ckwald

Taking everyone's comments to my first post into consideration, we've revised our itinerary and would really appreciate your critical comments. To avoid changing hotels nightly it now seems that we are spending an awful lot of time in Portland, using it as a base, and I am wondering if we didn't compensate too far in the other direction:

Day 1: Philadelphia to Portland.

Days 2&3: Tour Portland.

Day 4: From Portland, Rt. 26 east to Rt. 35 north and drive around Mt. Hood, then continue on Rt. 35 north to the Columbia River at Hood River on Rt. 84/30 and visit the Hood River Dam; then take Rt.84/30 west along the Columbia River to Cascade Locks and Bonneville Dam, returning to Portland, staying over in Portland.

Day 5: From Portland, take Rt. 30 west along the Columbia River to Astoria, visit Astoria and then take Rt. 101 south along the Pacific coast to Cannon Beach and stay over in Cannon Beach.

Day 6: Hang out in and around Cannon Beach ( south on Rt. 101 to Tillamook) and stay over a second night in Cannon Beach.

Day 7: Leave Cannon Beach and head south on Rt. 101 to Newport, stay over in Newport.

Day 8: Tour Newport and coastal area along Rt. 101 down to Yachats and return to Newport, stay over second night in Newport.

Day 9: Leave Newport go south on Rt. 101 to Florence, Dunes National Park and Reedsport and return to Florence, stay over in Florence.

Day 10: Leave Florence go west on Rt. 126 to Eugene [61 miles], tour Eugene and surrounding area and stay over in Eugene.

Day 11: Leave Eugene take Rt. 5 north to Salem, tour Salem and continue on to Portland and stay over in Portland.

Day 12: Leave Portland and tour the Willamette Valley in and around Newburg south on Rt. 5 into Rt. 18 and return to Portland.

Day 13: Fly back to Philadelphia.

spirobulldog

Are you not including Crater Lake or have you already been there?

sunbum1944

I live in Eugene so let me know if I can help in any way. There is a great winery outside of Eugene- King Estate.
Even if you dont like wine - there is a great restaurant with out door dining and beautiful views- its a very special spot!!

Andrew

I see you are staying two nights in both Cannon Beach and two in Newport then one in Florence. I think you are going to find it tedious to drive say to Tillamook and then backtrack. It's really not even that far from Cannon Beach to Newport, for example - just over a two hour drive. I'd probably do whatever you want to see off 101 as you drive through it. Have you considered maybe knocking off one of those days and going further south, say to Bandon? On the way down you could detour to Charleston near Coos Bay and see the gorgeous scenery out that way, which you'll miss on this itinerary.

I'd propose:

1 night Cannon Beach
2 nights Newport
1 night Florence
1 night Bandon

I know that means you can't dwell in Cannon Beach for two nights - but you wouldn't need to feel rushed, really, with the relatively short drive between cities. Cannon Beach is a small town but very quaint and the beach is amazing - you could do your two nights there instead of Newport, except that there isn't a ton to do in the immediate area (Ecola State Park is there though).


Also, if you are going to tour the Willamette Valley anyway, instead of going from Eugene back to Portland I'd probably go from Eugene up (more scenic) 99W to McMinnville - maybe stay at the McMenamins Hotel Oregon there? Then tour the Willamette Valley wineries the next day.

happytrailstoyou

For the Columbia River Gorge, I suggest you take I-84 to Corbett to access the Historic Columbia River Highway and drive that road as far as Moltnomath Falls. Return to I-84 and drive as far as Hood River.

From Hood River I drive to Timberline Lodge on Scenic 35 for lunch.

Spend the night in Hood River (a delightful town) and have dinner at Celio.

In the morning, take the bridge from Hood River to the Washington side and return to Portland via WA-14 (the views of the river and Mt. Hood are spectacular on a clear day).

For the Oregon Coast, be warned that there are few (if any) good views of the river when driving Route 30. Therefore, take Route 26 to Cannon Beach.

The drive from Hood River to Cannon Beach on WA 14 and OR 26 is about 160 miles and it takes about 3 ½ hours.

HTTY

Fodorite018

Are you still coming in mid to late September? If so, many places will still have the 2 night minimum in Cannon Beach so your plans for that town are good, IMO.

Is there something specific you want to see in Salem? I ask because there isn't much there for visitors. If you don't have your heart set on something there, I would spend that time elsewhere.

Andrew

I find it difficult to believe that in today's economy that any hotel this year in Cannon Beach will still insist on a two night minimum stay...

Fodorite018

Andrew--I agree, but I haven't called hotels there to see for myself. I was surprised that a house we often get at Sunriver used to just have a 2 night minimum and now they want 4 nights. Nevermind the house is totally open for all of August, but Sunriver won't budge. So who knows what the places in Cannon Beach are doing different, if anything.

ckwald

Thanks so much, you guys. We need a couple of days to absorb this and then I am sure we will have more questions. We really appreciate all this help . . .

NWWanderer

Have you said previously in another thread why Eugene and Salem rather than, say, Ashland, Crater Lake, Bend or going further down the coast?

I don't think you really need the nights in either Florence or Eugene, and my personal preference would be to stay the 2 nights in Yachats at the Overleaf Lodge rather than in Newport. You can easily get down to Florence to see the dunes from there.

You could drive straight from the central coast to the wine country.

But if there are particular reasons for Eugene/Salem then my response might be different.

ckwald

To answer a few questions:

Happytrails: We're going to adopt your suggestions completely. They're great! Tx

spirobulldog: Given our travels elsewhere and the landscapes we've seen, we're going to pass on Crater Lake.

NWWanderer: Salem/Eugene was just our attempt to get back to Portland to fly home, but we're not committed to it at all. What would you recommend as a substitute, given that we will not be doing Crater Lake, Bend, etc., and wine country's got my husband uninterested?

I'm sold on 2 nights in Yachats at the Overleaf Lodge rather than Newport-- tx!

Time is not really a factor here, nor efficiency-- we're retired and are not in any great rush. So the next question is, where to go from here? More coast or inland. If inland, where? We're thinking 2 leisurely weeks.

happytrailstoyou

Thanks ckwald. In Hood River we stay at the Best Western, which is the only hotel directly on the river. Ask for a room with a balcony facing the river--its worth the extra cost. On our last few visits, the room rate included breakfast (limited but good selection) served in the dining room with sweeping river views.

HTTY