totoanddorothy

Please Help!!

We are planning a summer vacation to Oregon. 2 families - 6 kids. Childrens ages are 12,11,11,7,6,4. We need some help. Here is our sketchy itenerary. Your suggestions please.

Day 1 - arrive in Portland drive by Multnomah Falls and Columbia River Gorge. Stay in Timberline Resort on Mt. Hood.

Day 2 - Hike around Mt. Hood

Day 3 Travel to Crater Lake - spend night somewhere in this general area.

Day 4 - Hike area of Crater Lake. In evening, head to Crescent City, Ca

Day 5 and 6 - In Redwood Forest

Day 7 Head north on hwy 101 to Depoe Bay

Day 8 Stay in Depoe Bay
Day 9 and 10 Drive to Seaside and stay.
Day 11 To Portland (airport)

Do we need more time in some places and less in others? Any suggestions on where to stay in the Crater Lake area, Depoe Bay and Seaside. Looking for family friendly fun and housing. We are from Kansas - trying to get the biggest bang for our buck.

Fodorite018

A few general thoughts. If you do not have reservations for Timberline Lodge yet, do that. It books up fast. It is not a resort, so I hope you are not looking for anything fancy or amenities, but it is a great place. The Timberline Trail goes all the way around the mountain, but from the lodge you can go as far as you want and then double back. With your group, I think a better option would be spending some time on the trails in the gorge. Young kids tend to like that better as the Timberline Trail can be too much for them.

Traveling to Crater Lake, stay the night in Bend unless you can snag some reservations at the lodge there. That also books far in advance, so I would call now and hope. Bend is a good place otherwise though, and less than 2 hours from Crater Lake.

At Crater Lake go early to the Cleetwood Cove parking lot and buy tickets for the boat tour. The tours sell out, that is why I mention going early. The boat tours are fantastic! And you can get off at Wizard Island and hike and catch a later boat back.

Haven't spent much time in the Redwoods, moreso just driving through, so will leave that to other people to help.

Seaside...mmmm, personally I think there are better places. Yes, even with kids. I prefer Cannon Beach. Seaside is like a bad carnival, IMO.

Enjoy your time here. You mention summer, but do you have dates yet?

CarolJean

Just south of Bend is the High Desert Museum which the kids and adults would all enjoy. Google it to see for yourself. Enjoy our area. CJ

Scarlett

Day 1- are you flying in?
The falls and Gorge are about 30-40 min from downtown Portland, but deserve at least a half day to enjoy them, then you have to get to Timberline..not sure about timing there for you.

As mms says, book all reservations as soon as possible. Anything at the beach too, the Coast books up early especially since you are needing accomodations for so many.

I agree...spend a couple of hours in Seaside but stay elsewhere..the boardwalk and cheesiness of the area are good/fun for only a short time, there are SO many lovely communities along the Coast where you can all appreciate the beauty of the coastline and area and the charm of the small coastal towns.

Some people own little vacation rentals in Seaside and I see a lot of advertising for them, but I was shocked at the reality of the place when I was actually there. imho.

There is a town, 10 mi south of Cannon Beach called Arch Cape..the Inn at Arch Cape is on the beach side of highway 101..all rooms have fireplaces, kitchenettes and decks with bbq as well as being set in a wonderful beautiful setting.
Look into that.. you could probably take over most of the Inn
www.innatarchcape.com

Good luck!

kimamom

Hi and welcome to the travel forums! Seaside is a great place to stay with children of these ages. There is a small aquarium there, a prom for walking, biking or skating and enclsoed carousel mall. Lots of fun shops and candy stores, etc.

The Rivertide Suites is a brand new complex in Seaside with many nice amenities including an indoor pool and small fitness center. It is walking distance to the prom in Seaside and the shops, restaurants, etc.

There is also a Comfort Suites and Holiday Inn in Seaside, all nice places for a family. If you want to be directly on the beach, check out the Shilo Oceanfront hotel. Enjoy your trip! ***kim***

beth_fitz

There is a place that we used to go as kids in central Oregon called Ka-Nee-Tah (it is on an Indian reservation)....it has warm springs fed pools. It looks like it has changed quite a bit since I was there with the addition of a casino and resort but was a great place for kids to swim and play. They even have teepees that you can sleep in overnight.

Crescent City is very pretty and the Redwood forest is outstanding...you might want to investigate the Oregon Caverns while in the area.

The drive up the coast is also wonderful, there a many places to pull off and enjoy the scenery.

Fodorite018

Beth--Yes, Kah Nee Ta is interesting, but it sure doesn't get mentioned much. I have been a couple times, but its been a few years.

sunbum1944

Outside of Florence is Honeyman State park - kids might enjoy playing on the huge sand dunes

also the dune buggy rides on the sand dunes are very fun- kids will love it.
http://www.sandland.com/

blueslipper

In my opinion, I would spend at least 2 days at the beach. I usually hate cheesy spots - but our family really enjoyed Seaside when our kids were young. We stayed at a very clean, family owned place. www.custerhouse.com. They were a couple of blocks away from the beach, but reasonably priced at the time. We had a little kitchenette which was handy with the kids. We also LOVE Canon Beach - which is definitely preferred if it was more of an adult get-away, but with the kids your ages - I think Seaside is a good bet. There's a nice boardwalk, playground equipment, lots and lots of sandy, ice cream shops, those Quadcycles you can rent and ride around in, etc. Very pedestrian-friendly. This was about 10 years ago...so things may have changed. I just looked on-line though, and the rooms at the Custer House were just as I remembered them. Nothing fancy - but CLEAN.

Fodorite018

blueslipper--Personally, I think Seaside has changed in the last 10 years, and not for the better. I think it is even tackier than before, IMO.

totoanddorothy

thanks for all the helpful replies. To answer some of the questions, yes we are flying into Portland. We are thinking about early June, mostly because of availability. I took the recommendation about Crater Lake Lodge and looked on line last night. It doesn't have really good reviews. Any suggestions? Maybe I'm looking in the wrong spot. If we give up Seaside, where along 101 is the best family spot. We have lengthened our stay at Timberline to give more time at the gorge and falls, but are still at a loss of where to stay on 101. Thanks again for all the helpful advice.

spirobulldog

A couple of other things for consideration. Oregan Caves National Monument. Great Old Lodge there. also check this out. I haven't don it, but it looks interesting. Especially for your age group. www.treehouses.com

Scarlett

You can stay in Cannon Beach and just spend a couple of hours in Seaside with the kids.
All the beaches have something for kids , Dune buggy rides, etc. like local "sunbum" mentions..
Google Manzanita .. I am blank on the name (Indian) of the area around there that is so amazing and might be a good spot for you to stay that is still close to the Seaside arcade area..

Great that you got Timberline all booked !

Scarlett

http://www.gonorthwest.com/Oregon/co.../Manzanita.htm

blueslipper

Does anyone have an opinion about Lincoln City? I have a vague memory driving through there once and thought the beach looked nice. Again, Canon Beach is wonderful, too. That's too bad about Seaside becoming tackier. When I was there, it reminded me of the boardwalk in the movie Beaches. I've never been to the boardwalk in New Jersey - but it just reminded me of that atmosphere.

Scarlett

I don't know about the boardwalk that you mention ( I never saw Beaches lol) but I was once in NJ at that awful cheesy boardwalk , Seaside is the West Coast equivalent..fun for the little ones for an hour then I can't stand it

I can imagine the adults on this trip would most likely prefer spending a day with the kids there but be happy to leave when the fun starts to run out.
Unless these people are lovers of DisneyWorld and can do this day after day..my daughter lives in Fl and she has friends like that..personally, I would rather go to the dentist

happytrailstoyou

The trip you've planned requires a great deal of driving over a short period. The six children are certain to spend a lot of time asking, "Are we there yet?"

I think you need to do more research.

Crescent City and Seaside are two cities I try to avoid when I travel the coast.

Much of your driving will be on slow-going two lane roads.

The drive to Crater Lake and back isn't very interesting IMHO.

sunbum1944

blueslipper
Lincoln city has some nice beaches and places to stay
You could stay almost anywhere between Florence and Lincoln city and find lots of things for adults and kids to do -
In Newport is the Oregon Coast Aquarium everyone will enjoy - also lighthouses tours which the kids will love because they tell a great story of the ghost who lives in the lighthouse.
I took some relatives ( 5 and 8 yr old) to the lighthouse tour and when they got home the ghost in the light house story was the the first story they told everyone.

There are tidepools to go exploring
and Old Town Newport is still a fishing village combined with the tourist attractions- huge sealions come up on the docks in the center of town and are fun to watch

You might take a look at staying at Yachats- nice beach - you can build fires on the beach at night so kids would love that
I like Depoe Bay but there isnt really a beach there that I know of.