California and Oregon Coast Trip
 

Hello everybody,

My family and I are planning a trip to Northern California and Oregon Next June (2016) for about 10-12 days. I have a preliminary itinerary in the works and know that I can get a lot of insight from you guys. There will be four of us, two adults and two kids (17 and 19) and we all enjoy hiking and nature in general. We have never been to San Francisco or Oregon, and are hoping to experience some of the culture of the area in addition to the natural stuff.

My preliminary itinerary:
Day 1 (June 3rd): Arrive in S.F. from Boston, explore city
Day 2 (4th): San Francisco
Day 3 (5th): Leave the city via Golden Gate Bridge, travel along coast (rt. 1) and visit Point Reyes, stopping as we see fit. Spend night somewhere halfway from Redwoods
Day 4 (6th): Continue north to various redwood parks, spend night in Crescent City

At this point I am split between two options. One is to leave the coast and head inland to see Crater Lake and Mt. Hood along with Bend. The other is to continue along the Oregon Coast and visit all of the small towns and beaches which look absolutely stunning. Additionally we would like to see the Columbia River, and I am not sure if it is better east or west of Portland.

Day 10 (12th): Explore Portland
Day 11 (13th): Fly back to Boston

Any suggestions would be awesome at this point, as I am still trying to figure out which route we would like to follow.

Thanks

The Columbia River east of Portland is what you want to explore, including the Historic Columbia River Highway and the waterfalls, including the magnificent Multnomah Falls.

I would concentrate my time on the Oregon Coast. The stretch of 101 from Brookings to Port Orford skirts the coast and the stretch from Florence to Lincoln City is also rich with ocean views.

There is lodging all along the coast, but we especially enjoy Newport and Cannon Beach.

Check to make certain that the road that goes around Crater Lake will be open--it is often closed until late in June.

Attractions around Bend include Lava Lands and Smith Rock.

HTtY

Stay in Trinidad instead of Crescent City.

Go to www.oregoncoastmagazine.com and read its mile-by-mile description.

Bobmrg,

Where is a good place to stay in Trinidad?

HTtY

I have stayed at the Trinidad Inn. Nice, clean, some units with kitchens, BBQ available for guests, helpful staff.

Point Reyes will take more time than you think. It takes at least half an hour just to get to the ocean side from Point Reyes Station. You will not get far up the coast from there, maybe up to Bodega Bay.

Point Reyes Station has a Cowgirl Creamery store where good picnic items can be picked up, or ready-made sandwiches.

The question that I am faced with at the moment is how different the Oregon Coast is from the Northern California coastline. I am leaning towards the option of staying on the coast until the OR/CA border before heading inland to see more of the mountains. This would also set us up to see the Columbia River Gorge, which we would really like to see.

To put it simply: How different is the Oregon coast from that of California?

Thanks

<i>The question that I am faced with at the moment is how different the Oregon Coast is from the Northern California coastline.</i>

Nothing on the Oregon coast is to be found in California.

<i> I am leaning towards the option of staying on the coast until the OR/CA border before heading inland to see more of the mountains.</i>

What mountains to you hope to see while driving from the OR/CA border to Portland?

HTtY

PS If you want a beautiful drive from California to Portland, drive on Highway 101. If you don't, take I-5.

Thanks HTtY, I just wasn't sure how different the two shorelines are from each other. They both look stunning, and as we have not seen either I wasn't sure about their similarities/differences. To answer your second question, we would like to see Crater Lake the most of any of the inland sites, but are also interested in doing some hiking near Mt. Hood or Mt. Bachelor. Being from Boston we would be fine touring on snowshoes or x-country skis if the roads around the rim would be closed come June. Are any of these places worth cutting out the coast? If we were to take a detour from the coast to visit Crater Lake, are there any other sites you think would be worth seeing?

Thanks again

There are many hiking opportunities off of Hwy 138 between Roseburg and crater Lake. Many waterfall hikes. My favorite is Watson Falls but there are many more. Most are not very long or difficult.

There is also a hiking trail along the river but I would guess you would
enjoy the waterfalls more.

http://www.fodors.com/community/unit...-to-oregon.cfm

I visited Oregon in early June this year. Take a look at my itinerary and pictures, it might help you decide some of the places you want to visit. I have a full 8 days to see all the places, and was lucky to be blessed with all good days.
Crater Lake is absolutely stunning on a clear good day.

Another vote for the Trinidad Inn....but Google, just in case.

<How different is the Oregon coast from that of California?>

VERY different places. Both beautiful but not the same at all.

The drive up Highway 1from San Francisco will be long and arduous. The speed limit rarely exceeds 35 mph. If someone in your car has a motion sickness issue this could be a problem.
The Mendocino coast north of SF reminds me a lot of Oregons coast line. It is a very scenic location and would reccomend staying in The town of Mendocino over night on Day 3. From there I would reccomend heading north on 1and get onto 101. 101 north to Rewoods staying in Trinidad Day 4 night.
I'd then drive over to Grants Pass on 199 continuing through to Crater Lake and spend the night. Day 6 go north up 5 to Tillamook and spend night. From Tillamook head north to mouth of Columbia river and head east to The Dalles. This stretch is absolutely beautiful. From each there head south on 197 to 26 past Mt. Hood on into Portland.

I think that our family has settled on a more complete itinerary for our trip, combining parts of the two previous options into one. Nothing, including dates, is yet finalized, so any suggestions are more than welcome.

Day 1: Arrive in S.F. by noon, spend night
Day 2: San Francisco, 2nd night in city
Day 3: Leave early via Golden Gate Bridge, hike in Point Reyes. Spend night in Mendocino
Day 4: Redwoods and the coast on rts 1 and 101, spend night in Trinidad
Day 5: Leave for Crater Lake, viewing Redwoods National Park, spend night at Crater Lake
Day 6: Depending on conditions, either hike or drive Crater Lake, spend 2nd night
Day 7: Drive to Dunes City on Rt. 138. See some waterfalls along route? Night in Dunes City
Day 8: RT 101 N from Dunes City to Cannon Beach, stop as we please at nice places. Night at Cannon Beach
Day 9: Cannon Beach to Portland following Columbia River. Night in Portland
Day 10: Columbia River Gorge + waterfalls, Mt Hood loop. 2nd night in Portland
Day 11: Explore Portland and leave late in evening (flights at 9 and 11 pm)

On google maps each day looks quite feasible by car with time to stop, look around, and stretch the legs. Are there any days that seem unrealistic or excessive? No planning has been done on hotels yet, so any suggestions on where to stay would be great.

Thanks again

Day 3 is probably longer than you think. Google estimates the drive from SF to Mendocino using highway 1 to be 5 hrs.

Some info on beautiful Hwy 138

http://www.southernoregon.org/articl...way-waterfalls

There is a beautiful resort along 138, Steamboat Springs - it's quie pricey, but a nice place to stop for lunch or a break. We usually stop there after a day hiking.

Michael, would it make more sense to stay closer to San Francisco that night and then drive further to Trinidad the following day?

<i>Day 3: Leave early via Golden Gate Bridge, hike in Point Reyes. Spend night in Mendocino</i>

I believe somebody warned you that Point Reyes National Seashore is not a quick in and out--it is time consuming in several ways. Also, if you have not driven on Highway 1 from Point Reyes to Mendocino, you will find that it is a much harder drive than the stretch from Cambria to Montery (or from Dunes City to Cannon Beach). The terrain in more rugged. One of my sisters-in-law refuses to drive it again.

Therefore, I believe you would be wise to not drive all the way to Mendocino. I assume your "family" includes children who may be interested in Fort Ross. There is a campsite nearby: http://www.parks.ca.gov/pages/449/fi...pgroundmap.pdf

HTtY

After writing the above, I consulted my California atlas to better explain why Highway 1 between Point Reyes and Mendocino is a much harder drive than other stretches of the highway. It is because every so often the highway detours around a gulch, a bay, an estuary, or other geographical feature. There are so many of these detours that after a while you will find yourself thinking, "Enough already."

HTtY

My "kids", if I can still call them that, are 17 and 19, but Fort Ross does look like something from a forgotten history. Who even remembers that the Russians settled much of the West Coast? While being a very good driver, after closer inspection of google maps it does appear that the original plan is slightly ambitious. Would staying somewhere north of Bodega Bay be more reasonable? Staying too far south would make the following day's drive to the redwoods very long. Do you guys see any other glaring issues with our itinerary?

Thanks

<i>would it make more sense to stay closer to San Francisco that night and then drive further to Trinidad the following day?</i>

As previously mentioned, Bodega Bay.

Hi Dshamritsky,

It sounds like you have your trip more or less planned out, but I thought I'd add my 2 cents since I'm from Northern CA, live here currently, and did a 9 day road trip to Oregon & Washington with my boyfriend only a few weeks ago.

First off, I'm not super familiar with the Oregon Coast. I went to Seaside as a kid and enjoyed it (toured Tillamook, etc) but I don't remember it being wildly different from the Northern CA coastline. Personally I enjoy heading into the Oregon Mountains. When I drive to OR from Norcal I stop off in Ashland and take in one of the plays as they are known for their Shakespeare festival. If you go there check out Much Ado about Nothing-I'm not much of theater person but this show was truly hilarious and I could see these actors in a sitcom like Big Bang Theory. The town is cute too and has some nice dining and shopping.

Crater Lake is interesting and visually amazing, and a mere hours drive from La Pine & Sunriver, Oregon. Sunriver is where I would head-it's a bit of a resort town, but if you enjoy the outdoors there is plenty to do. There are interconnecting bike paths, a marina with SUP & kayaking, horse trails, white water rafting, great little restaurants and spots for coffee (Brewed Awakenings Mandarin Mocha comes to mind). The observatory there is fantastic-you can go for free during the day and view the sun or pay a fee to go in the evening and see Saturn, the Moon, and other amazing parts of our galaxy through telescopes. It's surprisingly crowded though, but will probably lighten up once school starts.

Near Sun River are caverns you can tour, the city of Bend, which has more of a downtown, and La Pine, which is sparsely populated but has some interesting spots. My boyfriend and I loved La Pine. We drove the gravel path there to the McKay Crossing Campground and parked to the right of the bridge that's over Paulina Creek. Take the trail there toward Paulina Lake and you will come across some natural water slides (google Paulina Plunge to see the two slides I'm talking about). This was our absolute FAVORITE thing to do in Oregon-the hike to the slides was amazing and we could've spent longer playing in the creek and floating down the white water. If you go early in the afternoon you'll run into the tour groups near 11 or 12pm-but you'll know you're in the right spot. Also, I hear there are natural hot springs on Paulina Lake but we didn't have time to check them out.

If you want to see some amazing waterfalls, it's about 3-4 hours north of Sun River to get to the Columbia River Gorge. Multnomah Falls is beautiful and right off the freeway. There will be lots of tourists there. We also went to the Horsetail falls and hiked up the mountain to the Ponytail Falls (upper Horsetail falls). The views are beautiful and you can get right under the waterfall. There are plenty of places along this route to see numerous falls.

If you are heading to Portland, the downtown is fun but there are also beautiful Japanese & Rose Gardens, an interesting place called The Grotto, and some tourist hot spots like Voodoo Donuts & Stumptown Coffee. For dinner try Pok Pok on Division St.-they are famous for their chicken wings, which I still crave. Salt & Straw is down the street, so stop there for some great ice cream.

Good luck planning your trip! I hope these tips help!

I guess my question is how much hiking and exploring do you want to do? SF is very nice, but 1.5 days is definitely not enough to see all what it has to offer. I would come back and do a week just in SF alone.
I might suggest doing a day trip from SF north into Marin to see some of the following: the Rewoods at Muir Woods, Muir or Stinson Beach, top of Mount Tamalpias, Audobon Canyon Ranch for bird watching or a ferry ride over to Angel Island. You could do a loop and capture all but the Angel Island ferry ride comfortably in one full day.
The loop would start by crossing the bridge and going up to Mill Valley on 101. Exit onto 1 and head west towards the coast. Take the right exit onto the Panoramic Highway towards Muir Woods. Summit Mt. Tam for a beautiful vista looking out onto the Bay Area. By this time you'll have gotten a good feel for how driving on HWY 1 will be. You could picnic on either of the two beaches or bypass the beaches and go to the Audobon Canyon Ranch for some Blue Egret and other waterfowl bird watching. Bear Valley Visitor Center is a good place to visit. There are short hiking trails and other facilities in the area. Backtrack to Olema and take Sir Francis Drake Blvd. back towards SF. Take a look at it. I've done this loop several times with visitors. It can be done in 6 to 8 hours depending what you pick and choose to do.
I wrote the above with the intention of saying that on the 3rd day you could drive up 101 and pick a point to re-enter HWY 1 further north say at Willits via 20.
Finally, as you are probably well aware just because it is June doesn't mean that the coast will be clear and warm. If it is hot for a two to three day spell the fog will be in and it will down right chilly. Bring sweatshirts and layers if you plan to spend time on the coast.

Paul, thanks for all of the info about exploring things outside of San Francisco, but I think that we are going to use our limited time to see as much of the city as we can. It would be a kind of a shame to pass through without seeing any of it. If you could do one hike (2-4 hrs) in the area of Point Reyes and Mount Tamalpais, which would you suggest?

For the view, Mt. Tam.

For a walk to an isolated beach, McClure's beach at the northern end of Point Reyes. Walk down to the beach and then go left all the way to the end of the beach to through a cut in the cliff that leads to a smaller beach. It's a nice picnic spot, but no table.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/4853828862

https://www.flickr.com/photos/mksfca/4866642011

In the city, it's fun to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge.

Google Maps tells me that driving from Bodega Bay to Trinidad would total about 6 hours on Rt. 1 + 101. Is this a relatively good estimate, or does it fail to take into account the nature of the drive? Additionally, which area of redwoods would be your top choice to visit. We hope to visit both the Avenue of the Giants and Redwood National Park, but if time doesn't permit both, which would be more highly recommended?

Thanks

I get a similar result from Google. The problem is that much of the driving is hard going, for reasons I tried to explain in an earlier answer. The stretch of road between Hardy and Leggett also holds some twists, turns, and other surprises for you.

I do all the driving, and I would not choose to make this trip. However, if you, your wife, and your children take turns driving, you should all arrive in the redwoods in good shape.

In any event, make time to visit the lovely town of Mendocino (used as a set for "East of Eden") and to take a walk on the Mendocino Headlands (which is always a great experience).

Driving the Avenue of The Giants and strolling in the Founders' Grove is what I enjoy most and what I recommend. In addition, you will see many redwood groves driving to and from these destinations.

HTtY

PS When you complete your trip, please let me know if I described this drive accurately or if I exaggerated.

If you are going to see the Redwoods further north I'd go to Pt. Reyes area. The drive from the town of Pt. Reyes Station to the light house or the beaches themselves is long, but rewarding provided the weather is clear. There are plenty of trails of varying length and difficulty starting at the Bear Valley visitor center. Check out the Pt. Reyes Web page on the National Park Service's website.
I don't know how you feel about oysters, but I love them. Drakes bay oyster company used to be my favorite, but since the National Park Service shut them down unjustly I might add, only Tomales Bay Oyster Company and Hog Island Oyster company remain in the area. Look up their respective websites if interested.
Finally, Sunset Magzine used to be a great resource for information on everything California. I think you can still look at articles free of charge with an in app purchase.

The last time I was at Pt Reyes, you had to take a shuttle bus to the lighthouse. I was more than happy to do that after I saw the narrow curvy road with patches of fog. It was a beautiful ride though.

Marshals Store was my favorite place for oysters.

<i> you had to take a shuttle bus to the lighthouse.</i>

That is only on weekends during the whale migration season.

Michael, when is the whale migration season for California? On another note, after looking at the Crater Lake NP website I am left slightly confused on what the state of the roads would be in early June. Obviously it's highly dependent on the severity of the winter, but do they wait for the rim drive to be cleared of snow naturally, or do they begin plowing it at a certain point?

Thanks again

Website says Dec thru April. We were there in Jan to see the elephant seals.

Depending on how much or how little snow Crater Lake NP gets, the road around the west rim is opened first.
There is a big rotary plow that keeps the road open from the visitor center (south entrance) up to the lodge on the south side of the lake.
The last roads to open are the north entrance road through the Pumice Desert and the Pinnacles road on the east side.
Plan on coming in through the south entrance (off 62) and ask at the visitor center which roads are open.

I've begun thinking about hotels we would like to stay in and have come up with this preliminary list. Hotels in San Francisco and Portland will be easier to find than in smaller towns, so I have left those for later. Any suggestions or reviews are much appreciated.

Bodega Bay: Bodega Bay Lodge (1 night)
Trinidad: Trinidad Inn (Forest suite, 1 night)
Crater Lake: Crater Lake Lodge (Lakeside, 2 nights)
Reedsport/Florence: nothing yet but hopefully cheaper, Best Western? (1 night)
Cannon Beach: Blue Gull Inn (suite, 1 night)

Thanks again guys, you have been a great help so far

Yachats is just a bit farther north than Florence. Cute little town. There are 3 oceanfront motels next to each other, the Adobe, the Fireside and the Overleaf. The overleaf is the most expensive.

The Adobe has a dining room with ocean views.

I have never stayed at the BW in Florence. It looks like it would be OK though.

We have stayed at the Blue Gull Inn, in a 2 bedroom cottage, and it was great. No ocean view, that is the only drawback, but at least it is less than a block walk down to the water. Very well kept, no issues, comfy beds, etc.

I have not stayed at any of the places I suggested in a few years so no opinion how they are being kept up. I usually stay in a house or cabin.

If you are deciding between Reedsport and Florence - choose Florence. Cute little town.