Western Woadtrip

June 9, 2007 6:52 PM

This year's vacation plan: Fly to PDX and drive to Teton, Yellowstone, Glacier, and back via Seattle and Mt. Rainier. What should we not miss along the way? Specifically, I'm clueless about what there is to do in Idaho and along the route between western Montana and Seattle.
posted by Saucy Intruder to Travel & Transportation (12 answers total)

I grew up in western Montana. Visit the Bison Range. It's north of St. Regis which you'll pass through on I-90. My parents were there several weeks ago, and along with the buffalo, saw baby and mama bears and bighorn sheep. My favorite tourist trap on I-90 in Montana is the $10,000 Silver Dollar Bar. There'll be lots of signs on the freeway to let you know it's nearby. If your trip is scheduled after mid-July, keep an eye out for huckleberries on restaurant menus and on your hikes. Much better than blueberries!
posted by slowstarter at 7:03 PM on June 9, 2007

I am going to assume that you're going to be on I-90 going from Montana to Seattle. If not, then (possibly) disregard this.

The route between Montana and Seattle is going to be boring (I grew up in Spokane, which is in Eastern Washington). There's not really any way around it; until you get to about Ellensburg, the scenery is pretty damn awful. Bring audiobooks.
posted by rossination at 8:12 PM on June 9, 2007

How long are you allowing for this? That's a lot of driving.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 8:22 PM on June 9, 2007

You could stop in the town where Napoleon Dynamite was filmed.
posted by rhizome at 8:30 PM on June 9, 2007

craters of the moon in idaho was cool. but I don't think it's really on the route.
posted by ejaned8 at 8:38 PM on June 9, 2007

Response by poster: sdb - 2 weeks.
posted by Saucy Intruder at 8:48 PM on June 9, 2007

I don't know exactly where these are located in Idaho, but craters of the moon and some of the other volcanic stuff was cool. The sawtooth mountains were beautiful. Lava Hot Springs was fun, but largely because we got to soak in them at night while it was snowing (and I was ~11).

Agree about getting from western Montana and through most of Eastern Washington as quickly as possible.
posted by Good Brain at 10:12 PM on June 9, 2007

Would help if you described your route -- which roads you were thinking of taking. I.e., I-84 through southern Idaho was best done at night, during which you can count the number of deer/semi meetings on the freeway.

It's easy to tell -- looks like someone spilled a chunky can of red paint on the road, radiating forwards from a single spot.
posted by SpecialK at 10:12 PM on June 9, 2007

I made a similar trip when I was far too young to remember well. IIRC, though, that leg sucked. Stop at all of the chintzy tourist traps if you get giggles out of them (I did when I was 10), but save your scenery eyes and time for places like Yellowstone.
posted by The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew at 2:07 AM on June 10, 2007

Coeur d' Alene is a beautiful town (about 30-40 miles east of Spokane). I don't what there is to do there, I just thought it was pretty.
posted by hootch at 9:34 AM on June 10, 2007

Coeur d'Alene is on the shores of Lake Coeur d'Alene, one of the largest fresh water lakes in the west. Another place along I-90 in Idaho that is worth visiting is Cataldo Mission
posted by slowstarter at 6:08 PM on June 10, 2007

You could go see Dry Falls and Grand Coulee, in western WA. Breathtaking, esp to a geology buff.
posted by LobsterMitten at 12:15 AM on June 14, 2007