Need help with Oregon/Washington trip planning
 

My daughter and I have 2 free tickets on Southwest and are planning a trip the week before Labor Day. We are thinking about Oregon & Washington. I have read many posts and trip reports and have an idea of some of the things we want to do, but not sure with our limited time what would be best. That's where I hope some of you can help me.

We will fly into Portland on Friday night, arriving late. We will have from Saturday through Friday for our trip. Flying home on Saturday morning of Labor Day weekend. We can fly home from either Portland or Seattle.

My daughter (an adult) doesn't think she will enjoy the entire week in Oregon and wants to spend a few days in each state.

So far, we have planned the following. Spend Saturday & Sunday in Portland area. Day trips to Columbia River Gorge (a must) and possibly to Mt Hood, or spend the day in Portland.

On Monday we plan to drive to Astoria and spend the night there. We are history buffs, especially Lewis & Clark and want to visit Ft Clatsop. We also want to drive into Washington to Cape Disappointment.

From here, the remainder of the trip is up in the air.

I am considering driving to Forks on Tuesday and spending Tuesday night and Wednesday night there as our base for visiting Olympic NP. Is this a good place to stay and will this give us enough time to see ONP?

Thinking of driving to Port Angeles on Thursday. Would like to take the ferry to Victoria for the day and stay in Port Angeles on Thursday night. Again, is this a reasonable idea time-wise?

On Friday we would drive to Seattle and spend the day and evening there and stay Friday night near the airport for a Saturday morning flight.

Am I being overly ambitious? We like to see as much as possible when we travel and are on the go from morning til night. We are not people who enjoy sitting on the beach or taking long hikes, although short ones are okay.

We would like to find "mom & pop" motels to stay in that are clean, safe & reasonably priced. We aren't in our room long enough to pay a lot.

Any ideas/suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

You are passing up an opportunity to visit two of the biggest attractions in the NW: the beautiful Oregon Coast and Mt. Rainier.

Nonetheless, the itinerary you outline is doable.

Forks is a dreary place to stay. Try to get a room at (historic) Lake Crescent Lodge.

It would be more fun to spend a night in Victoria than in Port Angeles.

I agree with Happytrails. In fact, if you modify your itinerary slightly, you can go from Portland to Cannon Beach then north to Astoria (not really much out of your way) and see Cannon Beach, a fantastic beach with beautiful natural scenery. Haystack Rock on Cannon Beach is I believe the most photographed thing on the coast, if not in Oregon.

At least you'd see some of the Oregon Coast. The Washington Coast doesn't really compare.

Seattle and Portland are both great cities, but it sounds like you might not really have enough time to get the best of both places as well as see all the other stuff you want to see.

If it were me, I'd do one city or the other. I'd do Portland, the Gorge, Mt. St. Helens, and the Oregon Coast including Astoria. Or, I'd do Seattle, Mt. Rainier, the Olympic Peninsula, and Victoria. There's an easy 7 days in either of those itineraries, with a healthy mix of city and natural beauty.

I agree with Happy trails, but it would be tight, especially Victoria - the ferry schedule is not great and you might miss Butchart Gardens(a must). Lake Crescent is where you should spend the 2nd nite in ONP, The Park has 4 distinct areas to see, all great: 1) Ho rain Forest 2) Tidal Pools at Rialto beach 3) Lake Crescent itself
4)Hurricane Ridge.

Andrew & Happy trails - I appreciate your quick replies to my post. I am looking at a map and see that Cannon Beach is near Astoria. We will definitely stop there.

I have thought a lot about this trip and agree that either Washington or Oregon could be a trip in itself. I'm concerned that my daughter won't enjoy spending 2-3 days along the Oregon coast. We really want to go to the Columbia River Gorge and Astoria. Those are the only places we are certain about.

Again, as I look at the map, perhaps we should stop at Mt St Helens and Mt Rainier and then go onto Seattle. We could save ONP, Victoria & other places west & north of Seattle for a later trip.

Newest idea:
Saturday & Sunday - day trips from Portland.
Monday - spend day in Portland.
Tuesday - drive over to coast. We could go south of Portland and then west until we reach the coast if that would be better and spend day driving up Oregon coast. Spend night in Astoria.
Wednesday - spend day in Astoria, go to Cape Disappointment in Washington. I think I remember reading about a really neat lighthouse and park in that area. spend night in Astoria.
Thursday - drive north, stopping at Mt St Helens & Mt Rainier. Can both places be seen in one day?Where would be a good place to stay on Thursday night?
Friday - drive to Seattle for the day and spend night near airport for Saturday morning flight.

Do you think this is a more reasonable plan?

I would spend one night on the coast, but for reasons I don't fully understand, you seem determined on staying in Astoria. Therefore, I suggest the day you "do" the coast you drive from Portland to Newport (I-5 and OR 20) and then up 101 to Astoria.

If you visited Mt. Saint Helens and Mt. Rainier from Portland, it would be reasonable to do both in a day on your way to Seattle. However, since you will start from Astoria, you will probably not want to go as far as Seattle. Unfortunately, there is no place of particular interest to stay in the Mt. Rainier area except for Paradise Inn which is probably already booked for the week before Labor Day.

If you just want to spend time in Astoria, I would encourage you to stay the night in Cannon Beach. Astoria is only about an hour away from Cannon Beach. Cannon Beach, and especially Ecola State Park right next to it, are very scenic and relaxing, whereas Astoria has more of a historic feel and is located dramatically on the Columbia River. I would agree with going to Mt. Rainier and would probably head east from Astoria and just skip the Washington Coast, especially since you want to see the Columbia Gorge and Seattle. And I agree that Mt. Rainier is a good choice too.

Maybe something like this for your itinerary:

Portland 2 nights
Cannon Beach/Astoria 1 night
Columbia Gorge 1 night
Mt. Rainier area 1 night
Seattle 2 nights

It seems like that would give you a mix of city and countryside. It's a fair amount of driving, especially the last half of the trip, but you would be on the go and see a lot.

Thanks again for all of your suggestions for me to consider.

I am considering 2 nights in Astoria because it will minimize moving from place to place. My plan is to spend the day driving up a portion of the northern Oregon coast, stopping in several place along the way. We would then spend the next day visiting Astoria and the area around Cape Disappointment in Washington. In looking at the map it doesn't seem like a long distance from Astoria over to I-5, but I haven't checked mapquest yet.

Perhaps after a long day visiting Mt St Helens and Mt Ranier, we should spend the night in Puyallup and drive into Seattle the next day since there doesn't appear to be anything closer, unless I am missing something.

Voyager61 - not sure about your suggestion to spend a night near Columbia River Gorge. Isn't this best done as a day trip from Portland? You suggest staying near Mt Ranier, but as Happy Trails states, the Paradise Inn isn't available the last week of August. Do you have other suggestions?

I haven't made any definite plans yet, but would prefer to change hotels as infrequently as possible.

There are a number of places to stay near Mt Rainier besides Paradise. My personal favorite is Wellspring in Ashford, which is a small, lowkey but nice collection of cabins in a wooded setting.

I wouldn't stay in Puyallup in any event--press on to Seattle if you don't stay at Mt Rainier.

With only two nights in Portland, one being the night you arrive, I'm not sure that going to the Gorge and back the one full day you're in the city makes a lot of sense, but I know more about Washington distances than Oregon ones. I believe there are places to stay near the Gorge if you want to do that. I agree that you should stay in Seattle instead of Puyallup. You could enjoy a nice seafood dinner on the waterfront in Seattle that evening and won't be able to get anything comparable in Puyallup. I guess I would pick either Rainier or Mt. St. Helen's and use the extra time to get to Seattle to enjoy the city.

We are arriving in Portland late on Friday night. We are planning to stay in Portland Saturday night and Sunday night. Planning to do a day trip on one of those days to the gorge. The other day is still open. We will leave on Monday morning to drive to the coast.

I will check into the suggestion for Ashford - don't see that city on the map I have.

If it isn't feasible to visit Mt St Helens & Mt Ranier in one day, is it preferable to visit Mt Ranier?

With the current plan I have, we would arrive in Seattle on Wednesday evening and have Thursday and Friday to visit Seattle-flying home on Saturday morning. I have ordered a visitor's guide, but haven't received it yet. What are the must sees for 2 days in Seattle?

Ashford's the small town that's at the entrance to Mt Rainier NP (Rt. 706 I think?).

As far as which to visit if you only have time for one, Mt St. Helens is more unique and interesting in a geological sense whereas Mt Rainier has more spectacular scenery. So if learning about and seeing the effects of the volanic eruption is interesting to you, then pick Mt St. Helens; if not, then pick Rainier.