Hi, I am from Seattle and am planning to take my family on a tour of Oregon on the long weekend starting from 26th may to 28th may. That means we have 4 nights 3 days starting from Friday night of 25th May to Monday night of 28th. This is our first time to Oregon (and first ever road trip on our own) and I have the following tour points on my mind and please help me decide if this is a feasible plan and if something needs to be adjusted keeping in mind the time needed to cover the areas in regard.

Day 1 Saturday- Leave early morning for Astoria Oregon, reach after 3.5 hours, look at the astoria bridge from the astoria column and cross the four mile astoria bridge across columbua river into oregon to head south to cannon beach to visit the haystack rock. Stay the night someplace nearby.
Day 2 Sunday - Head to hug point state park before exploring the beaches at oswald west state park and then continue down to cape lookout state park(cape meares/cape kiwanda which one out of three?) via the three capes scenic route. Drive to Portland and stay the night there.
Day 3 Monday- Head to portland Japanese garden, spend 1-1/2 hours to 2 there, ( not sure about international Rose garden, since read a couple of reviews that the flowers are still not in bloom at this time of th year?) head to Columbia river Gorge visiting the multnomah falls, do the short hike on the eagle creek trail and finally head to Mount Hood to take the Magic Mile aerial chair lift which is a total 30 min ride. Ride Back to Seattle the same day.

Here how it looks like in a summary. Please have a look.

Please let me know if anything seems too ambitious for a day and should be adjusted. Would really appreciate your inputs and thoughts.

You may find that several of the places you want to visit in the Columbia Gorge will still be closed because of the damage done by a huge forest fire that happened in August. The fire was started by a teenager throwing a firecracker in the Eagle Creek Gorge from the trail.
The roses won't be in bloom until late July or maybe August.
The Tillamook Cheese factory is still using their temporary visitor center while they are expanding and improving the original center. They have great cheese and ice cream.

Hi Tom,

We want to visit the multnomah falls and columbia river gorge via the historic gorge highway.. will those be closed?

Thanks and Regards,
anupriya

You mention family, but not knowing the ages it is hard to make some recommendations.

Do you have reservations in Astoria yet? With it being a holiday weekend, that needs to be a priority or you might well find yourself with no place to stay. Most places in Cannon Beach, and quite a few in Seaside, require 2-3 night minimums this time of year, and with the holiday most places will be booked solid. As for which beaches to visit, I hate to recommend without knowing who is in your group (kids, ages etc).

The Japanese Garden is beautiful. It is a tad early for the Rose Garden, which is usually ideal in June, hence the Portland Rose Festival

As for the gorge, no you will not be able to get anywhere near Eagle Creek. The fire last summer has made most trails in this area inaccessible and the old scenic highway still has a portion closed. You can visit Portland Woman's Forum, Crown Point Vista House and then you will have to get back onto I-84 to get to Multnomah Falls as the old highway is closed all the way to Ainsworth State Park. At MF, you can get up to the little bridge, but that is as far as you can go right now.

I think your plan is going to require a bit of luck to come together. Don't underestimate competition for overnight lodging pretty much anywhere on the coast, and given that they're still skiing at Timberline, you might encounter major crowd and parking issues at the lodge. I would definitely make Timberline a real-time call; the current forecast is for next weekend to be rainy on Saturday and Sunday, and partly clear on Monday. If, however, it remains cloudy on the Monday, then the chances of being completely socked in are high, rendering the chairlift experience a bit of a waste.

As mentioned, the Eagle Creek trails and much of the old road east of Crown Point is closed. On a holiday weekend, and with access to Multnomah Falls limited, I fear you're also going to run into a lot of people in areas that ARE accessible. You might want to stop at Latourell Falls while you're on the old road; it's outside the fire impact area and is always quite beautiful, and usually not as crowded as Multnomah Falls.

At the risk of upsetting your plans, and not knowing your family's composition and size, let me lay out a rather different plan for you to consider.

You said you have Friday night to Monday night available, but the plan above shows you leaving Saturday morning. Let me propose that you get on the road Friday evening and go partway to the Oregon coast before stopping. Stay someplace like Longview, which is not super appealing but which will be inexpensive compared to the coast, and there shouldn't be any shortage of accommodations.

Saturday morning, up early and head to Cape Disappointment on the north side of the Columbia's mouth. Cape Disappointment State Park is pretty wonderful - waves on rocks, a couple of lighthouses, good Lewis and Clark interpretive center, and Waikiki Beach (the other one.) Then cross the river and work your way down the coast - Astoria, Ecola State Park, Cannon Beach.

Here's where I'd part with your general plan. I'd suggest leaving the coast south of Cannon Beach for another time, one when you can go as far south as Newport and Yachats (or, ideally, all the way to the California line and the redwoods.) Instead, I'd spend Saturday night somewhere else besides the coast. Frankly, I'd head inland to Portland and spend the night there.

On Sunday morning I'd make an early judgement on the Mount Hood question. If the forecast is cloudy on the mountain, hang around a little while in the city, then drive down the Historic Highway past Chanticleer Point (Portland Women's Forum view point) and Vista House, then to Latourell Falls before doubling back to get on I-84. Stop at Multrnomah Falls (accessed from I-84) and - especially if there are kids with you - stop at the Bonneville fish hatchery for a visit with Herman the Sturgeon, a huge and ancient fish that's been pleasing kids of all ages for over 50 years. The kids (assuming) can also by packets of food to feed the baby trout in the holding pens.

If the forecast is for good conditions at Timberline, then I'd skip exploring Portland (living in Seattle Portland is available any weekend you want; taking the train is fun and quite cheap.) I'd drive the Gorge, but try to get up to Timberline by early to mid-afternoon.

Either way, I'd spend Sunday night in Hood River (if you can find accommodations - start looking asap) or worst case continue east to The Dalles.

Monday morning I'd do some more exploring in the Hood River/Gorge area. Maybe visit Lost Lake (good views of the mountain if it's visible) or head north of the Columbia to Trout Lake (WA) with good views of Mt. Adams. In any event, I'd leave the area in the late morning or noon and head east, not west. Around 45 minutes east of Hood River is the Maryhill Museum, a fascinating little bit of fine art (Rodin sculpture etc.) out in the sagebrush. Just east of the museum is a replica of Stonehenge, set on the clifftop overlooking the Columbia River. Since the weather is almost always warmer and drier east of Hood River (past the Cascade crest) you might look for short hikes in this area instead of the wet country to the west.

In any event, return to Seattle via US 97 north to Yakima, passing through terrific "old west" scenery and the Yakama Indian reservation, then I-82 to I-90, over Snoqualmie Pass and back to Seattle. This is a FAR more pleasant drive, through much better scenery, than boring and trafficky I-5 back to Seattle. From Hood River, the "wheels turning" time is almost exactly the same.

Here's a map showing this route - https://goo.gl/maps/xzrw9QkEJyT2 . Google the places shown on the map or mentioned above, and see what you think. Good luck!

You can get to the bottom of Multnomah Falls but the trail above the lodge is closed and will remain so for several months. The Historic Columbia Gorge Highway is closed for 6 miles from MP16 to MP22. A lot of rocks came down on the highway after the fire and more are expected to come down when there is heavy rain this spring.

I agree with Gardyloomthat you should try to start on Friday and get at least to Longview. You say you have 4 nights and 3 days, but I’m only counting 2 nights (Saturday and Sunday).

I think your your plan for Monday is too ambitious. Even taking into account what others have told you about not being able to do some of the things you’d like to in the Gorge, the amount of time it will take you to visit the Japanese Gardens, drive to and visit Multnomah Falls area, drive to Mt. Hood and do the chairlift and then have to drive back to Seattle in holiday weekend traffic will make for an extremely long day. Especially if the weather doesn’t cooperate, I’d drop Mt Hood and head back to Seattle after Multnomah Falls.

Because of it being a 3-day holiday weekend & coming up so soon, I would start with finding reservations on where you can stay each night. And work your itinerary backwards from that. No sense nailing down a great plan for sightseeing, if there isn't availability for hotels/lodging nearby.

Gardyloo--The old scenic highway now has an entrance to I-84 eastbound shortly after Bridal Veil, so you don't have to backtrack anymore. You still reach MF via 84 instead of 30, but no backtracking required. Very nice timing for this!

The access to Multnomah Falls is from a parking lot in the median of I-84 (left exit). The second highest waterfall in Oregon is off Rt 58 (Salt Creek Falls) The path over from the parking area takes you to the top of the falls.

The International Rose Garden is just across the road from the Japanese Garden. Take 5 minutes to enter the garden. The view is beautiful.

Agree with Gardyloo's general plan. But certainly Hug Point is just a few miles south of Cannon Beach so stop there too.

Regarding hotels, for when you come back from the coast: People on this forum are very intent on getting a spot in downtown Portland. I like downtown, but I wouldn't spend premium to stay there, especially for your short visit.

Alternatives:
1. The three hotels in Northwest Portland. They aren't that expensive, and would be close to some great restaurants: Inn at Northrup Station, plus the two further out on Vaughn--Holiday Inn Express and Silver Cloud. You would be near some good restaurants at these properties and a great neighborhood.

2. Given that you want to go to Washington Park the next morning, consider a hotel in Washington County, right off the Sunset Highway 26. Most are pretty new, and virtually all are chains.
You would be as close to the Japanese Garden and Rose Garden in the morning.

Regarding the gardens: Get an early start if you want to park a car there. And by early, I mean early! aka arrive by 9 am. By 10 to 10:30, if the weather is nice, the Hwy 26 offramp will be backed up in both directions. Westbound from Portland will be worse.

But I really do think you want to visit the gardens. I am not sure what Tom is talking about, late July or August. From the official Friends of the Rose Garden site call for volunteers to come deadhead: "when the rose season is underway (typically late May)."