Hello! Flying into Seattle for vacation this April. We will have about 4 days to spend outside of the city and we want to do some hiking. Based on your experiences, would you recommend spending that time going around the 101 and exploring Olympic or heading north to do the Cascades? We’ve hiked all over the country (Maine, Utah, Montana, etc.) and we are hoping to see something unique to Washington if possible, something we maybe haven’t seen before. Any thoughts are helpful! Thanks –

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pala4833 t1_j41rn6l wrote on January 12, 2023 at 4:10 PM

I encourage you to take a look at wta.org to find hikes that match your skills and desires.

The Cascades are east of Seattle, and will be heavy with snow above 2800' or so. The Olympics will offer you much more access to hiking and unique areas.

MarmotMossBay t1_j44zgs5 wrote on January 13, 2023 at 4:59 AM

Snow level sucks rn. https://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?zoneid=WAZ019 But it can change in a day.

whottheheck t1_j434856 wrote on January 12, 2023 at 9:07 PM

definitely too early to access the alpine in the Cascades, either North near Bellingham or South by Seattle, but if you snowshoe you can easily access Artists Point on Mt Baker is avvy conditions are in agreement. Also understand that in April you are dealing with the weather which is hit or miss, mostly miss ;-), at that time of the year.

shaggy908 t1_j41pz8r wrote on January 12, 2023 at 4:00 PM

Check out the Bellingham area. It’s a cool small city with access to lots of trail systems like Larrabee state park. Olympic peninsula is also good that time of year, you could visit the Quinault and Ho rainforest. Mountains are a no-go that time of year

[deleted] t1_j41ukn4 wrote on January 12, 2023 at 4:29 PM

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prudent__sound t1_j41or7n wrote on January 12, 2023 at 3:52 PM

I would head out to the Olympic Peninsula this time of year. You'll still be able to hike up many of the lower-elevation river trails. You can probably drive up the Hurricane Ridge road in Olympic National Park as well and get up into the snow.

[deleted] t1_j41qg04 wrote on January 12, 2023 at 4:03 PM

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sirotan88 t1_j4591fq wrote on January 13, 2023 at 6:33 AM

Depending on your timing you could go to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, then hike around Bellingham (Oyster Dome is a good easy hike.) There’s also lots of great islands to explore by car with shorter hikes (Deception Pass and Whidbey Island). If you want a proper multi day road trip, Olympic National Park makes sense and is very unique to PNW. You can visit the beaches, Hoh Rainforest, Lake Quinault and/or Lake Crescent. However food and lodging options are quite limited.