When to leave for a show at the Gorge.

Show night at the Gorge Amphitheatre, George, Washington. Not sure which time on the ticket matters? The concert night plan covers doors, opener and headliner at any venue; this page is about this one.

Every row is editable. Tap the showtime or any duration and the plan recomputes backward. The first travel row is your leave-by time.

Travel time to the Gorge

The two-and-a-half-hour drive is a typical run from Seattle without show traffic (the optimistic number). In the app, set the Gorge as the destination and Apple Maps fills in the time from where you’re leaving.

Then add for show night: every car aiming at the same entrance (real drive to the Gorge). Change the row and every step before it moves.

What the time on the ticket means

The time on the ticket is when the first act is due on, and at most shows here the doors opened ninety minutes earlier. With a general-admission ticket that gap is not spare: the spot on the lawn you get is decided by where you are in the line when the doors open, and everyone with the same idea is on the same walk in. So the plan puts you in that line before doors, and the stretch from doors to showtime is a row of its own.

With a reserved seat the deadline really is the show. Aim to be in your seat ten minutes before the first act, and budget the walk to your row: it is the part people misjudge, not the drive.

Here is the evening drawn to scale. A maps app can number the drive. The rest is the walk in from the lot, the bag check, and the walk to your row.

Getting to the Gorge

From Seattle it is about 150 miles east on I-90, across the Columbia at Vantage, then Silica Road. WSDOT's Vantage Bridge work has been adding hours to that on show days and does not always show on a maps app until you are in it; the venue sends traffic texts if you sign up. There is no bus or train, and a rideshare is not a real option this far out. From the campground it is a walk of about twenty-five minutes or the campground shuttle, which the venue posts details of closer to each show.

The gate, the bag, and the stairs

Gates usually open ninety minutes before the show. Screening is metal detectors, maybe a pat-down, and a bag check: only a small clutch or fanny pack up to 6 by 9 inches, or a clear bag up to 12 by 12 by 6. Hydration packs are allowed empty with two pockets at most. Food goes in one clear gallon bag per person; water is a sealed bottle up to a gallon or an empty one to fill inside. Blankets up to 50 by 60, carried outside the bag. No lawn chairs of your own, ever: rent one from the venue or sit on the blanket. Then the hill: the venue is a bowl cut into the canyon rim, the paths down to the lower sections are steep, and the walk back up at the end is the one people remember.

Doors, lots and bag rules change; the official site is the live source.

Common questions

How early should I get to the Gorge?

For a general-admission ticket, be in the line before doors, which are ninety minutes before showtime at most shows here; the plan above puts you there fifteen minutes early. For a reserved seat, aim to be at the gate thirty-five minutes before the show. Either way the walk in from the lot is the part to budget for, and it depends on which lot you got.

What time should I leave for a 7:00 PM show at the Gorge?

About 1:25 PM from Seattle for a general-admission ticket with a two-and-a-half-hour drive and a spot in the general lot. Later for a reserved seat, earlier for the campground. Every row above is editable; the first travel row is your leave-by time.

What time do the lots open at the Gorge?

Two hours before doors. General parking is included and the lots open two hours before the gates; Reserved, Star and Star Plus parking are sold as the shorter walk and the faster exit. The queue in on Silica Road is the real wait, and the venue says to allow two to four hours on a big night. The Gorge’s own FAQ has the day's times.

How long is the walk from the parking lot at the Gorge?

About twenty minutes from general parking and ten from the reserved and Star lots, on paths that drop toward the canyon rim. From the campground it is roughly twenty-five minutes on foot, or the campground shuttle. The plan's default for the campground is 25 minutes, and it is editable.

Can I take a bus or train to the Gorge?

No. The Gorge is 150 miles from Seattle with no bus or train service and no rideshare to speak of. Driving and camping are the two ways in; the campground opens the day before the show, usually at noon, and has shuttles to the gate.

What bag can I bring into the Gorge?

A small clutch, wristlet or fanny pack up to 6 by 9 inches, or a clear bag up to 12 by 12 by 6. Food in one clear gallon bag per person, water sealed up to a gallon or in an empty reusable bottle, blankets up to 50 by 60 carried outside the bag. No glass, cans, coolers or personal lawn chairs.

Going to a game instead? The stadium pages. Flying in? The airport pages.

Build it once, then use it every show

Ready Time keeps the plan and subtracts again when the show time changes. Put in the next ticket and the same steps land on new times, with an alert on each one.