10 Day Camping Road Trip from Los Angeles to Washington -

**Sol Duc Falls Trail, Olympic National Park, WA**

Last May and June, I went on a road trip up the coast to Washington with my best friend where we camped at many different National and State parks and went to some of the most famous places in the United States! It took a lot of planning, but we were finally able to figure out all the places we wanted to go, and how to get to all of them and come back home within 10 days! Be mindful that it was a LOT of driving to get to these destinations, but I believe the drive is all part of the fun! There would be some days that would be around 10 hours of driving, so keep that in mind if you are planning to go on this road trip!

Below you will see the time it took to get to each destination, the places we camped, and how we enjoyed the places we visited at this time of year. Our road trip was from May 29th-June 7th, 2023, and there was still a lot of snow in some of the places due to the heavy rainfall of this particular year, but weather will vary depending on what time of year you visit!

List of places Visited:

Big Sur, CA
Redwood National and State Parks, CA
Crater Lake National Park, OR
Bend, OR
Columbia River Gorge, OR
Seattle, WA
Mt. Rainier, WA
Olympic National Park, WA
Cannon Beach, OR
Cape Lookout State Park, OR
Quincy, CA

Campsites:

Pfeiffer Big Sur Campground
Mill Creek Campground
Viento State Park Campground
Cougar Rock Campground
Sol Duc Hot Springs Campground
Hoh Rainforest Campground
Cape Lookout State Park Campground

Day 1

Los Angeles, CA to Big Sur, CA

We started the road trip off to Big Sur from my home just outside Los Angeles. To get from Los Angeles to Big Sur it takes a little over 5 hours. Obviously, you probably want to take Highway 1 up to Big Sur, but currently a portion of Highway 1 is closed, so you will most likely end up taking the 101 up.

Once we arrived in Big Sur we headed to Pfeiffer Big Sur Campground, which is where we were staying for the night. We stayed in site 108, which was really pretty because we were at one of the few campsites that had redwoods around us. Also, it was pretty secluded compared to some of the other campsites we saw.

Day 2

Big Sur, CA to Redwood National and State Parks, CA

From Big Sur we started the long close to 9 hour drive up to Redwood National and State Parks. With stops for food and the restroom this took us about 10 hours, so it is basically a whole day of driving. This area is huge because there are different areas that are either state parks or the national park area. To get to the start of the parks it is about 8 hours away from Big Sur, and to get to Mill Creek Campground it is a little over 8.5 hours.

We stayed at site 47 in Mill Creek Campground. This was one of the most beautiful campgrounds and sites that I have ever stayed at. You are surrounded by redwood trees towering over you and ginormous ferns all around you! I think the time we stayed here was the perfect time to go because there was practically no one in this gorgeous campground and it was so peaceful during the day and at night (which is hard to find when camping)!

Day 3

Redwood National and State Parks

Day 3 was spent hiking and exploring in the Redwood National and State Park areas!

Day 4

Redwood National and State Parks, CA to Crater Lake, OR, to Bend, OR, to Viento State Park, OR

On Day 4 we packed up our campsite in the Redwoods and headed to our first stop which was Crater Lake National Park a little over 3.5 hours away to enjoy the views and do a little bit of hiking. Crater Lake was stunning, but a lot of roads and trails were closed due to snow so keep that in mind when you are planning to travel here. From Crater Lake we drove 2.5 hours to Bend, OR which is a cute hip town where we enjoyed a delicious vegan lunch.

From Bend, we headed to our campsite in Viento State Park near Columbia River Gorge. This drive took us a little less than 3 hours. This day was a lot of driving, so make sure to leave early enough in the morning! In Viento State Park Campground we stayed in site B05. There are only around 6 sites for tent camping only, and the rest were RV sites. I would not stay at this campground again for a few reasons. One, it was not as secluded and scenic as some of our other campsites. Two, we were the only tent campers there and a lot of the RVs had their generators running in the evening, and we went to bed pretty early most nights because we wanted to wake up early to get to all of our destinations. Finally, was the railroad which was RIGHT next to the campground. A train passed by us about 2 hours in the night, and since there was a railway crossing near us the horn would be blaring until the whole train went past us which felt like forever in the middle of the night. Unless you are in an RV and won’t be able to hear the sound of the train or are really deep sleeper, I would recommend a different place to camp. I did not get to explore much of the state park besides the Columbia River which was pretty, so there could be some nice hiking trails in the park that I did not go to!

Day 5

Viento State Park, OR to Columbia River Gorge, OR to Mt. Rainier, WA

From Viento State Park, we headed to the famous Multnomah Falls which was only a half an hour away. The proximity to Multnomah Falls was the only plus of staying at this campsite. I would suggest getting to Multnomah Falls as early as possible because it gets pretty busy as the day goes on. We got there a little after 7am and we were able to do the short walk up to the bridge and not have many people around us.

From Multnomah Falls, we headed as quickly as we could to Mt. Rainier National Park because Cougar Rock Campground is first come first serve, along with other campgrounds inside the park. To get to the main entrance of Mt. Rainier it took around 3 hours. We got there around 11am and there were plenty of sites to choose from at that time. I cannot remember the exact site number we stayed in, but we asked for one of the more secluded campsites, and ours was perfect! You are a little close to other campers in some of the sites, but they are not always occupied! A lot of the roads and hikes were closed due to snow at this time, but if you bring the right shoes, some of the hikes were open to hike in the snow if you are up for it! (This is all dependent on the time of year you decide to go).

Day 6

Mt. Rainier, WA to Seattle, WA to Olympic National Park, WA

From Mt. Rainier in the morning we headed 2 hours north to Seattle. We got breakfast here and spent a little bit of time walking and driving around the city. You could spend more time here, but we were eager to head back into nature to our next location which was Olympic National Park.

If you don’t take the ferry to Olympic National Park, it takes over 3 hours to get to the entrance driving the whole way. To get to our campsite which was Sol Duc Hot Springs Resort Campground, it took us around 4 hours with a few stops along the way. In Sol Duc Hot Springs Campground, we had site 76. I liked this site because there were lots of trees to hang a hammock and relax, and we were not super close to other campers, as some of the other sites were.

Day 7

Olympic National Park, WA

In the morning we headed to our next campsite in the Hoh Rainforest! We had site 80, and I really loved this site because we were surrounded by ferns and the trees of the Hoh rainforest. I would definitely recommend this site because we were pretty secluded and it was a huge site! We spent the rest of the day exploring all the spectacular hikes and places within Olympic National Park.

Day 8

Olympic National Park, WA to Cannon Beach, OR to Cape Lookout State Park, OR

From the Hoh Rainforest in Olympic National Park, we started the trek back home with our next stop being Cannon Beach in Oregon. It takes about 4.5 hours to get to Cannon Beach from the Hoh Rainforest. We ended up just driving through Cannon Beach to get to our final camping destination which was Cape Lookout State Park. You definitely could also spend more time on the beautiful Cannon Beach! We had site A20 in Cape Lookout campground. This campground is completely in the open with no trees around you, which could be really hot if you plan to travel in peak summertime. Since there is no vegetation around, you are super close and can see all of your neighbors. The pros of this campsite are it is steps away from the beach, there is great stargazing, and the waves drown out a lot of the noise around you. There is no picture attached of the campsite we had because I forgot to take one there, but below is a photo of the beach steps away from the campsite!

Day 9

Cape Lookout State Park, OR to Quincy, CA

Day 9 we continued our trek down home with our next destination being Quincy, CA where my aunt lives, so we concluded all of our camping of the trip. You of course could make your next destination Lake Tahoe or somewhere else close to here on your way back down. We were actually supposed to camp in South Lake Tahoe for one more night, but our reservation got canceled due to snow still being in the campsite! This is one of the longer drives, so it took us almost 10 hours with stops to get to our destination of Quincy, CA.

Day 10

Quincy, CA to Los Angeles, CA

This was our final stretch home, and it took around 9 hours to get from Quincy to Los Angeles!

*Maps of routes and times are used to show current conditions or the time it took for me to get to each destination, but everyone’s travel time will vary.

Comment down below if you are planning to take this road trip up north and if there are any other stops you would take along the way!