Cannon Beach vs Mt Rainier
Our family of 4 (kids ages 7 and 9) is flying into Portland this July for a family vacation that will include some time visiting friends in Olympia, as well as doing Olympic national park. I spent a year living in Portland in my 20s so I’m excited to get back there!
My question is, we have a few days leeway where we could either visit Mt Rainier or Cannon beach. I’ve been to Cannon beach and have fond memories of it that I’d love to share with my husband and kids. It also seems like I can find pretty affordable lodging there and that there are more non-hiking activities (mini golf, ice cream shops, etc). We’re from the midwest and love nature but my kids usually get burned out on too many hikes so we like to balance it with some “city-ish” things. I’ve never been to Mt Rainier and the trails look amazing but it seems like hiking it just about the only thing to do there. It also seems like visiting in July will be very busy and even worse, the way our dates are working out will put us there on a weekend. But maybe Cannon beach on a weekend is just as busy? We could also just skip both and spend more time in Olympic but might they get burnt out on hikes there too? The kids have never seen the ocean or real mountains so maybe I’m underestimating how much they would enjoy hiking with different landscapes. I appreciate any insight!