we have another reason to go back:)

[kirkwilliams2049]

On the Salmon River is a gorgeous little RV Park called Wagonhammer. We loved it.

[gearhead]

Bellingham is a cool town. I was there for just a few weeks working the doomed Arctic drilling project back in 2010?. I camped at the Hampton Inn. There was a decent Cajun café down at the docks. Also a nice place at the yacht harbor. A real nice expensive place on the coast with an ocean view. Can't remember the name. Boss was buying and open bar and I wasn't driving...
College town. I saw a couple stores advertising "SEEDS". Took a couple minutes for that to sink in.