You’ll want a 4x4

Your car would be fine if there aren’t any weather incidents. If there are, you’ll end up stuck.

It took us 10 hours to get from Leavenworth to Portland in a heavy 4x4 last year. It was rough. Real blizzard pushing through

3 - Park in Monroe and hitch a ride with a trucker.

Seriously though, practice in Oregon first. Take her to a ski lodge for lunch on a weather warn day and see how you do on a short trip. You definitely want AWD, chains on hand and experience in snow before messing with highway 2 coming from the west. I5 east and then north over Blewett may be easier based on conditions.

Yeah, what I describe may be overkill and exaggerated. But if you spin out, cause a major wreck and manage to survive, the people who get stuck for hours waiting for the WSDOT to clean things up may let you know what they think about inexperienced drivers. :-)

If you haven't driven in the snow line up a 4wd or Awd rental as backup but if the weather is good you could probably just drive your civic. You need to carry chains you can get them at Les schwab and return the for a full refund in the spring if you don't have to use them.

Just take hwy 97 through central WA instead of I5 and hwy 2 -basically same distance and you avoid the worst pass (hwy 2). If the weather is really bad take an extra detour at Ellensburg to go through Wenatchee. Typically not much snow via this route.

Get chains and learn how to put them on your car before the trip, you'll be fine. Be prepared for the drive to take a long time if the weather turns shit.

IMO the rental idea isn't very good -somebody's random 4WD that you aren't used to driving isn't going save you if you don't know how to drive in snow. I see tons of people in very capable vehicles crash in pretty mild snow, while the careful drivers going slow with chains on their fwd cars do just fine.

Good winter driving advice folks. I just don't know why someone would choose to go to Leavenworth... For closer OR options, Government Camp is more my pace/vibe.

Leavenworth is a mega crowded tourist trap IMO. Worth checking out I guess if you live closer but not worth the trek from OR even with clear roads. Anyone else not a fan?

Get snow tires for your car or rent one with snow tires and preferably AWD/4WD, you can't go over 30 mph with chains and there is probably 50+ miles of snow and ice on the drive there if the weather is bad. You may get lucky with the weather and the roads will be clear but it's a gamble. I went over I-90 Snoqualmie pass today and the roads were dry because they haven't gotten snow in over a week.

I wouldn't drive two counties to go there, let alone from another state. It's one of those "stop by if you're in the area anyway and its been years since last time" kind of places.

If the weather is good, you can just drive the civic. There are two routes from the Seattle area over to Leavenworth, I-90 to Blewitt Pass, or over Stevens Pass. I would generally favor the Snoqualmie to Blewitt route in winter, but weather conditions could make the optimal route situational.

I learned about driving in snow growing up in upstate New York. Most of what happens around here on snow days provides hours of entertainment for people from parts of the country that get real snow. BUT, it is a learned skill.

First of all, some short practice trips is a really good idea. Get the chains and learn to put them on. If you're driving a four-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, put the chains on the front tires. In really bad weather, put chains on all the tires.

Keep your speed down, remember, the four-wheel drive gets you going, but stopping and turning are a little more difficult.

Don't be afraid to just give up. Being overly cautious is better than being upside down in the ditch.

Twenty (ish) years ago we went to Idaho to visit wife's family. A storm followed us all the way across the state. It was not a fun drive and we won't do it again. Between North Bend and Cle Elum I starting counting cars in the ditch. I lost count at 26 when we had to snake our way across a bridge with about ten cars smacked together.

Take Amtrak.

If there is or has been bad weather on Blewett pass (97) around when you’d take it, don’t take it. Especially if you’re not used to winter driving. Stevens (2) will be safer and easier to drive over. Granted with the recent fire 2 might be in rough shape.

But if it’s been clear for awhile then Blewett should be fine.

Leavenworth sucks, there is absolutely nothing to do in the evening there

I drove from Leavenworth to Cle Elum a few years back in a major snow storm. I would not recommend it. That was in a CR-V, and I felt like death was around every curve.

Not sure if anyone has mentioned this to you before, but all season tires do NOT work in snow. Especially over snowy passes or even in extreme cold temps. If you live in eastern Oregon or plan on driving over a pass this winter you should have dedicated snow/winter tires. Even the cheapest set is miles better than a simple all season that’s probably on your civic now

It’s literally just a novelty that’s fun a time or two. Way too expensive, nothing to do but spend money, and the food is all the same. It sucks that it’s such a gimmick that people fall for because the surrounding mountains are absolutely gorgeous and that’s the part that’s worth seeing.

And as usual it’s often not the weather that’s the problem. For that we slow down and do quite fine. It’s all the other drivers that totally lack any sense while out in the white. Big SUV (I have one) or truck does not equal hood traction on the white. Quite the opposite. A light and nimble car always have better traction (grip to stay on the road). But drivers feel invincible in large 4x4 vehicles. And hence those are often the first in the ditch.

any recommendations for other Christmasy places to visit? first time visitor and I was hesitant about visiting Leavenworth for this reason. I love me some Christmas lights though

I am a local, I’ve lived up in the Cascade foothills, I have top-notch AWD vehicles w/chains, and I won’t willingly do this drive. Yes, I could, but not much will get me in the mountains this time of year, typically skiing and in Whistler, BC. A cute tourist town? Nope.

Sure, you’d likely be OK but if there’s a winter storm, life can get pretty unpleasant or outright dangerous.

100%! I forgot the name of Blewett thats why I said go around through Wenatchee and avoid all passes.

I live in Wenatchee and like Leavenworth for the food. Other than that I totally agree with the tourist trap stuff. All of the shops sell overpriced touristy stuff and you have to pay to park due to the popularity! I’m from Oregon and can say that government camp or Bend/Redmond would be a much better option for a Christmas getaway!!

If you do take the trip with chains for the vehicle and you use plenty of caution, bring an emergency kit.

-Emergency blankets

-water

-food

-flares

-change of clothes

-don't let the gas tank get below 1/2 tank.

​

stay safe

Drive to Seattle and take a bus. Leavenworth is lined with them during the holidays. You probably won’t be able to find parking once you’re there anyways. FWD is awesome in snow. If conditions are stable and you’re a decent driver you’ll be fine. The reason this isn’t the trip to practice driving in the snow for the first time and the reason it isn’t like the mid-west are the elevation changes. You’re going from sea level up to around 4000 ft so you won’t just hit snow if there is precipitation. You’ll most likely hit rain, freezing rain, slush, ice, black ice, frozen slush, good old fashion ice and, least of your worries, snow during an ascent or descent. Of course other drivers speeding and grabbing their brakes is the real X factor. This situation doesn’t happen everyday on the passes thru the Cascades (Stevens, Snoqualmie/Blewett) in the winter but it’s not the place you’d want to be figuring stuff out for the first time. If you take hwy 97 through Satus Pass and Wenatchee just don’t do it at night.

Poulsbo is a Nordic town and it’s adorable year round, but especially At Christmas! I’d also recommend Port Townsend it’s a Victorian town and very beautiful.

From the Oregon side, getting to W3natchee/ Leavenworth isn't so bad. But that would still be a bad time of year to learn about winter driving.

I can’t say thank you enough!! ❤️💚

F150s at U-Haul are 19.95 just saying lol

Not all of them are 4WD though

Hadn’t realized the Empire Builder passes through there. Is the town pretty walkable from Icicle Station? This sounds like a good option if we wanted to do an overnight trip from South Sound.

This is a good reply. We just came from there a few days ago (we drove in our Buick SUV) and a lady from one of the stores who was really nice and helpful told us if we wanted to check out the Christmas stuff to take the Amtrak from where we live to there versus driving through. We only live 2 hours away but when those roads are icy and snowed out it can significantly increase that travel time.

She did tell us the only downside is that the Amtrak leaving Leavenworth to where we live in WA leaves like really early in the mornings and my wife isn’t a morning person at all lol.

Practce putting on the chains before you are in cold, snowy and maybe very wet or dark conditions!

You live in Pacific North West now. Buy some chains to keep in your vehicle. Levenworth trip not required.

Yeah, that’s not true at all.

It would be a bit of a walk into town but I believe there is a bus. Once you’re in town it’s very walkable.

Take the bus and leave the driving to us !.....look up online for dates and times for departure and arrival.

The mileage cost taking a U-Haul from Oregon to Leavenworth would be crazy.

A 4WD pickup still isn't that great unless you put some heavy stuff in the bed to even out the weight distribution on the wheels and know how to drive in snow. An RWD pickup is one of the worst possible vehicles for snow and ice.

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I love Leavenworth for the fact that its a ridiculous tourist trap and shamelessly leans into that identity, but I'm also usually going in the summer where it's the secondary attraction to the enchantments.

This is only true if it really cold, otherwise I'll take good all seasons over cheap snow tires.

The difference between snow tires and good all seasons is not going to be enough to not have to put on chains if things get really shitty.

If you’ve never driven on snow, testing it out going over a major summit is a really foolish way to do so.

Very important advice here! Even in absence of any serious emergency you never know when you might have to deal with a huge delay on snowy roads and are far away for amenities.

Civic and chains work... It's more about the driver and this is a terrible drive to introduce winter driving even in an AWD car. If you're just out to visit a Bavarian style town, there's always Mount Angel, but if you're hell bent on Leavenworth and take the civic just keep a couple of things in mind:

When transitioning from slick surfaces onto dry pavement keep movements slow and fluid to avoid any torque steer.

Finish braking before turning in - and if you need to slow more just engine brake. Seriously though, go slow into turns... In slow out... well slow if you catch my drift.

Keep the revs low to keep torque down, and when downshifting to engine brake let off the clutch slow and controlled. Just as well, squish the throttle and be gentle when lifting on the throttle.

Most importantly... and what somehow has not been said yet GO SLOW! Kind of an exercise in narcissism but nothing matters more than your own safety. Most Californians I talk to complain about how Oregonians are slow drivers... You're about to find out why. All of a sudden understeering at 20 feels pretty quick.

As noted by others carry an emergency kit and keep gas in the tank always.

Locals literally say "poor crazy Californian's" when we stop to help Civics stuck in the ditch. You might make it, but if the weather turns bad, so will your chances.