san francisco to columbia gorge
 

Planning our trip along the California and Oregon coast and would appreciate feedback and ideas for our stopping places:
May 27th..SF thru Healdsburg camping in Leggett
May 28,29,30 Camping in Crescent City
May 31, June 1,2 Camping in Beachside State Park, Yachats
June 3,4 Camping at Cannon Beach
June 5 driving through Columbia Gorge

Wondering if we are spending too much time along the coast but do want to do some hiking at each stop....any suggestions of good hikes? I understand there are some good wineries along the route as well...again..any suggestions welcome.

Three days in Crescent City seems like too many.

HTtY

Is this with your own car and camping stuff?
Where you are coming from and where you are going afterward may have some bearing on your general plan.
May 25 is Memorial Day FYI.
There are several Oregon State Parks with campgrounds along the coastline. Some of them have yurts if that interests you.
In southern coastal Oregon I like Sunset Bay and Tugman.
The best of the Oregon wineries are in the Rogue and Willamette Valleys far from the coast.

I would spend more time on hiking in the Gorge- many nice hikes- Eagle Creek is a nice waterfall hike . I would do more than a drive through the Gorge

Weather on Memorial Day could be anything.

Most of the wineries are not close to the coast but there is a tasting room in Yachats- Noble Estate - has some pretty good wines.

Stop at the Cape Perpetua Visitors Center close to Yachats for trail maps of the area. From the visitors center you can hike up to a nice ocean overlook- or you could drive to the top but hiking is better

Stop at Heceta Head state park south of Yachats. There is a nice trail up to the lighthouse for great views and this is my favorite beach in the area. Beside the lighthouse there is trail map that would lead you to an isolated beach- nice walk- beautiful beach

Umqua Lighthouse State Park does have nice yurts- walk up to the lighthouse at night for a light
show.

Are you returning south? If so by what route and when?

I think your coastal stops are a bit unbalanced; I'd be tempted to reduce the Oregon coast by a couple of nights and reallocate them to the Gorge, also I'd look at possibly spending the night along Calif. SR 1, maybe someplace near Mendocino. With a trailer SR 1 can be slow going in places, but it's a lovely stretch of coast.

I agree Crescent City is pretty meh; look at someplace between the Oregon state line and Bandon for at least one of those nights.

Tell us about your camping gear. If it rains and your gear gets wet, a yurt could be a lifesaver.
Just so you know, Yachats is pronounced ya-HOTS.
Plan on a stop at the Tillamook cheese factory just north of town along US 101.
The campground in the NW corner of Oregon that I am familiar with is Champoeg where Oregon was accepted as a state 156 years ago today. (February 14, 1859). As of next Wednesday we will have a new governor, Kate Brown. Our current governor is resigning in disgrace a month into his fourth term.

Thanks for the suggestions. We are camping in a tent trailer so rain not a problem. Staying in Crescent city to do some hiking in the Redwood forest but maybe I should reduce the time to two nights. The Columbia Gorge does look like a beautiful area so am thinking of staying at least one night there. Is Cannon Beach worth staying at or very touristy? Maybe I'll reduce that to one night Any further suggestions very welcome. We will be coming from San Francisco where we are staying four nights and from the Columbia Gorge we are heading to Canmore, Alberta, then eventually back to Ontario.

*Consider Garberville In addition to Crescent City: http://www.redwoodhikes.com
*Check out hikes in the Cape Perpetua area north of Florence, Oregon.
*Cannon Beach and nearby Ecola State Park are very much worth your time.
*Hood River is a great place to spend a night in the Columbia River Gorge.

HTtY

Hi sueger- I am formerly from Ontario- born in Sudbury but live in Oregon now.

Close to Crescent City, drive to the Klamath River Overlook. Great views, trail down to a lower overlook area. You can frequently see whales feeding down below. From there we did a nice hike to Hidden Beach- we used 2 cars though and did a shuttle but you could do part of it.

There is a nice Visitors Center in Crescent City where you can get hiking info and trail maps

Also check out the Fern Canyon

The Gorge gets VERY busy in the summer so try to make a reservation early for wherever you plan to spend the night.

Cannon Beach is touristy but I always enjoy it anyway. Have not done any hiking in that area but I have heard there are some nice hikes.

Enjoy- hope the weather will behave for you

here is a link to the Eagle Creek hike

http://www.oregonhikers.org/field_gu...nel_Falls_Hike

Be aware that apparently there are a lot of car break ins at this site so leave nothing valuable in the car

In the chance you might want to do a side trip inland, one of my favorite hikes is Silver Falls State Park- there are 10 waterfalls and that time of year should be plenty of water coming over them. the park is located east of Salem.
There are camp site available in the park as well -