Lauraestefa

Dear trip advisors

We are a family of five driving from Portland to San Diego (14th to 25th September). We have never been in Oregon before or driven thrugh California (just stayed in San Francisco). We are used to driving long distances but don't want to spend the whole time behind the wheel.

We are not sure about doing Oregon coast or Oregon interior.

These are the stops we are thinking (based on information in forums)
Plan 1
14 th: Columbia river gorge (some wine in a winery, some hike? please recommend) then sleeping in Bend
15 th: Crater lake in the morning, then sleeping in Medford? Crescent city (sounds the best option)? Redding? Eureka?
16th: coast drive to the Redwood national park, sleep there?? suggestions?
17th: drive to sacramento sleep there (Must sees o the way?)
18th to 21th : San Francisco
22th Carmel drive BIG SUR
23h to 25th: Los angeles

Plan 2:

14 th: Columbia river gorge (some wine in a winery, some hike? please recommend) then sleeping in Bend
15 th: Crater lake in the morning, then sleeping in Weed? Reading (sounds the best option)?
16 18th: Yosemite park is two days enough? My husband is particularly interested. I am afraid is a too short stay.
18th to 21th : San Francisco
22 Carmel
23h to 25th: Los angeles

Basically... Oregon coast or interior? and then... Redwoods or Yosemite????? Please note we don't have much time in each place.

I am afraid Big sur is closed due to landslide. Would you please tell me if you think it will be opened by September?

Looking forward to your wise suggestions,
Laura

janisj

Just a quick comment right now:

You mention San Diego but the potential plans only go as far as LA - so please clarify.

In any case >>We are used to driving long distances but don't want to spend the whole time behind the wheel.<< You WILL be spending a LOT of time behind the wheel. Assuming you are arriving on the 14th and depart on the 25th - you really only have 10 full days to try to squeeze in Portland, Crater Lake, the Redwoods or Yosemite, the coast, and LA and or SD.

nanabee

It doesn't seem that you will have time to visit San Diego. I would also skip LA and limit this trip to Portland - San Francisco/Carmel.

Gardyloo

Looks like your first post on Fodor's. Welcome!

Family of five? What ages, and can we assume some are kids?

Honestly, I don't much like either plan. Your "wish list" is like many; it tries to combine inland destinations with coastal ones, but with the time you have available you'll be spending long hours zigzagging through mountain ranges.

My recommendation would be to drop Crater Lake altogether, and reallocate those hours elsewhere. I'd also drop Yosemite as an option; one of the big draws of the national park are the waterfalls, but in late September the flows of water in the falls will be trickles or nonexistent. It can also be very hot (still) in the Sacramento Valley and Sierra foothills at that time, as in fire hazard. By comparison, the coast will offer better weather and touring conditions.

Assuming there are kids, I'd spend an extra day in the Columbia Gorge and Mt. Hood area, then head south out to the coast and follow US 101 all the way to the Golden Gate.

This is the map I'd suggest - https://goo.gl/maps/AuPRFFJZcRq . Visit the Columbia Gorge, drive through the Hood River Valley (harvest time in the orchards and vineyards) to Mount Hood, then out to the central Oregon coast and south from there. Note Redwood National Park is linear and interspersed with numerous redwood groves in California State Parks; Redwood NP is not so much a destination as an area.

If you MUST get to LA, then from SF I'd swing around Monterey Bay with a stop in Santa Cruz (fun beachfront amusement park that will probably be open on weekends) and down to Point Lobos (just south of Carmel.) Visit the old Spanish mission in Carmel, and continue south a few miles from (fabulous) Point Lobos to as far as you can go (don't think the bridge will be fixed by then.) Then head over to Salinas on US 101 for the drive down to Santa Barbara and LA.

Lauraestefa

These comments are really helpful. Thank you all.

We will be landing in Portland on the 12th and plan to stay two days in the city, maybe one more now that we are thinking of completely changing itinerary.

We had the idea that creater lake was a must. We can skip it then. We have also read that Bend is a very interesting and nice place to visit, but will skip it if you say it is not worthwhile going there given that we have so little time.

We take the return plane from LA and my 11-year old daughter would like to go to Disney. Those are the two reasons to go to LA.

The other two are 14 (girl) and 16 (boy).

Any suggestions on where to sleep and what not to miss on the map you suggest will be very appreciated.

We would have liked to see the San Diego zoo but now I realize is a far fetched plan.

Gardyloo

There are so many "musts" in the Pacific Northwest and California that somethin's gotta give, like they say.

Where's home? Someplace overseas by any chance? It might make a difference in suggesting specific places or priorities. For example, if you're Aussies, you might find that parts of the Oregon coast look very similar to the Great Ocean Road west of Melbourne. Or if you're Kiwis, a lot of the Cascades are going to look pretty similar to the Southern Alps, things like that.

Not trying to pry, just trying to respond efficiently.

janisj

OK -- Arriving on the 12th, flying out on the 25th, and w/ 2 days in Portland and two for Disney -- you have 9 days for the drive down the coast. Pretty rushed but doable. Gardyloo's route is great -- but doesn't allow for time in Anaheim. Unfortunately I don't think you have time for the Columbia River/Mt Hood loop. That, or something else, has to give.

november_moon

We are planning a trip to Oregon in a couple months - I haven't ever been there either - and we were debating the coast vs. inland Oregon choice as well. We decided to go with the coast because we feel more like spending time on the coast versus the mountains - just what we feel like doing this time around. I am sure that Crater Lake IS a must-see, but you can't see everything, right? I would prefer to see fewer places and have a more relaxed vacation. Others would rather see lots of stuff, even if that means a whorl-wind vacation.

For the California portion of your trip - which I do know a lot about I have some input:

The north coast redwoods are amazing, and since you will be coming from the north, I would definitely include them - especially if you decide to do the Oregon coast - the route from Oregon to SF takes you right through Redwood NP.

There are state parks and national forests to hike in as well as some kind of kitchy attractions like the Trees of Mystery:

https://www.treesofmystery.net/

Avenue of the Giants is a short detour from Hwy 101 near Myers Flat - its a road that shadows Hwy 101 and is very much worth taking.

I wouldn't detour inland to Sacramento. As mentioned, September can still be brutally hot. And, as much as I like Sacramento, for visitors with a short time frame, I don't think it is worth visiting. From Redwood NP, you can head straight down Hwy 101 to SF. That will save you some miles.

South of SF, plan some time in Santa Cruz and Monterey.

Santa Cruz is beachy and fun - seaside amusement park, strong surfing culture, plenty of sandy beaches, eclectic downtown. And in September, the weather is usually very nice - warmish, no fog, no rain.

Monterey and that area has a lot of fun things to do too and is a beautiful place - you have the aquarium, kayaking on the bay, whale watching, pontoon boats at Elkhorn slough, tide pooling, beautiful Point Lobos, the coastal recreation trail.

Big Sur - south of Monterey does have some closures. There is a bridge out and some landslides. Right now you can drive about 25 miles south of Carmel before you have to turn around - this is a very scenic drive though. You can see a lot of the beautiful Big Sur coastline along this stretch. In September, the bridge *might* be open to allow you to go farther south. You won't be able to drive all the way through though in any case because of the slide farther south - that will take longer to fix. To continue south, you need to take Hwy 101, which is an inland highway until you get to Pismo Beach.

Pismo Beach (and neighboring Avila Beach) are great places to go also - sandy beaches, fun CA beach towns.

janisj

I was posting the same time and didn't see Gardyloo's 2nd post.

Yep = <i>something's</i> definitely got to give . . .

jamie99

The Pfeiffer Canyon replacement bridge is not scheduled for replacement until the end of September, but even if it was replaced tomorrow, there is still the Mud Creek slide down near Ragged Point. This one has no ETR since it is still moving. You can drive about 25 miles south of Carmel and see Bixby Bridge, etc. but then have to backtrack to Monterey/Carmel and cut over to the 101 to head south.
I'd drop Sacramento (and I have relatives there), it is out of your way from Redwoods.
Disneyland is in Anaheim, so you would want to stay in Anaheim or else spend 45 minutes to drive there in non rush hour traffic from the LA area. If you only have one day, just stick to Disneyland and don't try and parkhop, especially with 5 people.

janisj

>>I'd drop Sacramento (and I have relatives there)<< . . . I'd drop Sacramento and I <u><i>live</u></i> there -- but Sacramento is not the only place they'll need to drop.

Bernice_Dunn

What wonderful help with this trip....if anyone has similar help for us please. we are planning on a trip from Portland to San Diego and we would like to hit all the beaches and see all the beautiful views. Any suggestions how we could get a map similar to this one?? What should we not miss!! Thanks so much

janisj

Bernice: It would be better if you start a thread of your own -- your trip would (hopefully) be different than the OP's.

>>Any suggestions how we could get a map similar to this one??<<

If you mean Gardyloo's link -- you can create one on googleMap -- which is what Gardyloo did to try yo help the OP.

janisj

Oh - I see you do have a thread http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...p-430608-2.cfm

I'd post your new comment/questions to that thread.

Lauraestefa

Dear friends,

I know it has been a while since our trip to Oregon and California in September 2017 but I feel the need to share with you a report on this amazing experience. We mostly followed the plan and map posted by Gardyloo (many many thanks for that!). We spent some days entirely on the road and we had great distances to cover but it was all worthwhile.

We spent three days visiting family in Portland. We fell in love with the city from the first minute. I think it is my favourite city in America.

Musts:
Powell's books. You should devote at least a couple of hours if not more to this glorious place. There is an Express machine that prints book on demand that may be out of print or hard to come by. Quite interesting... Wonder if that is the future of the book industry.
Salt and Straw on 838 NW 23rd Ave. It is located in a beautiful area. Wonderful to stroll by, ice cream in hand. I had a lavender and olive oil cone. Many more unexpected flavours to try.
Rose and Japanese garden. Check the activities. They are all very interesting.
Lloyd centre. Ice rink and good shopping.

Then we drove east along the Columbia river (we left very early in the morning and took our time to take in the amazing views.) We had to do the Washington State side of the river because a huge fire had broken out in the Oregon side. We could not do any of the trecking trails we had planned to do. High temperatures and dry conditions had left a part of Oregonunder warning of extreme fire danger. We did White water rafting in White Salmon river. The company is Wet Planet Whitewater. Great!! Super pro staff. We had booked several months ahead.

We stayed in Parkdale for the night, wonderful. Mary Pellegrino treated us like family. She manages a super cozy three-bedroom B&B, Old Parkdale Inn, and makes you feel better than at home.
We would have preferred to skip Timberlake Lodge hotel the next day so we could have stayed longer in Newport, where we spent some hours in the afternoon. Lovely with its boats, nice cute stores and sea lions.
We slept in Florence. So, so cute. Lovely seafood dinner and white wine on a dimly lit street. That place Florence deserves a visit. It's magic.
Had lunch in Bandon the next day. Don't miss it! There are so many magiccal places along the Oregon coast, so lovely people. I will definitely return some day. I left my heart there.
Then we headed for the redwoods, That was the longest drive of our trip and had a not so good experience with our two hotels on the road. Be sure to book some place you have references on. There are many options.
The Avenue of the Giants. We did some picnics under the giant trees.
San Francisco (three nights): rent bikes and do the coastline at the foot of Golden Gate Bridge (Three hours if you bring yourself to cross the bridge and visit Sausalito) and then rent bikes again (the next day) in the Golden State Park. You cannot imagine how fantastic this park is. I wish we had something like that in our city. Don't miss the California Academy of Science. It is in the same park.
Monterrey Bay Aquarium: devote the whole day, no less than that. Tickets are expensive and there are so many many things to see and enjoy.
Pebble Beach
Carmel (two nights). We visited Spaniards golf course and spent one whole day at the beach.
And last but not least, Los Angeles (three nights): Santa Monica Pier. Venice Beach. Santa Monica Boulevard and (if you are travelling with kids) Universal Studios.

We left many things out that were in our original plan an we are glad we did.
We may have done just the Oregon part and spend some more days in each place. Maybe we'll do that next time!
I treasure this trip and I am most greatful to you all who helped us give it shape.

Laura

tomfuller

Please come back to Oregon sometime when we don't have multiple fires over 10K acres. You saw the Eagle Creek fire which was set by a dumb teen throwing a firecracker into a dry gorge. A month before there was a huge fire that burned east of Brookings (Chetco Bar fire). The USFS, Oregon Dept. of Forestry and local fire agencies were stretched thin last summer with over 1000 smaller fires. I was working in a fire tower. I called in a few lightning strike fires but we were lucky in my area of view.
Next time make a loop in Oregon and see both the coast and interior including Crater Lake NP. We have a beautiful aquarium of our own in Oregon. The Oregon Coast Aquarium is just south of the big bridge south of Newport.
Thanks for coming back and giving us the report.