drive from San Francisco to Portland
 

We will be driving from San Francisco to Portland with 2 kids ages 12 and 14. We'll be doing this drive in 2-3 days. What should we definitely stop and see? I know it's not much time.

Thanks.

The Redwoods, the coast line from Eureka to Cannon Beach, and the sea lion caves.

How do you plan to go. While the coastal route is indeed beautiful, it will take three solid days of driving to go from San Francisco to Portland along the coast, not leaving much time for activities.
If you go up I-5, it is of course less scenic generally, but much, much faster. That way you do pass Mount Shasta. Ashland, Oregon, just over the border is a nice spot or Grant's Pass near by would offer a fun jet boat or raft trip on the Rogue River. You could also detour off a bit to visit Oregon Caves National Park, and Crater Lake. There are also beautiful waterfalls along short hikes on the route north from Crater Lake to get back to I-5. You could DO a lot more in your three days going that way in my opinion.

Let us know which route you plan to take and we can help you fine-tune your plans! Patrick has great suggestions for stops in Ashland and Grant's Pass.

We enjoy both stops very much. There are also the covered bridges around Cottage Grove that are interesting and nice to photograph. When you let us know what route you plan to take, I can help you with some great places to stay and eat! ***kim***

Stay on 101 as far as the south-central part of the Oregon coast. With only two days, make your first overnight around Brookings or Gold Beach, taking plenty of time to drive through the Redwoods - take the "Avenue of the Giants" byway and pull into a couple of the State Park groves off the road.

The second day, continue up the coast as far as Reedsport then take SR 38 up the (gorgeous) Umpqua canyon until you join I-5 north of Roseburg. From there it's a rather boring but quick 2 1/2 hours or so to Portland.

If you have 3 days, I'd start by going north from SF on SR1, one of the prettiest drives in the Lower 48, but slow. Overnight somewhere around Eureka (dinner at the Samoa Cookhouse should please the kids). Next day, up the Oregon coast to Newport or Yachats. Last day, go all the way up to Astoria so you all can see the amazing mouth of the Columbia, then continue east on the WA side of the river, through some very cool historic landscape, into Portland.

IMO - best route is 101 to Eureka- will take about 5 hours plus the time used to go thru the Avenue of the Giants. (which is well worth it--your kids may be the last generation to see these awesome trees as some people in our era seem intent on cutting then down to build houses)
Samoa Cookhouse is good idea for Eureka. Up the coast which is still 101 to Gold Beach, where you can ride the Jet Mail Boats--My kids loved this --we even saw an Eagle on the trip.( i am sure they have a web site--do a search on Google for "jet Mail Boats Rogue River Gold Beach OR."
On up the coast is beautiful ocean /beach scenery and lots of places to
pull of road --have picnic lunch, walk on beach or just enjoy the view.
Near Reedsport are expanses of sand dunes-- dune buggy rides available,
Cape Perpetua has paths down to tidepools and is also near the Sea Lion Caves.
At Newport you can cross over to Eugene-very good road and then you are only 2 hrs to Portland.
My kids (ages 12 & 15) thought the trip was boring all the way to Astoria, except for Tillamook Cheese factory where they had all sorts of stuff to buy and the best ice cream on the coast.
(there is a noteable Air Craft Museum a little south of Tillamook which is quite popular)
There is a good road from there over to Portland --don't know how long it takes?
One thing to keep in mind--the time to travel the miles between cities on the coast can be deceiving--Traffic speed averages 35-50 MPH. due to summer traffic (worse on weekends)
and going thru lots of little towns
It is a wonderful coast line--
good luck...

You might want to check out the Wildlife Safari, in Winston, OR. It's a drive-through zoo and lots of fun. If you like wine, there are some very good wineries. I like Abacela and Paschal in Talent.

Further north, The Enchanted Forest is a fun amusement park around Salem and the Willamette Valley Vineyards is right next door. Lots of fun things to do if you know what to look for!

Your kids may also enjoy a stop at the Woodburn Company Store outlets, right outside of Portland. A beautiful outlet place with great shops. ***kim*** :)

www.wildlifesafari.org and www.enchantedforest.com are the websites! ***kim***

Having spent my youth in Salem and been to this place many times...Enchanted Forest is geared toward much younger kids than 12 and 14. IMO, I wouldn't recommend this to anyone though...it just is not worth the stop when there are so many other great places to see. I don't want to be a wet blanket...but just cannot recommend this place.

We stopped here for a break last trip, we had SIX teens with us and we had a great time! There have been many changes made to this place over the past couple of years!! ***kim***

Kim, glad your kids enjoyed it. I still would not recommend it though. I have been there recently...not by choice though, and even the other parents we were with were cringing. But their little kids were having fun:)

How horrible, to pay that admission price and "cringe"!! LOL We must have a lot more sense of fun than you!! This was a wonderful way to break up our fourteen hour drive!!

We thought the comedy show was so funny!! We all have a great sense of humor, tho!

Ikemarrus: I would recommend the Riverside Inn in Grant's Pass for the jet boats. I could give you more info if you're interested.

We also really enjoy Newport, the aquarium is great fun for ALL ages. We have a lot of fun there and were able to see Keiko before he left.

The Hallmark Resort is a great place to stay with kids. Pool, jacuzzi, Georgie's Beachside Grill is really good.

Take your kids to Seaside, it's a great place for kids! Walk the prom, surf on Avenue U, have some clams at the Shilo Inn, feed the seals at the aquarium! www.seasideor.com Two of my family members are there now surfing and soaking in the sun at the beach.

The rest of us are off to Pismo for the weekend to surf for one last weekend of fun before school starts!! :( (Daughter is in HS water polo, a starter, so they depend on her quite a bit, tho is does limit our traveling.) ***kim*** :)

Thanks for all the responses. I think I'll allocate 3 full days to the drive. I'm wondering if I can go through sonoma & napa, and then up to the redwoods and Eureka. Then up the coast to newport. Cutover to route 5 and straight up to portland. Would like to stop in napa, sonoma, optionally 1 winery, petrified trees, little old faithful, 1 walk through redwoods, 1 walk on the beach (which one?), the sea lions, the dunes. Optional: the aquarium. Does this sound doable? Are we missing something awesome? Not really interested in the enchanted forest or the safari this time around. However, I'm really sad not to be able to make it up to cannon beach , seaside, etc. And the jet boat sounded like fun, but perhaps too time consuming. Where should we stop each night? Good food?

Thanks again for all the help.

Take your kids to the wine country, ikdmarrus! They will have a great time here!!

Stay at the Sonoma Mission Inn and let them swim in the pool there! Have a great trip!! ***kim*** :)

I would take Gardyloo's SR1 suggestion rather than a Napa or Sonoma routing. Heck, if you left early on day one, you'd be through those places before the wineries opened anyway. Spend the first night around Eureka, second night in Yachats. With what you're planning, you'll easily fill days one and two. The best dunes are just south of Florence; plan on a couple hours there.

In stead of cutting over to I-5 at Newport, continue up the coast to 18 just north of Lincoln City. It's a quicker route to Portland, and takes you through a little of Oregon's wine country.

Will follow that plan from Eureka on (though I'm tempted to stop before Yachats - maybe in Florence - to allow more time for beaches, dunes, sea lions). I can get into Portland fairly late.

Since we're spending so much time on the coast in Oregon, I'm tempted to do something different in California - that's why I am thinking about Napa - maybe leaving San Francisco mid-day on Tuesday (leaving 3-1/2 days for the journey to Portland), driving to Calistoga by Tuesday night, then driving from Calistoga to Eureka on Wednesday. We can see petrified trees & geyser in Calistoga. Maybe tour a winery if one is open. An alternative is to go via the gold country in California, but that may be too far east, and there might be too much to do to do it justice.

Thoughts?

The Gold Country from SF is too far to add, plus any drive from the central valley to the coast north of Sacramento - regardless of route - is pure torture IMO. I've tried most of them, CA SR 20 being the one I use if I have to, but really only if there's no alternative.

The Napa/Calistoga loop is easy. You'll miss precisely nothing on the part of 101 you cut off. (Sorry Santa Rosa - you're more than "nothing." ;) )

Florence is fine, nowhere on the central coast is out of range for Portland the next day.

Any suggestions for hotels? Our planned route (can be adjusted a bit):

Day1
SF (leave 1PM) - Sonoma - Napa - Calistoga -- stay somewhere between Napa & Calistoga
Day2
Calistoga - Eureka -- maybe stay somewhere very near Redwoods in case it's dark when we arrive & we have to do
this in the morning
Day3
Eureka - Florence
Day4
Florence - Portland

The geyser in Calistoga is more like a broken sprinkler. LOL I wouldn't waste my time there.

Go to the Sterling winery, your kids will enjoy the tram ride there. Stay at the Indian Springs Resort, www.indianspringscalistoga.com is the web address.

The Wappo Bar & Bistro is a great place for lunch or dinner. Let us know how it goes! ***kim***

Oh, that's too, too funny!!! I won't go to the geyser! Are the petrified trees worth it or are they a bust too?

Haven't been to the Petrfied trees, we just thought the "geyser" was a total joke and waste of time.

Clos Pegase is another nice winery in that area. Great wine and nice artwork to view there, but Sterling will be fun with the kids. ***kim***

I've been looking into this in more depth & have decided to go with recommendations to go up the coast. Sorry for the detour to Napa, but looks like lots of traffic, wineries won't be open, hotels are expensive, a geyser is actually a sprinkler, etc.

Here's our plan:

SF - Bodega Bay (How is the Inn at the Tides?)

Bodega Bay to Fortuna (hotels are basic -is the Best Western clean?)

Fortuna to Coos Bay (hotel?)

Coos Bay - Lincoln City to Portland through some of the wine district.

Have recorded all sites suggested by all of you that are along the way. Now trying to line up hotels. Or can we wing it & stop when we're tired?

The Bodega Bay Lodge & Spa is much nicer than Inn at the Tides. We actually left one hotel there, I forget the name & checked into the BBL. Luxury hotel, very nice property with excellent restaurant on-site.

Coos Bay is totally uneventful, with nothing but a saw dust pile there. Good Luck! I think the Red Lion will be your best bet there, they have a pool and pretty decent restaurant.

Lincoln City is not very pretty, IMO. The best scenery is from Newport over to Astoria. Your kids will enjoy a stop at the Tillamook Cheese Factory. I hope they like coastal scenery!

***kim***

Why don't you consider a stay at Gold's Beach? The Sand n Sea Motel is an oceanfront property that's a great little overnighter. Walking paths to the beach, jacuzzi, etc. At least your kids would have something to do there. They have they jet boat rides, also from Gold's Beach.

Newport is much nicer than Lincoln City, at least take the kids to the aquarium so they can have a little fun! Where are you staying in Portland and would you like suggestions for fun things to do there with kids?

What will they do while you're in the tasting rooms? My kids sit in the car and listen to music or play their guitars while they ever so patiently wait for us. We don't bring them on our Napa/Sonoma trips to the Wine Country. ***kim*** :)

Thanks kimamom for all your suggestions. It really helps to talk to someone who knows the area. We chose Coos Bay & Fortuna for driving distances, not because they were great destinations. We were not planning to tour those towns, just to overnight there. But if there's a better place nearby those points, we can adjust. Gold's beach might be a bit too far south - it would make the leg into Portland longer, and there's a lot to see in that area. I wasn't planning to stop at Lincoln City - just cut up to Portland in the way that beachbum suggested. (Definitely spending time in Newport.) Perhaps just driving through the wineries - seems like a pretty drive to Portland. If there's a good winery tour that we can take the kids on there, they'd probably enjoy it. In Portland, staying at the Residence Inn Riverplace (not thrilling but my sister's choice - she's meeting us there). Open to any suggestions there - we're spending a day in the city and a day at the Multnomah Falls. Then we're high-tailing it back to San Fran via route 5 with perhaps an overnight stop 3 hours from Portland.

My kids love Portland. Take them to the zoo, my 20 yr. old and his fiance had a great time there a couple of weeks ago. The Rose Gardens are also nice and of course, at their ages they most love to shop. Pioneer Place has great shops for everyone.

If you're there on a Sat., the Saturday Market is lots of fun. Multnomah Falls is gorgeous, we have one of my favorite photos of me with our Vizsla in front of them. Sounds like you're finalizing your plans well. There's lots to do and see in Oregon, as you can well see from the posts here. ***kim***

Fortuna? Nah, check out Ferndale. Much much cuter.

Gardyloo, I am considering the Victorian Inn there (other B&Bs don't seem to have 2 beds for families). But they're $145 per night vs. the $90 at the Best Western, and I'm being cheap. We have a 9 day trip & I've been spluring in SF and Bodega Bay. But I have to admit that it does make a difference to the way a vacation feels!

Gardyloo, The other problem is that my kids don't really appreciate "cute" or "romantic" or "historical". They like "cool" or "luxurious" but not 4-posters or claw-foot bathtubs. Is there any awesome place in Ferndale that accomodates families that you particularly recommend?

No, I know what you mean. IMO most of the Eureka area is really blah; Ferndale has some character, but I shouldn't be inconsistent and say I don't like Cannon Beach (OR) for its cutesiness and then turn around and say the opposite about Ferndale.

So go with Fortuna, or, maybe better, Arcata, so that you don't have to snake through downtown Eureka in the morning. Arcata is easier access to/from the Samoa Cookhouse, anyway.

ikemarrus: stick with your Best Western with your family and save the B&B's for a romantic, couple's trip. Do you travel much with your kids? Just curious! The B&B's almost never have pools which are great for energy release when traveling with kids. ***kim***

Coos Bay.... I feel for ya.. Pretty much the only thing it's got going for it is the local tribe's casino. Either Bandon or Florence are better alternatives, though you might have trouble finding acceptable accommodations in Bandon.

I'm a local, and I've thought for the last five minutes about what my 12 and 17 year olds like to do in Portland. Came up with nothin' other than hangin' at Pioneer Square or Pioneer Place. If your kids are into it, I think you can rent rollerblades to skate along the water front.

Multnomah Falls is definitely not an all day deal unless you're planning to hike in the area. After you've seen the falls, continue up the gorge to Hood River, noted for world class wind-surfing (kids might think that cool). Then head up to Mt. Hood, stop at Timberline Lodge, and back into Portland on 26. If you've time on the mountain, there's a "kickin'" alpine slide in the Government Camp/Ski Bowl area. I'm sure your kids would like that.

See Beachbum, I have a tribe of teens at my house, this is my concern that the kids will go BORED!!

Bandon is a great suggestion, anywhere but Coos Bay! LOL Bandon does have a BW property there, oceanfront that we stayed in one year. And there's some fun shopping in downtown Bandon. I just don't want ikemarrus to have a Chevy Chase vacation!!! ***kim***

Yes, we do travel with our kids alot. We also travel with our dog (but not this time). When we travel alone, we do romantic B&Bs (although I'm having a hard time remembering this LOL). When we travel with kids, we do big rooms, queen-sized beds, TVs, pools, exercise rooms & a hot buffet breakfast. And it doesn't hurt to be on the beach. Bandon (or Reedsport?) it is.

(Chevy Chase has nothing on us!)

where should we stop for the night on our return down route 5? We'd like to stop 3 or 3-1/2 hours outside Portland.

I like the Portland and Hood River suggestions. In Portland, we may also go to the OMSI (are kids too old?), Powell's books (for me) and the gardens (Japanese, Chinese). Any thoughts?

OMSI is great for any age. Check their website for all the details and exhibits. We went to the Titanic exhibit this spring as well as the submarine tour. My dh is a retired Submarine Officer so the tour was a must do for us, lol! Many of our old neighbors in Seattle have come down just for this tour though and they loved it.

The Chinese Gardens are amazing! I was there on a school field trip this spring with 13 yr olds and they all were very interested...so that says a lot!

Powells...a definite must do!

I'd shoot for Grants Pass on the drive south. But you might push on to Ashland (4.5 hours), which would be a nice place for breakfast before getting back on the road.

I'd thought about OMSI, mms. But I don't think I'd ever get my 17 year old in there (except maybe for IMAX), and the 12 year old would go only because she's more compliant. I think your kids need to be into that sort of thing (science) to enjoy it, ikemarrus.

There are a number of boats/ships, ranging from a lunch/dinner cruise to jet boats, offering trips up/down the Willamette River. Not nearly as exciting as the Rogue, but still maybe something the kids would enjoy.

Beachbum--I don't think you need to really be into science to enjoy OMSI, but thats just my opinion. Whenever we have been there have been kids of all ages. We had not been to OMSI in years, and our first time back was with extended family of all ages and I was really surprised at how much there was. I would bet your 17 yr old would love the sub tour...the people who had never experienced it before were not wanting to leave. Course I had a hard time pulling my dh away also, lol! Yes, the IMAX there is fun...the dome theater with seats that lay back. If you go out of curiosity let me know what you think. I know everyone likes/dislikes different places:)

Totally agree with Beachbum, I'd ask the kids what they want to do. The Zoo is a a lot of fun, wouldn't miss it!

Grant's Pass is a great suggestion. I would stay at the Riverside Inn, www.riverside-inn.com and take the Quick N" Scenic two hour trip up the Rogue. ***kim***

Anyone hear of the Mill Casino & Hotel in North Bend near Coos Beach. Well rated on Tripadvisor. We got a bayside room for a good rate. Seemed very nice on the phone & said kids were welcome and feel comfortable. We're not big gamblers but not anti-gambling either. Could be interesting people-watching.