Vacation destinations within USA/Canada with cool summer temperatures

[monarchsfan16]

I would not classify NH as cool in the summer, consistently, unless you spend your time on top of Mt. Washington. We get cool days, but most summers, it is just that, a day or two.

Estes Park, CO is a fantastic place in the summer, with relatively cool temperatures. Great small town to walk around with neat shops and restaurants, and the town is the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park, so lots of hiking and great scenic drives. We are from NH and spent most of our time there in capris or jeans. The elevation is significant there.

 

[AnnaFloridaLover]

I would not classify NH as cool in the summer, consistently, unless you spend your time on top of Mt. Washington. We get cool days, but most summers, it is just that, a day or two.

Estes Park, CO is a fantastic place in the summer, with relatively cool temperatures. Great small town to walk around with neat shops and restaurants, and the town is the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park, so lots of hiking and great scenic drives. We are from NH and spent most of our time there in capris or jeans. The elevation is significant there.

I have spent approx. 25 summers partly in Portsmouth area. Mornings and evenings usually cool down considerably.

 

[bcla]

Seattle!!
Lived in the area for over 30 years. Lots to do. Temps are moderate, very easy, especially if you are used to hot weather.

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and kind of lose touch that other parts of the country have more extreme temperatures. Hotter in the summer, colder in the winter. We've got all this water. However, the inland areas just over the hills get considerably hotter without the cooling from San Francisco Bay.

I get that there really aren't that many places in the US that have mild summers. One of the jokes about where I live is that we don't actually have any weather.

 

[ronandannette]

I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and kind of lose touch that other parts of the country have more extreme temperatures. Hotter in the summer, colder in the winter. We've got all this water. However, the inland areas just over the hills get considerably hotter without the cooling from San Francisco Bay.

I get that there really aren't that many places in the US that have mild summers. One of the jokes about where I live is that we don't actually have any weather.

Drizzly, grey and windy is weather - that's what it was like when we visited in early April this year.

 

[AuntieMe3]

In a few weeks we are flying into Seattle and going to Olympic National Park and then onto Mount Rainier and then down to Crater Lake National Park. I have the weather to all three places on my home page and the temps looks fabulous!!!

Oh...so envious!! Our best road trip so far started in Seattle, across the Puget Sound up to the 101 where we rode that all along the coast down into No. California. We stopped at multiple spots in the Olympic NP.... even stayed at an old lodge right on the coast. Soo beautiful and I LOVED that we had to wear a sweatshirt everyday during our summer vacation.

 

[bcla]

Drizzly, grey and windy is weather - that's what it was like when we visited in early April this year.

The joke is about the lack of yearly temperature extremes. If it snows here it's huge news, although it's not to far to find a place with snow in the winter. Still - the big thing in my area is "microclimates" and quickly changing conditions. I've been here when it was warm and sunny, and all of a sudden I could see almost a perfect line of fog coming in. Within 5 minutes it was getting cold and I was putting on a sweatshirt.

Drizzly, gray, and windy sounds more like Seattle. I don't think I've been on a single trip to Seattle (even as short as 3 days) where it didn't rain (or snow).

 

[ronandannette]

The joke is about the lack of yearly temperature extremes. If it snows here it's huge news, although it's not to far to find a place with snow in the winter. Still - the big thing in my area is "microclimates" and quickly changing conditions. I've been here when it was warm and sunny, and all of a sudden I could see almost a perfect line of fog coming in. Within 5 minutes it was getting cold and I was putting on a sweatshirt.

Drizzly, gray, and windy sounds more like Seattle. I don't think I've been on a single trip to Seattle (even as short as 3 days) where it didn't rain (or snow).

We had the most epic experience of that a few years ago on a cruise ship sailing out of San Francisco. We were up on deck just about to sail under the Golden Gate and could see a solid wall of fog rolling towards us. I swear it literally felt like getting smacked with wet cotton candy when we sailed into it.

 

[tcufrog]

Last summer we visited Boston, some surrounding towns and Cape Cod. It was a wonderful trip. You do have to book Cape Cod really far in advance.

 

[bcla]

We had the most epic experience of that a few years ago on a cruise ship sailing out of San Francisco. We were up on deck just about to sail under the Golden Gate and could see a solid wall of fog rolling towards us. I swear it literally felt like getting smacked with wet cotton candy when we sailed into it.

It was my wife and myself on the coast in Marin County. It was beautiful that day. We could see gray whales migrating from the shore and it seemed like a perfect day. I don't know if there could have been a more well-defined, straight wall of fog coming right at us.

California fog isn't that cold, but it's still good advice to "dress in layers" to cope with rapidly changing temperatures. But for the OP, I'm sure sure there's really any place where going on vacation doesn't mean coping with different weather than expected. I've been to some of the places mentioned. It was up 85ºF in Yellowstone when I visited, although there was also hard rain, and I was told it snowed the week before we arrived in June. Portland had shorts weather, although the surrounding area was much cooler. There are very few places in the United States (and even Canada) where it isn't hot (or may very well get hot) during the summer.

 

[Frwinkley]

OP here:

AuntieMe3:

I'm glad I'm not the only one who loves wearing sweatshirts on "summer" vacation. Your trip sounds wonderful!

We're leaning towards the Pacific Northwest. We are from the East Coast so are even thinking of combining it with an Alaskan cruise.

No weather is perfect during the summer, but I'm aiming to be as comfortable as possible.

 

[mom2rtk]

Rocky Mountain National Park! We've been a couple times in early summer and it was touch and go on whether they would have the pass adequately cleared of snow to be open yet.