Oregon/California Loop
 

Looking for itinerary ideas for an Oregon/Cali loop trip. ~8 days (Big Waves/Big Trees adventure) prefer to fly in and out of same airport. And exploring camp/yurt options for all/parts of trip.
Spent time exploring Utah's Mighty 5 last year and in love with a road trip vacation. From New England.. avid white mountains camper/wannabe die-hard hiker.

Thanks!

Fly in and out of Portland. Here's a possible route - https://goo.gl/maps/5PCJHCt6srJ2

Three days from Portland to the redwoods via the coast, three back to Hood River via Crater Lake and Mount Hood, two in the Mt. Hood/Columbia Gorge area.

The only change I would make to Gardyloo's map would be to use US 26 instead of US 30 over to the coast from Portland.
Unless you really need to see the Astoria Column, just go as far as Seaside.
There are many Oregon State Parks along the coast that have yurts. Near the Oregon Dunes in southern Oregon, I like the yurts in William Tugman SP.
While in Bend, be sure to see the High Desert Museum and take a hike near Mt. Bachelor.

I highly suggesting stopping in Crescent city and finding the grove of titans. The Grove of Titans features the largest coastal redwoods. These trees are absolutely magnificent. It's a bit of a secret as to the exact location, but it's not hard to find. It's a fun adventure and an incredibly beautiful hike on the boyscout trail off of Howland Hill Rd. You can find some directions online that will help you.

The redwoods in Jedediah Smith state park (near Crescent City) are also more impressive that anything further south. The avenue of the giants is nice, but the trees are smaller. The only real reason I can think of to travel down there is because there is a tree you can drive through, but I don't really think that it's worth the extra driving.

The beaches just north of Arcata/Eureka are nice like Lufenholtz and Trinidad, and there's a good chance you may see herd of elk from rte. 101 up there.

If it were me doing this trip, Id spare the trip down to avenue of the giants and spend more time in the cascades and high desert

I usually suggest Cape Disappointment as a stop due to its combination of scenery and historical importance, and of course a visit to (our) Waikiki Beach - http://www.outdoorproject.com/sites/...?itok=eGA24-Ej

I also like to take the north shore of the Columbia downstream from Portland/Longview as it goes through some interesting and very historic towns, and IMO the Megler-Astoria bridge is nothing short of awesome.

>>The only real reason I can think of to travel down there is because there is a tree you can drive through,<<

I have to disagree . . . the wonderful thing about the Avenue is the long drive (usually w/ very few cars on the road since many people stick to 101) through mile after mile of redwoods.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTY2_dfOiMA

This video was taken in July at the height of the tourist season and the road is pretty much empty

(Hint - Cali is a city in Colombia)

I have stayed in the yurts at Umqua Lighthouse State park- very nice. The deluxe ones have a kitchen and indoor bathrooms with shower. They are on a small lake and it's fun to walk up to the lighthouse at night to see the lights.

They book up yearly though so have to plan ahead.

I don't know if you can do it in eight days, but a good "loop" routing with maximum exposure to the variety of the region would be: Portland, Cannon Beach, down the coast as far as Humboldt Redwoods State Park, Crater Lake, Bend, Hood River, the Columbia River gorge, Portland.

HTtY

Oops-meant to say yurts book up early- not yearly.

Here is the website for yurt and cabin reservations:
http://oregonstateparks.org/?do=reserve.dsp_cabinsyurts
The ones I have stayed at are William Tugman (near the Dunes)
Sunset Bay SW of Coos Bay and Champoeg inland near Portland.
The yurts have a combination lock on the door. They send you the code after you have paid.
They usually have a campground host if you have any problem or want to buy firewood.

<I have to disagree . . . the wonderful thing about the Avenue is the long drive (usually w/ very few cars on the road since many people stick to 101) through mile after mile of redwoods.>

Thats a good point. It is pretty beautiful to drive through there, but it seems pretty far out of the way of the loop from gardyloo's map (which looks great).

So if you really want the experience of driving through redwoods on a beautiful road it is worthwhile, but if you want to see and walk through groves of magnificent trees you can do that without the drive all the way down. Either way should be great

>> but if you want to see and walk through groves of magnificent trees you can do that without the drive all the way down.<<

Oh - for sure. I just didn't want anyone to think The Avenue was a busy road w/ tourist traps.