Road Trip to Oregon
 

I'm a lurker here and have been busily reading up on the different suggestions on things to do & see in Oregon. I'm not sure this is the right place to post this, if not, please tell me where I should post it.
My husband & I are planning a trip in early June, starting from near Phoenix and driving to Oregon. We love natural beauty and don't need to go to any big cities. We'd love to hear what you all would recommend as far as the route to take to get to Oregon that would be the most scenic, and then the best places to stop & visit in Oregon. We could include Northern California also.
We have about three weeks to get there & back to Phoenix. Some of the places we would like to see are Mt. Hood, the Columbia River Gorge, & Multinomah Falls.
Thanks for any suggestions you can give us.

I would travel one way through California on Highway 395 (Eastern Sierra) and the other way on Highways 1 and 101 along the Pacific coast.

From Eureka you could take Highway 101 at least as far as Cannon Beach. From Cannon Beach you can easily drive to the Columbia River Gorge, Multnomah Falls, and Mt Hood without spending time in Portland.

You could then head back to Arizona, visiting Bend and Crater Lake on the way.

These are all beautiful drives, as is the drive been Eureka and Crater Lake on 101, 199, and 62.

HTTY

Coming from Phoenix your goal should be either Bishop or Mammoth Lakes California. You can get there either through Adelanto or by using US 95 through Tonopah NV and staying on US 6 when they split. Get your gas in downtown Tonopah since the stations at either end charge somewhat more.
From Bishop, you can make it to Crater Lake lodge via the south entrance. See if you can get a reservation there. If you can't get a reservation at Crater Lake you can check the Prospect Hotel. See as much of Crater Lake as you can. The north entrance of Crater Lake will be closed by snow until the first week of July. Spend at least 1 night in Bend. Visit the High Desert Museum and Lavalands Visitor Center.
From Bend travel north on US 97 to Madras and then take US 26 West to Government Camp and Rt. 35. Check to see if you can get a reservation at Timberline on Mt. Hood. If you can't go north on Rt. 35 down to Hood River in the Columbia Gorge.
Multnomah Falls and several others are within an hour of Hood River. Take the old highway (US 30) rather than I-84.

Thanks Happy Trails & Tom Fuller. Really appreciate all your information. Any suggestions on where to stay along the coast or around Mt. Hood area if we can't get a reservation at Timberline & should we plan on spending a few days in that area in order to see everything?

Nice information

Hood River is the windsurfing capital of the world if that interests you. http://byways.org/stories/74472
You can stay in either Seaside or Cannon Beach on the coast.
Use US 26 to get to the coast from the south side of Mt. Hood.

Rather than stay in the Mt Hood area, we prefer to stay in the gorge at the Best Western in Hood River. Last year they added some new rooms with balconies right on the Columbia River.

On the coast we like to stay in Yachats (Fireside), Newport (Hallmark), Florence (Best Western Pier Point Inn), and Brookings (Best Western Beachfront Inn). All these motels have rooms with balconies on the water.

HTTY

PS We used to like to stay in Cannon Beach, but now we go there for a walk on the beach and a picnic at beautiful nearby Ecola State Park. The town has become too unpleasantly touristy for us.

Thanks for the info on where to stay. Will definitely look into those places.

What type of weather might we expect in early to mid-June?

June is typically cool and rainy here. But it usually isn't downpour style rain, more of a misty type. Bring layers at any time of year:)

Thanks mms. We'll be sure to bring rain gear.

June is sunny and warm in Southern Oregon.

bbqboy--True, you get drier warmer weather down there. I was talking about the places the OP said they want to go.

Thanks for all your suggestions & information. Do you think in early to mid-June we need to make reservations for overnight stays? Ideally, we would like to find a location that would be good to use as a base & take day trips (if that's possible).

The places that I would consider for bases for day trips would be Bend, Hood River and someplace on the coast (Newport?)
I'm thinking that you will get a better deal if you use Hotels dot com and make your reservations rather than walking into a hotel that you don't know much about.

Thanks tomfuller. That's probably a good idea.

I would do reservations everywhere. Portland has the Rose Festival, and during that week hotels are at a premium. Then the usual vacation destinations like the coast, Bend, etc are busier, so I would book to be safe.