I live in Seattle, WA and I'm trying to figure out where my boyfriend
and I can go camping and hiking in early April. I have about a month
between graduating from college and starting my new job, and I'd like
to take about a week long trip to get out of the city.

The big problem seems to be that most places are either covered in
snow or still too cold to do many outdoor activities (I don't really
want to snow camp). I'm willing to do a little driving to get
somewhere (Oregon, California, etc), but I'm having trouble figuring
out where the best place would be. Some places I've though about are
the Oregon Coast, Yosemite, the Redwoods, Zion National Park, or
Crater Lake, but I'm open to anything you might come up with.

So to summarize, here's what I'm mostly looking for:
Week long trip in April
A National park/forest or similar
Camping (or potentially cheap lodging if camping is impossible)
Day hikes (3-8 mile range)
Warm enough temperatures that outdoor activities are possible

Let me know if you want more clarification on anything. Thanks!

Adrienne

Hello Adrienne,

My first reaction was ?Go to the desert!? There are some wonderful
parks in Southern California and by April the desert should be in
bloom. I know from personal experience that Death Valley, Anza
Borrego, Joshua Tree and the other desert parks are all wonderful.
Unfortunately, they?re all more than 1000 miles from Seattle so
driving may not be realistic for a one week vacation.

You could fly to Palm Springs and make some easy day trips to Joshua
Tree. You could fly to Las Vegas and rent a car to get to Death
Valley. Both of these parks are spectacular and offer unique scenery
and outdoor experiences. I highly recommend both.

I?m not posting this as an answer because I don?t know if it meets
your criteria. If you can?t go this year, keep these parks in mind for
the future.

Happy vacationing.

~ czh ~


http://www.parks.ca.gov/parkindex/region_info.asp?regiontab=0&id=11
California Desert Region

http://www.nps.gov/deva/
http://members.cox.net/jlboone4/DEVA/DEVA_Over/DEVA_Over.htm
Death Valley National Park

http://www.anzaborrego.statepark.org/
http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=638
Anza Borrego State Park

http://www.nps.gov/jotr/
Joshua Tree National Park

http://www.parks.ca.gov/default.asp?page_id=631
Red Rock Canyon State Park

http://members.cox.net/jlboone1/index.shtml
Hiking Around Las Vegas

http://www.starrsites.com/desert/phflower.htm
Desert Flowers

Riggins, Idaho is nice in April (1800' elevation). Plenty of places to
camp and hike with no snow.

Thanks for the suggestions! Southern California sounds really nice,
but I was hoping for something a little closer. To clarify my
question, I looking more for a list of 5-10 places that are within a
10 hour (~500 miles) drive from Seattle that would be nice to go
camping/hiking in early April.

Thanks for the suggestion of Riggins, Idaho too. I'm going to look
into that a little more.

Adrienne,

Much closer to home, the San Juan Islands look like a wonderful
destination. It looks like you could choose between campgrounds and a
variety of accommodations. The islands look spectacular and offer lots
of outdoor activities ? hiking, biking, kayaking, sightseeing,
birding, whale watching and more. Most of these are available in
April. I wish I could go!

~ czh ~

http://www.travelsanjuans.com/index.html
San Juan Islands Visitor Information Service
No other part of the northwestern United States offers diverse,
spectacular natural beauty as grand as the San Juan Islands. A mere 90
miles from Seattle, this island paradise with scenic land and
seascapes provides inspiration to residents and guests, including many
artists and outdoor enthusiasts.  ? Islanders prize the area's unique
environment, where humans co-exist with deer, eagles, Orca whales,
fragile cacti, towering firs and cedars.

http://www.nwsource.com/outdoors/scr/of_activity.cfm?category=Camping
Island camping 
Puget Sound's islands offer scenic camping opportunities year-round:

http://www.co.san-juan.wa.us/parks/index.html
San Juan County Parks

http://www.sea-quest-kayak.com/wash1.htm
Sea Kayaking Washington State
San Juan Islands Sea Kayaking
Kayak with Orca Whales

http://www.kanaka.com/parks_campgrounds.php
Parks & Campgrounds in the San Juan Islands

http://www.travelsanjuans.com/index.html
San Juan Islands Visitor Information Service
No other part of the northwestern United States offers diverse,
spectacular natural beauty as grand as the San Juan Islands. A mere 90
miles from Seattle, this island paradise with scenic land and
seascapes provides inspiration to residents and guests, including many
artists and outdoor enthusiasts.

Islanders prize the area's unique environment, where humans co-exist
with deer, eagles, Orca whales, fragile cacti, towering firs and
cedars.

http://www.sanjuanisland.org/weather.html
About San Juan Island ? Weather

Daisyblue --

Knowing that continued cool weather's likely to be an issue, the
most-likely warm places would be the desert areas of Nevada/California
around Alturas:
http://www.ca.blm.gov/alturas/trails.html

More springlike temperatures would be found in southern Oregon west of
Eugene, particularly in the Rogue River valley:
http://www.roguerivertrips.info/activities/Horse_Back_Riding.asp

Best regards,

Omnivorous-GA
Mukilteo, WA

Two words - Moab Utah. This place is great, especially the time of
year you are interested in possibly visiting. I've camped there
several times during that time of year, and even though the elevation
is fairly high, the weather is very pleasant and you can camp out
without much worry about rain. The activities are endless. One word of
caution, I'd spend the money to invest in a car roof rack (
http://www.orsracksdirect.com/roof-racks-base-systems.html ) to bring
your bikes and kayaks though. It was my experience that renting
equipment for several days at some of the local outfitters was in the
end too expensive for the trip budget I was on. But the river kayaking
and mountain biking is incredible. Destinations include the Arches,
Canyonlands and Natural Bridges National Parks, as well as the
Colorado, San Juan, Green & Dolores rivers.