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I revised my itinerary, now it looks something like this:
- drive directly from PDX to Cannon Beach via Astoria (it's an early flight), and stay the night at Cannon Beach
- drive down to Newport, stopping by all the scenic areas along the way, and stay the night at Newport
- drive down to Florence and stay there (?)
- drive to one of the Portland suburbs since it's cheaper and safer (by how much?), and stay there for 4 nights
- use 1 full day each to visit the city of Portland, the Columbia Gorge, and Mt. Hood respectively
- on the last day maybe have one final lunch in Portland before the late flight
Thoughts? More reasonable? We decided to cut out Santiam Pass/Bend/Crater Lake entirely due to weather and drivability concerns. For the coast is it worthwhile to stay in 3 different places?
What is your goal? Do you just want to hit visitor viewpoints, eat great food and move on? I think the group can help you better if they understand what you want to do. Some people love driving and that is the vacation in and of itself. Some people want to stop and hike. Some people want to walk the coast and get to cool coves and such. What do you like to do on vacation?
Also if your goal is to do day trips to the Gorge and Hood, don't stay in Beaverton. Stay in Sandy.
What is your goal? Do you just want to hit visitor viewpoints, eat great food and move on? I think the group can help you better if they understand what you want to do. Some people love driving and that is the vacation in and of itself. Some people want to stop and hike. Some people want to walk the coast and get to cool coves and such. What do you like to do on vacation?
Also if your goal is to do day trips to the Gorge and Hood, don't stay in Beaverton. Stay in Sandy.
Our goal is to take in Oregon's beautiful PNW natural scenery, along with Portland's foodie scene. We don't want to spend most of our time in the car, but we're not planning to really rough it either.
I read one travel blog post from about a year ago (May 2022) that talked about how much of the city of Portland was still boarded up from political rioting around 2020. Could anyone in the area fill me in on this?
Hillsborough, Beaverton and Tigard are west-side suburbs to Portland. When you want to drive to Mt Hood and the Gorge you'll have to drive the worst of Portland traffic to get there and back. You'll want to start really early and come back really late, but still it will be a lot of traffic. Maybe consider Oregon City or Clackamas as your base to get into town and out to the coast or into the mountains. I-205 can certainly have bad traffic, but I don't think it's as bad as I-5 and I-405. Most of what you want to see is on the east side of Portland and the Willamette River, so stay on that side. I think it's an easier drive to the coast from the airport via I-205, to I-5, then Hwy 217 to Beaverton. There you pick up Hwy 26 that takes you to Hwy 101 very near Cannon Beach.
Then I'd take the 101 down through all the towns to Yachats. Lots of cool beaches and viewpoints along the way. Eat at Luna's in Yachats, then backtrack 10 miles to Waldport and take Hwy 34 along the Alsea River to Corvallis, OR. After you get to Lebanon OR you pick up Hwy 20 through the Cascades to Bend. In Bend you could do a half or whole day guided ATV/UTV ride through the backcountry to some interesting sites and locations away from the highways and crowds. Then end the day with a meal and beer at Deschutes Public House or tour the brewery for a tasting.
I typed all this and thought maybe it would be best to do this all in reverse.
Then explore, hike and drive two hours to Bend. Do what you want there as I stated above or something completely different. From Bend do your day trip to Crater Lake. Then drive to Yachats or Newport and make your way north to Cannon Beach, or stay in any number of beach towns along the way. The next day drive to Beaverton or some other inner suburb, or maybe even to an airport hotel. Then you can ride/drive into Portland to explore. One of my favorite old restaurants in Portland is Jakes Crawfish House https://www.jakesfamous.com/ . Or, if you are looking for simpler food I've often eaten at Roakes as a kid, and whenever I'm back home https://www.roakespdx.com/home
Anyway, enjoy your trip anyway you go and whatever you do.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Stays... Stay away from Portland (overnights). Stay on the outskirts and miss the traffic and crime. One (long) day can be plenty in Portland if planned correctly. Oregon historical society is a very interesting indoor venue, and currently has a special on Bob Hope / USO. There are concerts and activities in Portland parks every night during August.
Beach, (Manzanita is nice, not so popular as Cannon Beach, but within a quick drive.). Rockaway / Twin Rocks has big long beach. Hug Point is our 'must see' state beach at sunset. The rocks, sky, terrain, tide pools are pretty great at sunset. Lots of wedding pictures there. I recommend driving the coast southbound (safer, not crossing traffic for scenic pull outs)
Gorge... Edgefields, ! (Troutdale) Very Portland eclectic, interesting history, 20 min to about anywhere in Portland, nice venues on site. In fact... Check out other McMenamins for interesting places to overnight or visit.
Plenty of nice stays near Hood River / Stevenson, WA (Skamania Lodge or similar). Timberline Lodge to enjoy a historic national park lodge, or Cooper Spur resort (near Hood River), very quiet and peaceful.
Bend / Sun River, nice if you're staying awhile.
Crater Lake is worth the drive (nice Lodge too!) As is Diamond Lake nearby and a few spots between there and the coast. (Including Eugene (steelhead brewery and custom root beer)). I would fit in Crater Lake, as there are no easy ways to get there from anywhere closer. Drive one way in the evening if you're too busy to drive it during the day.
Set-up the routes as loops so you get the best views for pics (such as coast and gorge during best lighting (and tides). Westbound I-84 during PM is best lighting for pictures looking at WA side (especially if east, by The Dalles or Maryhill)
As mentioned... If we knew your primary objectives, we could better recommend places and things to do.
Remember that if you're headed to Astoria on first day, swing by Castle Rock, WA visitor center for Mt St Helens. (Silver lake, Very near I-5), great info. Then head to ilwaco / Cape Disappointment lighthouse . Just across the river from Astoria. The fish&chips at the boat in the parking lot near Astoria Maritime museum is popular. I prefer Sea Breeze, (halibut and chowder) near Jct of Highway 26 and 101.
Hillsborough, Beaverton and Tigard are west-side suburbs to Portland. When you want to drive to Mt Hood and the Gorge you'll have to drive the worst of Portland traffic to get there and back. You'll want to start really early and come back really late, but still it will be a lot of traffic. Maybe consider Oregon City or Clackamas as your base to get into town and out to the coast or into the mountains. I-205 can certainly have bad traffic, but I don't think it's as bad as I-5 and I-405. Most of what you want to see is on the east side of Portland and the Willamette River, so stay on that side. I think it's an easier drive to the coast from the airport via I-205, to I-5, then Hwy 217 to Beaverton. There you pick up Hwy 26 that takes you to Hwy 101 very near Cannon Beach.
Then I'd take the 101 down through all the towns to Yachats. Lots of cool beaches and viewpoints along the way. Eat at Luna's in Yachats, then backtrack 10 miles to Waldport and take Hwy 34 along the Alsea River to Corvallis, OR. After you get to Lebanon OR you pick up Hwy 20 through the Cascades to Bend. In Bend you could do a half or whole day guided ATV/UTV ride through the backcountry to some interesting sites and locations away from the highways and crowds. Then end the day with a meal and beer at Deschutes Public House or tour the brewery for a tasting.
I typed all this and thought maybe it would be best to do this all in reverse.
Then explore, hike and drive two hours to Bend. Do what you want there as I stated above or something completely different. From Bend do your day trip to Crater Lake. Then drive to Yachats or Newport and make your way north to Cannon Beach, or stay in any number of beach towns along the way. The next day drive to Beaverton or some other inner suburb, or maybe even to an airport hotel. Then you can ride/drive into Portland to explore. One of my favorite old restaurants in Portland is Jakes Crawfish House https://www.jakesfamous.com/ . Or, if you are looking for simpler food I've often eaten at Roakes as a kid, and whenever I'm back home https://www.roakespdx.com/home
Anyway, enjoy your trip anyway you go and whatever you do.
Could we do that all in 1 week (your plan) without feeling rushed? Sounds like a lot.
I don't know if it's all the Asian restaurants or the convenience to MAX or what, but the western suburbs have kind of grown onto me while doing trip planning and research. Correct me if my assessment is mistaken, but I'm getting a similar vibe to that place to Seattle East Bay suburbs like Bellevue or Redmond (while the east side feels more like a more boring American suburb).
Quote:
Originally Posted by Silverfall
If your goal is to do day trips to the Gorge and Hood, don't stay in Beaverton. Stay in Sandy.
I don't know, but I feel like that might be a little too far to make a Portland day trip...? We'll look into Clackamas anyway though if the traffic really is that big of a concern.
Alternatively we could just combine the Columbia Gorge and Mt. Hood as one long day trip so we'll have to sit in Portland traffic 2 less times, which was actually our original plan. If we had 1 more day we'd go all the way to Florence to see Heceta and the Sea Lion caves.
By the way, we've decided to excise Bend from our itinerary completely, since personally I don't really find Smith Rock particularly scenic. Crater Lake is better, but it's a bit far, especially considering we need to travel there all the way from the Portland area. Maybe next time we can do a Crater Lake + Redwoods + Lassen Volcanic trip.
I revised my itinerary, now it looks something like this:
- drive directly from PDX to Cannon Beach via Astoria (it's an early flight), and stay the night at Cannon Beach
- drive down to Newport, stopping by all the scenic areas along the way, and stay the night at Newport
- drive down to Florence and stay there (?)
- drive to one of the Portland suburbs since it's cheaper and safer (by how much?), and stay there for 4 nights
- use 1 full day each to visit the city of Portland, the Columbia Gorge, and Mt. Hood respectively
- on the last day maybe have one final lunch in Portland before the late flight
Thoughts? More reasonable? We decided to cut out Santiam Pass/Bend/Crater Lake entirely due to weather and drivability concerns. For the coast is it worthwhile to stay in 3 different places?
If you are going to go down the coast to Florence you could drive over to Crater Lake. How about this.
Night 1 Portland - Then drive to Cannon Beach with a stop in Astoria
Night 2 Cannon Beach - Then drive to Florence with a stop in Newport
Night 3 Florence - Then drive to Crater Lake
Night 4 Crater Lake - Then drive to Bend
Night 5 Bend - Then drive to Mount Hood
Night 6 Mount Hood - Then Drive to Portland via Hood River and Cascade Locks.
Night 7 Portland
If you wanted to add one more night between Bend and Mount Hood in maybe Redmont, when you leave Bend you could do a loop up to Sisters and Santiam Pass. It would be a long road trip, but you would be able to see pretty much everything you wanted.
Do whatever you are going to do in Portland at the beginning and the end.
If you cut out Bend and Crater Lake on this trip it will allow you to spend more time on MT Hood, the Gorge and especially the coast. Take your time down the coast. Lots to see and do... and relax a bit. A morning coffee on a beachfront deck, or a beer, wine, hotdogs and/or smores by your fire on the beach as the sun goes down is great. Yes, fires are allowed most places on Oregon beaches. It's pretty great. It will be crowded between Seaside and Lincoln City in August. If you want less crowded beaches stay south of Newport in a little beachfront motel or a BnB.
Cannnon Beach and Haystach Rock are great and a good overnight choice. It will be busy with good dining and lodging choices from kitchy to glam. If you want a quieter beach the next night take your time, stop often, and spend your night between Waldport and Yachats. Yachats has the restaurants, a rocky shoreline that the waves hit at high tide, and just to the north is miles of beach all the way to Waldport. Several local hotels and abnb rentals in Yachats and north to Waldport. The next day you can do the Florence area, or just make your way back to Portland depending on how you feel.
Location: Was Midvalley Oregon; Now Eastside Seattle area
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Reputation: 9803
Late Sept or October would be better at full moon or no moon, +- 2 days. Less crowds, less temp swings, less fog at the beach. Not as warm in central oregon. Hotel rates may lower.
Wow! You're trying to fit so much in a week. One thing to keep in mind, recent summers have been affected significantly by wildfires. We're in Eugene and have had weeks where we stay inside with our air clearers running on high. We have family visiting from the East Coast this summer, and we're sweeping them away to the Coast for a significant part of their visit. It's usually not smokey at the Coast. You could spend most of the day at someplace like Hug Point or Oswald West State Park and not see it all. Also, please know that many of our roads around "tourist" areas are one lane with occasional passing zones, so getting places during the high season can take longer. Also, as soon as your itinerary is set, reserve your lodgings. Places do fill up. At the Coast, parking is limited at the pull-offs, so when you can go early in the morning or later in the evening to popular spots like Hug Point. Also, check the tides when you're there. If you have a negative low tide, the tidepools can be spectacular.
Do you like to hike? Last year, we went to the Gorge for a little break and built our itinerary around a couple of hikes and fruit-loop visits. If I was only visiting briefly, I might split most of my time between the Gorge and the Coast. Crater Lake is beautiful, but it's a heck of a drive for an overlook/gift shop visit. It's super crowded (bumper-to-bumper traffic) most of the time. We've done Crater Lake but combined it with an Ashland trip. Also, if you want to make the waterfall loop in the Gorge, you need to get a pass to go on the scenic road. I advise you to go early. Once you're in, you can stay as long as you want, but traffic picks up around mid-morning and builds from there.
In Portland, the Japanese Garden is a gem. Oh, and all the warnings about Portland traffic are spot on. It can be horrendous, and I used to drive 495 traffic in DC all the time. I will say that sometimes you can use the avoid highways on google maps and take a less frantic, more scenic drive in Portland. That only works if you're not crossing the river.
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