In Portland for a week with friends and we wanted to do short 2 day trips to Mt Hood and also 2 days on the Coast. I'm a little frustrated with myself as I didn't do adequate research before booking a cabin for 2 nights near Rhododendron. Now that I've read more, I think we would have been much happier in Hood River or staying near Columbia River Gorge but we are now locked into this location and so I'm trying to salvage this by at least looking into the best trails in that area.

We'd like to do fairly easy 2-3 hour max hikes ( a couple a day) as we have our 5 month old with us but we can do something longer if the payoff is worth it. Any suggested must-see trails? Should we hit Coumbia River Gorge on the way back to Portland from Mt. Hood or just do a day trip during the week from Portland? It sounds like it's worth seeing even though it involves yet another day of driving.

For the Coastal part, we are considering driving from Portland to Cannon Beach, driving South and staying in Yachats. The husband really dislikes driving for extended periods so I think we ought to stay overnight somewhere within a 2 hr drive from Portland and then continue South the next day to break the drive up. Would that be Tillamook? We like history, easy to moderate hikes, and most importantly, good food. We would prefer to be able to walk to places rather than to keep jumping in the rental car every time we wanted to get coffee, walk on the beach, or get a bite to eat (we did this in Mendocino) but that seems difficult to do.

thanks for any suggested tips or itineraries.

I can't advise about hikes in the Mt Hood area, but I'm sure there are many.

Were I to break up the drive between Portland and Yachats via Cannon Beach, I would spend a night in Manzanita or Girabaldi which are pleasant, small towns. Tillamook is not a very inviting place for travelers.

Don't worry too much about your stay in Rhododendron. It is close enough to Mt Hood that you will be fine As for hikes, are you used to much elevation and what sort of mileage are you interested in? There are so many wonderful hikes around Mt Hood, but I hate to make suggestions without knowing what you want.

I would circle around the back side of hood on hwy 35 and head to the gorge and then back to Portland. It is a beautiful drive, and there are even more fantastic hikes in the gorge. The problem will be narrowing them down

I agree, Tillamook is not a place I would choose to overnight.

Cannon Beach fits exactly what you say you are looking for. We love it there and go often. If you did that, then in the morning you would have the whole day to meander down to Yachats. Portland to Cannon Beach is about 90 minutes. Another option would be to go a fit further down to Pacific City at Cape Kiwanda. It is a small town, but had lodging right above the water and Pelican Pub Brewery (and restaurant) is right there too. The dunes are fun to climb, and there is a haystack rock there as well.

You can ride the chairlift up Hood and then hike down. I don't know what they might do with a baby on a chairlift(not sure).

I liked the hike around the Trillium Lake. It's noisy in some spots and quiet in others. Easy flat hike with views of the Mountain.

I assume you have one of those child backpack things?

Check Rockaway Beach (Tradewinds) or Garibaldi (Econolodge) instead of Tillamook. Make a stop in Cannon Beach to see if the tide is out to get a good look at Haystack Rock. That rock is one of the most photographed spots in Oregon.
At the north end of Tillamook stop at the Tillamook Chees factory. You can go upstairs to have a view of the production line and curd tanks. Their ice cream is great too.

The Mirror Lake Trail on 26 is fairly easy and gives you a neat view of Mt, Hood and its reflection in the lake. Also Twin Tunnels in Mosier just outside Hood River is east and would be fun with a baby. We just did those two in the last couple of days.

Oh, and in Hood River be sure to go down by the water where all the kiteboarding and windsurfing is happening. The kiteboarding looks like so much fun. The visitor center in Hood River is very helpful with anything you are interested in.

The Eagle Creek trail is a nice waterfall trail in the Gorge-

Eagle Creek will take you longer than 2-3 hours(unless you cut it short-you might consider hiking to just Punch Bowl-But I really like Tunnel Falls and that hike is fairly lengthy round trip- but it is for the most part easy and some shade). It is a super nice trail though.

When are you going? Just back from that area and at the end of June the hiking trails at Timberline were still all snow covered although perhaps the recent heat there started to melt them. We also liked the 2 miles walk around Trillium Lake if you just want to look up at Mt Hood rather than be on it.

I would also suggest Cannon Beach rather than Tillamook. We stayed in and preferred Manzanita, which is very quiet with a beautiful beach (which they all seem to be in Oregon) a short distance from our place, Zen Garden B&B. Although you may have to drive a half mile into town for dinner, it's a very quiet town with residential streets unlike the traffic and crowds in Cannon.

I stayed in Cannon Beach several days, doing the same thing (drove from Portland). It's a nice enough town to stay in, some good restaurants, so why not stay there? It is true that it is pricey because it is more desirable, though, so it depends whether you want a place worth staying or a cheaper hotel/motel. It does have exactly what you want. I suppose it depends when you go, though, I was there in summer so it was expensive, although I really liked the place I stayed.