Totem Trail Motel Review: Rockport, Washington

We stayed at the Totem Trail motel for one night during our North Cascades National Park portion of our Pacific Northwest road trip.

This area of Washington State is remote and has very limited lodging, despite being right near the North Cascades National Park. I found this so hard to believe when I was doing my road trip research – this national park isn’t that far from Seattle – why is there no lodging?

Truth be told, despite its proximity to Seattle, North Cascades National Park just doesn’t get a lot of visitors. The area is remote and the park itself gets a ton of snow – much of the snowpack lasts into July – and most of the park is wilderness.

So in other words, you can’t come to this area of the country and expect 3-star accommodations – or even 2, for that matter. It just doesn’t exist. Most people who come to North Cascades camp, but if you want a roof over your head, the Totem Trail Motel is a great option.

You won’t find any major chain out in these parts. Not even my go-to National Park lodging mainstay, Best Western. I can always count on Best Western to have lodging in these off-the-beaten path towns I tend to stay in, but not here.

Details

Location: 57627 State Route 20, Rockport, WA 98283-9752

Price: We paid about $65 for one night.

Amenities: Not much. No wifi, no air conditioning (didn’t need it though), no hair dryer. There is a basketball court and a gazebo and picnic area on the premises but we did not use either one. Again, this is a very simple motel. You get a roof over your head in a remote area of Washington.

Rooms:

Your experience will vary a little, as each room is different. There are only 8 rooms in this motel. We had a two twin bed unit.

The Totem Trail Motel in Rockport, Washington is an older motor-court style property – if you’re driving by, you might stick your nose up at it and think…”sketchy!” (Chances are, you’d probably say that about every motel in this area). If this motel was located in Seattle, this would be one of those places you’d raise an eyebrow and wonder if they rented rooms by the hour.

Rest assured, the Totem Trail motel doesn’t attract that clientele. This motel is absolutely safe – and almost kind of cozy – the other guests here are almost all hikers exploring North Cascades. This is a place to rest your head after hitting the trails, not a drug den.

Yes, it’s old. It has old rooms with outdated decor, looking straight out of the early ’80s. There’s a musty smell to the rooms and there aren’t any real amenities. You won’t have internet (I have Verizon couldn’t get a phone or data signal). They supposedly have wifi, and it works by the basketball court (which looked abandoned) but we didn’t bother.

The bathroom is tiny – the shower is extremely small and I say that as a small 5’3″ woman. I feel for anyone taller! No hairdryer here, but I always bring my own.

But it was clean and comfortable enough and worked well for one night. If I found myself in the area, I’d probably stay here again.

Totem Trail Motel – Pros and Cons

Pros:
It’s cheap – looks sketchy but it isn’t.
Good location for North Cascades if you don’t want to camp
Nearby Marblemount has some restaurants

Cons:
Tiny shower
It’s an old property

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