Possibly planning a quick (ie: 4-5 day) excursion out to the Oregon coast, and would like some advice from anyone who either lives or has spent time out that way.
Some of the things I’d like to see include:
Haystack Rock near Pacific City
Tillamook CCheese factory
Crater Lake (further south)
Redwood nat. Forrest (again further south)
Obviously, there will be some driving involved, but wondering if it would be wise to fly into say Eugene, or someplace similar, and head off from there. Is this too ambitious (too spread out and too much to do in such a short time) for a several day trip?
Any help appreciated. It’s been years since I was out this way, and I’d like to form up some plans sooner than later if I can.
That is an awful lot to pack into 4 or 5 days. Oregon is bigger than it looks on a map.
Eugene to Crater Lake is about 140 miles, so it’ll take over 2 hours to drive there, plus the time you’ll want to spend there, so that’s one day at least, depending on if you drive back the same day or spend the night around the mountain. And of course that’s not near the ocean.
Eugene to Florence on the coast is 61 miles over a mostly 2 lane road over the Coast Range, so that’s probably an hour and a half drive. Highway 101 along the coast is pretty but you won’t be driving fast, slowing down for every town it goes through, plus you’ll be stopping to look at the view every few miles.
I would concentrate on just one section of the coast. In the northern half you could go to Tillamook and see the cheese factory and the state park just north of there, then Seaside which has a nice boardwalk and the salt cairn where Lewis and Clark made salt for the return trip (I don’t think that’s in the exact spot where they did it but it’s kind of neat to see), and Astoria with their museum and Fort Clatsop where LC spent the winter. In which case you’d be better off to fly into Portland and start from there. )I live up in Washington state in Spokane, and this is the part of the Oregon coast I’m most familiar with.)
If you do the middle section then Florence is neat, with the sand dunes just south of there, or north from Florence there’s Depot Bay which is a cute little town, and all kinds of beaches and state parks. Sea Lion Caves is fun to go to. This would be more accessible from Eugene.
I haven’t been to the southern part of the Oregon coast much, but the redwoods are nice, more in California I think than Oregon, though.
Whatever part of the coast you go to, bring a heavy jacket or sweatshirt, even if it’s 100 in your home town when you leave! It’s almost always chilly in the mornings and evenings!
Another option (and preferable in my mind), if flying into Portland, is seeing the Columbia River Gorge, visiting Mt. St. Helens instead of Crater Lake, visiting Canon Beach and Pacific City (one of my favorites)–plus Tillimook is close enough, and add to that meeting some Portland pipers or taking in some great Celtic concerts (and visiting all the micro breweries ). If you do Portland, I’ll send you more specific tips.
Save the Redwood Forest for a visit to the N. California coast, like Mendocino where lots of Irish musicians hang out.
I drove up the coast from the redwoods to Portland in one day. It was a bit quick, but we had time to stop at a few of the famous rocks, eat lunch at a great little resturant right on the water, and just enjoy ourselves after seeing the redwoods in the morning. If you are mainly interested in sightseeing, 4-5 days should be plenty of time. And Oregon is absolutely beautiful. One of my favorite places on earth.
Yeah, much as I’d love to spend days on end at each destination, I think stopping by for a few hours here and there with a bit of driving inbetween doesn’t sound so bad. Many of these places my parents and I vacationed at when I was young. Just nostalgic I guess. I’m sure I’ll have more questions as the date approaches. Thanks all so far!
I used to live in Corvallis, Oregon, about an hour in from the coast and an hour north of Eugene. Nice little town, but no employment there for me
Newport on the coast was quite nice, they’ve got a great aquarium there and a nice little seaside townfront with resident sea lions.
Crater Lake is often inaccessible due to snow except for certain parts of the year, and I believe it’s quite a long drive to get there. I never made it.
You might think of checking out Mt St Helens, it’s slightly into Washington but we did a day trip once, I believe.
I don’t remember there being much of interest in Eugene. Ditto Salem, the capitol. That sessionsnw.com site might have info on sessions; I think one started up in Eugene after I left.
-Driving the coast is beautiful but slow, and there’s the Winnebago factor in summer. I love going down the coast, but its faster to
approach the latitude of your destination by going south on I-5 and picking a lateral connection to the coast like the road from Drain to Winchester Bay. Its not hard to burn off most of a week driving the coast North-South.
-Oregon drivers like to go fast, so let them by when they heave into view suddenly in your rear-view. Don’t try to compete-just make way. Every Oregon driver is required to read “Sometimes A Great Notion” and take the Stamper family motto to heart: “Never give a inch!”
-I second Lorenzo’s advice as there’s lots of amazing stuff in the gorge area and further east if you have time. (Blue Mountains, Eagle Cap Wilderness, Wallowa Range, Hell’s Canyon, scads of places to have most of a county to yourself if you time it right) Horsethief Heaven on the Washington side of the river is neat due to tortured rock formations.
You guys are describing the vacation we took last year! I loved Oregon. We flew in to Portland and stayed there for a week (while my husband attended a conference), made a quick trip to the Columbia River Gorge, then down to Eugene for a couple of days, over to Florence and up the coast for a few days, staying in Newport and Seaside.
I would definitely visit the Tillamook Cheese Factory; it was one of our favorite parts of the trip! But then we really like cheese. The Eugene area was nice; we drove around and saw the covered bridges in the area and went to a rose garden, but there really wasn’t much else to do. We took our time driving up the coast, stopping to take pictures at all the little pull-off spots. The Sea Lion Caves were cool. We found Newport a little dreary, but it could have been the cloudy weather. We loved Seaside. The Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria is really neat, I really liked it even though history and museums aren’t really my thing.
If we had it to do over, I would spend one less day on the coast and one more day exploring the Gorge, maybe doing a little hiking to see some more of the waterfalls.
Our travel plans won’t be taking us anywhere near Portland or the gorge I’m afraid. If we make it as far north as Haystack Rock, Pacific City, and Tillamook I’d be supprised. I think our plans will focus more on the southern end of the state and the coast. It’s sounding more and more liek the Redwoods will be our first stop, and then from there we’re still working on.
Crater Lake would make a logical next step as it’s in that general area, and having been there before, I loved the scenery.
Thanks again for all the advice so far!
P.S. Much as I’m sure I’d love to, there won’t be any music side trips on this vacation. Just herself and me. Time together, away from work, phones, and the daily grind so won’t be looking for any sessions.
OK, so it’s looking like now we’re going to be flying into Portland after all, but from there heading down straight to Eugene, and then on further south to Bandon and Port Orford. There’s a great little ‘retreat’ type place we decided to try for one night: http://www.wildspring.com/ And from there, we’re pretty much just gonna wing it. My desire is just to get away from so much of the touristy tripe one finds so often, and spend some time relaxing together on the beach etc. Sounds like we should have little difficulty doing so here. Bandon itself seems to be more of the old people tourist town with three golf courses as their big draw, or the 20 something macho crowd with the sand dunes and the four wheelers. Blah.
So we’ll see what else the coast offers in the area.
(I decided I might just take the pipes and a whistle or two along as well…just for a tune or two by ourselves. )
If you’re going to see the Redwoods, you’d do better to go down to California. They’re starting to thin out considerably by the time you cross the Oregon border. The best place is the old “Avenue of the Giants” highway…now a scenic bypass off 101 south of Crescent City. If you’re going to be in Southern Oregon, it’s not too bad of a trip to drive down there, and that’s where you’re likely to get their fullest impact.
We spend a lot of time in the Lincoln City, Oregon, area, as that’s where my in-laws live. I can second recommendations for Tillamook and the aquarium in Newport (really nicely done!). There are zillions of haystack rocks along the Oregon coast, inclucing a very nice one between Lincoln City and Tillamook.
I was told unconditionally that we will most certainly NOT be going anywhere near Tillamook , but instead will be spending most of our time around Port Orford. What that means for a Redwoods trip is uncertain at this point. I suppose it’s possible, but it’s looking less likely now as well.
We may end up spending time looking at the lighthouses etc. and hitting some of the small towns and shops in that immediate area more than anything. Again though, I know my goal in the area will be to avoid as much of the tourist trap schlop as I can.
). If you do Portland, I’ll send you more specific tips.
, but instead will be spending most of our time around Port Orford. What that means for a Redwoods trip is uncertain at this point. I suppose it’s possible, but it’s looking less likely now as well.