touschez

I've been reading lots of posts on here to help me plan my trip but am at a loss as to how much time to allow. We will arrive in Portland and drive to Cannon Beach, arriving about 4pm, to stay two nights if necessary, to see Ecola State Park and enjoy the view and town.
Next day drive down to Yachats, seeing all the view points.
Next day drive down to possibly Crescent City.
Drive to Grants Pass on 199 seeing Stout Grove, Boy Scout trail and arriving at Grants Pass by early afternoon.

Does this sound reasonable? Are two nights necessary at Cannon Beach?

Thanks so much for your help!

Fodorite018

So are you arriving in Portland at 4 or planning to arrive in CB at 4? I ask because if you arrive in Portland at 4, if it is a weekday, you will hit rush hour traffic. The good thing is you will be going opposite, but you will still be in it.

Anyway, it is only 90 minutes from downtown Portland over to CB. Nothing real scenic along the way to stop at, so I would just head straight over there. If you are staying over a weekend night, or in high season, you will find that almost all hotels in CB require a 2-3 night minimum stay. We get around that by calling last minute and finding rooms in between other peoples reservations, but for a trip I would not chance it. Plus, 2 nights really is the minimum IMO. Ecola State Park is a great place to spend time, and of course Haystack Rock.

From there to Yachats is about 3 hours drive time, without stops. Thats the hard part though since there are so many great places to stop along the way Tillamook is one that some people like, but unless you have lots of extra time I would pass on it. You can buy the cheese and ice cream everywhere here. The Three Capes scenic drive is nice. Cape Meares and the Octopus Tree are pretty cool, IMO. Cape Kiwanda is a nice stop, and we like to hike up to the top of the dunes there. Depoe Bay is fun for a few minutes to check it out. Newport has a lot of great things such as the two lighthouses, marine science center, aquarium, Nye Beach, the old waterfront. Then just south of town South Beach State Park, Seal Rock, Cape Perpetua etc. Of course you can see a lot of this while based in Yachts, so you don't have to do it all on the drive down, but at least this gives you an idea of how many places there are to stop and see.

Bobmrg

You don't sy when the trip will take place, and that makes a difference. The "two nights" at Cannon Beach are dictated by the hotel/motel operators, so you do not get to decide if two nights is necessary. Go to Manzanita instead.

CB to Yachats is 132 miles on a two-lane road, speed limit 50; Yachats to Crescent City is 206 miles, same road, CC to GP is 82 winding miles through the Coast Range.

Only you know your driving style.

Gardyloo

I confess I'm not a big fan of Cannon Beach - a little too twee for me, although Ecola State Park is lovely.

When is your trip? It's true that many places have a two-night minimum, but this is not the case in other towns. Frankly, if it was me I'd spend the first night in Ilwaco WA or Astoria OR, having stopped at Cape Disappointment on the way from Portland. Cape Disappointment is very impressive, and driving there on the north shore of the Columbia, while taking longer than the straight shot out to the coast from Portland, takes you past some very scenic and historic towns. At Cape Disappointment there's a terrific Lewis and Clark interpretive center, a couple of lighthouses, and our version of Waikiki Beach - http://www.outdoorproject.com/sites/...?itok=eGA24-Ej

If you spent one night in the Ilwaco/Astoria area, you could stop at Cannon Beach and Ecola SP en route to Yachats without missing too much. Frankly if I had an extra day on the coast I'd use it farther south, around Bandon. The stretch of US 101 from Port Orford to the California line is IMO the most scenic part of the whole coast.

I think your timing for the rest of the trip is fine.

touschez

Thanks so much for all your very quick replies!

We will arrive Sunday, June 19, (Father's Day), and will arrive at CB around 4. I just booked Stephanie Inn, there was no minimum stay for those nights, but I'm thinking 2 for now. Tho VERY pricey!

We have been on the coast twice before, but not recently, so will probably skip Tillamook cheese this time. And we did the Columbia River area near Portland about 7-8 years ago, with our friends from Roseburg and stayed in Manzanita with them then. Did I mention we LOVE Oregon!

You have reinforced from what I've read, that CB to Yachats, and Prt Orford south are most scenic. I'm a photographer, so will be looking at best scenery options, not sunning on the beach. ��

I'd like to see the arches in southern Oregon, need to find out where they are exactly and any other very scenic coves or viewpoints. The rocks look very dramatic and will make gorgeous photos.

Any tips for places to stay in Crescent City or even Brookings?

thanks again!! this makes me feel so much better having your advice.

Fodorite018

Arriving on a Sunday, you should have a very easy drive over to CB. Most people will be westbound heading home from the weekend. I have not stayed at the Stephanie, but hear wonderful things about it. Our fav spot is one of their sister properties, the Surfsand I haven't spent time on our southern area of the coast in a while, so can't help with that. Have a great trip, it sounds like it will be!

tomfuller

If you don't find what you like in Yachats (pronounced ya HOTS), you should go farther to Florence or Reedsport.
The Oregon Dunes are good for a few photos.
About 5 miles east of Reedsport on Rt. 38 stop at the Dean's Creek Elk viewing area. You might get lucky with a telephoto lens there. I've seen as many as 40 elk there.
The only arch I know of on the Oregon coast is not far south of Cannon Beach. Parking can be a bit tricky but I managed to park just north of the tunnel and get legally to the beach and go south from there. You can walk through the arch only at low tide. I managed to find the geocache south of the arch and get back before the tide came back in.
The tunnel south of Cannon Beach goes under Arch Cape.

touschez

Thanks mms. I'm wondering now if we should just push on after one night in CB. It's sounding very touristy the more I research. I'm not a shopper, we really want to see the beautiful scenery.

could we base there and drive around the three capes, Ecola? Is that enough to fill a day? or do that in the AM and drive on down to yachats?

Is one day enough to see from Yachts (giving up on spell check!) down to Crescent City. It looks like that maybe too much for one day now...... EEEEEK so hard to figure this out!

tomfuller

Press on to Florence from Yachats (think yak hats).
Take the detour over to see the elk east of Reedsport.
Stop for the night in Bandon. If you are a golfer you will want to see Bandon Dunes.
If you are taking US 199 over to Grants Pass from Crescent City, see the Jedidiah Smith grove in Redwood NP.
Back in Oregon you might want to detour over to see the Oregon Caves NM.

Fodorite018

touschez--The downtown core of CB gets touristy, but the natural beauty is amazing and so I would opt for 2 night there. Yes you can base there for Ecola State Park and the Three Capes loop. But the Three Capes would make sense to do on your way down, so it just depends on what you feel like doing. If this were my trip, since you are arriving in the late afternoon, I would want the entire next day to explore. Otherwise, if you only stay one night, realistically you would not leave CB until late the next afternoon, and you might feel rushed to get to Yachats and so might skip some really great places.

sunbum1944

You might check the Requa Inn a little south of Crescent City- a historic inn - has a very nice restaurant.

If you continue past the inn, there is a very scenic lookout at the top of the hill with views of the Klamath River as it meets the ocean. Whales frequently are spotted feeding there. There is a trail that takes you down closer to the water and another that goes along the coastline for miles.
One of my favorite stops

Dukey1

Frankly, the one thing that certainly wasn't "twee" when we were in Cannon Beach in August was the traffic and the parking issues. Nothing pretty or quaint about those IMO.

As to the Stephanie, believe me, if you are going for Haystack Rock you picked a place that seems more or less right in front of the thing (we were at the nearby SurfSand). You can easily walk out to near the edge of it when the tide is out (forget about walking ON the base; there are warning signs everywhere) but the thing really is iconic. And lots of folks bring their little doggies, too.

Prepare yourself for that actual "twee-ness" in terms of a billion art galleries, places to eat, have coffee, have coffee, have coffee, and the usual "beachy" stuff BUT it is not really like some of the quite as tacky "beachy" stuff found on the Atlantic.

We were able to spend time walking around on some of the nearby residential streets and some of the homes are really quite interesting. I suspect you'll enjoy it as much as we did.

touschez

Thanks! we're set for two nights at Stephanie Inn, and will see as much as we can before heading south. Resigning myself to the fact that I won't be able to see and do everything. sigh.

Had to google 'twee'.... it must be a west coast term? lol I love quaint, but the crowds and traffic not so much! but maybe mid june won't be too terrible....

Still debating where to land the next night. I'm booking Overleaf in Yachats to be sure to have a place.

sunburn1944, how far a drive is it to Requa inn from CC?

Any suggestions for tidal pools... would love to see the starfish....are they everywhere or just certain places? are low tides available online?

Thanks!!

tomfuller

Here are the tides for the Cannon Beach area for 2016.
http://www.cannon-beach.net/cbtides2016.html
On my walk down to the arch at Arch Cape I saw starfish and some colorful anemones.
I've seen Haystack Rock several times. On my last trip to CB, I went to the east side of town and parked at the Presbyterian church and went to find a geocache. On the walk in, on a muddy trail, I saw some elk tracks.
If you decide to visit Seaside, walk on the "Prom".
Just off the Prom south of downtown, there is a replica on the spot where members of the Corps of Discovery boiled seawater to make the salt to preserve the meat for their long trip back to St. Louis.

Gardyloo

Twee is actually a British term. In olden days we might have said "precious" with the same meaning.

The Overleaf is fine, the neighboring (sister property) Fireside is a little cheaper. Evidently their liberal pet policy rankles some reviewers but might not be an issue for you.

There's been a catastrophic die-off of many starfish up and down the west coast so they might not be as plentiful as in the past. http://www.opb.org/news/article/scie...t-coast-starf/

sunbum1944

I think the Inn is about 20 miles from CC.

http://www.requainn.com