Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Seeking adivce- 12 days Oregon only or OR/WA

Fodor's Travel Talk Forums (https://www.fodors.com/community/)

- United States (https://www.fodors.com/community/united-states/)

- - Seeking adivce- 12 days Oregon only or OR/WA (https://www.fodors.com/community/united-states/seeking-adivce-12-days-oregon-only-or-or-wa-1138331/)

Seeking adivce- 12 days Oregon only or OR/WA

Hi there,

My husband and I are planning a PNW trip for June. I was originally thinking Portland/Seattle/Vancouver, but now I am leaning toward cutting out Vancouver for this trip in favor of seeing more of Oregon.

We will have 12 days including flights to/from Chicago.

Here is the outline I have so far:

1: Fly into Portland AM
2: Portland
3: Portland; PM drive to Columbia River Gorge area
4: Columbia River Gorge
5: Drive to Bend
6: Bend
7: Drive Bend to Oregon coast (unsure where exactly)
8: Coast
9: Drive coast to Portland; train to Seattle
10: Seattle
11: Seattle
12: Fly Seattle to Chicago

Does this sound reasonable? Now I am even debating cutting Seattle. I really want to see Seattle but don't want everything to feel too rushed. What do you think? My husband and I are in mid-20's and enjoy mix of hiking/exploring cities/breweries.

Thanks!

Pros and cons of including Seattle...

Pros - It's a very beautiful, dynamic and vibrant city, with lots and lots to see and do both within the city and nearby - ferries, mountains, islands, lots of great food and drink...

Cons - during the (Alaska) cruise season it's very crowded and very expensive. Hotel costs are astronomical, every sightseeing destination is packed to capacity, and frankly June is not the best time to visit weather-wise. (We say locally summer begins on the 5th of July.) Note this also applies to the coast; the odds of cloudy or wet weather fall sharply after the first part of July.

My general comments on your outline:

It's certainly doable in the time you have. From Bend the logical route to the coast would be via either Eugene (to Florence) or Albany (to Yachats/Newport) then north to Cannon Bay, Ecola State Park, or (my preference) Cape Disappointment at the mouth of the Columbia.

I'd be tempted, however, to consider an off-the-beaten-path alternative to Bend, however, which would entail a couple of hours more driving than your current plan but which IMO would be worth it given your priorities.

Google Joseph, Oregon and the Wallowa Mountains. The Wallowas are an exceptionally scenic area, tucked into the extreme northeastern corner of Oregon, and Joseph is a picturesque and quite artsy little town nestled in the mountains, with gorgeous Wallowa Lake on its doorstep.

The weather ought to be terrific, you could stop in historic Pendleton along the way (home of the iconic Pendleton woolen mills, makers of incredible blankets, shirts and other cool things) and see a part of Oregon few people see. Also stop in Maryhill WA on the way out or back and visit the funky Maryhill Museum and nearby Stonehenge replica.

Here's an imaginary map - https://goo.gl/maps/fjYz5u8F2aR2 - that involves a visit to the coast - Ecola State Park near Cannon Beach, up to Cape Disappointment, then back along the (historic) north shore of the Columbia to Hood River. You'd then head east,out to Joseph, then back to Hood River, Mount Hood and the Gorge, ending back at PDX. This route is reversible of course, i.e. east first, then back west to the coast and ending at PDX.

This would eliminate Seattle, which like Vancouver deserves a trip of its own. But you'd certainly see a terrific selection of Northwest scenery.

Possible timetable -

Day 1 - Arr. PDX, drive to Ecola/Cannon Beach
Day 2 - At the coast
Day 3 - Coast to Cape Disappointment, PM to Hood River
Day 4 - Hood River to Joseph via Pendleton
Day 5 - Wallowas area
Day 6 - Wallowas area
Day 7 - Joseph to Hood River via Maryhill
Day 8 - Hood River/Mt. Hood/Gorge area
Day 9 - Hood River/Mt. Hood/Gorge area
Day 10 - Portland
Day 11 - Portland
Day 12 - Fly

I believe what Gardyloo said about lodging in Seattle.
One possible improvement to your original itin. would be to fly to Seattle first and then see what you wanted to see.
Take the Amtrak Cascades train to Portland and rent the car the next day after you've seen what you want of Portland.
Spend a night in Hood River before heading for Bend.
Head south on Rt. 35 from Hood River on the east side of Mt. Hood up to US 26 and then east to Madras and south on US 97 into Bend.
The Wallowas are nice, but wouldn't you rather visit Crater Lake? You can be at the north entrance of Crater Lake NP in slightly less than 2 hours from the south end of Bend.
Leaving Crater Lake north entrance head west on Rt. 138 down the Umpqua to Roseburg and then north on I-5 exiting on Rt. 138 to Elkton. From Elkton it's Rt. 38 to Reedsport.
About 5 miles before you get to Reedsport, you have the chance to see a herd of Roosevelt elk at the Dean's Creek viewing area.
Just south of Newport, stop to see the Oregon Coast Aquarium. On the north end of Tillamook, stop to see and buy something from the Tillamook Cheese factory.
Be sure to see Haystack Rock (Cannon Beach/Ecola) before heading back to Portland to drop the car and fly home.

I live in Seattle, my family's down in Oregon.

Definitely cut Vancouver. As far as Seattle it could go either way. You could get a peak at the city and surrounds in 2 days, and it's only 3 hours drive up from Portland. BUT there is *plenty* to do in Oregon to fill a 12 day trip. I am partial to the Oregon coast myself!

What about something similar to this route?

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Port...45.5230622!3e0

Sorry for the obnoxious link!

With the itinerary being:

1: Fly into Portland; drive to Columbia River Gorge
2: Columbia River Gorge/Mt. Hood
3: Drive to Bend with possible stop at McKenzie River Trail
4: Bend (Smith Rock State Park)
5: Drive Bend to Crater Lake
6: Crater Lake
7: Drive Crater Lake to Umpqua Hot Springs to Yachats
8: Yachats (Cape Perpetua) & other coastal sites?
9: Afternoon drive Yachats to Portland
10: Portland
11: Portland
12: Fly Portland to Chicago

I don't know. I like Gardyloo's itinerary better. But it depends if you are more scenery people or more city people. If you really like cities, I'd stick with Seattle. There are low price lodging options (not many, but some). Eastern Oregon is wonderful but not a replacement for cities. Crater Lake is not likely to have more dependable weather than Seattle or the coast that time of year in my opinion.

Since you like beer- look up Mcmenamins Hotels. You could do the whole time staying in all of them- it would be a lot of fun, and I definitely recommend the one in Bend!

Maybe I'm overthinking it and veering too much from my original goals for this trip.

If I concentrate more on breaking the trip into 2 parts (Portland/Columbia River Gorge/Northern Oregon coast and Seattle), how could I arrange that itinerary? This would cut Olympic National Park & focus on Seattle with daytrip to snoqualmie falls.

I know we would want to take the train from Portland to Seattle. So my main concern is I will need a rental car for Columbia River Gorge & the coast but do not want to pay for it while we are staying in Portland. Ideas?

There is so much to do in Bend and area, I would consider spending an extra night or two there since hiking and brewpubs are an interest.

There is some good rafting from there too.

If you can, I would come the end of June rather than beginning as summer usually does not really begin until after Jul 4.
June can be cool and still a bit rainy.

OR last idea- sorry for the overflow, just thinking out loud so to speak.

1: Fly into Portland; drive to Columbia River Gorge
2: Columbia River Gorge/Mt. Hood
3: Portland
4: Portland
5: Portland
6: Train to Seattle, rent car, port angeles ferry via bainbridge drive to Forks
7: Forks
8: Forks
9: Port Angeles
10: Seattle
11: Seattle
12: Fly Seattle to Chicago

cchamp: I personally much prefer Gardyloo's plan to your new idea. But to qualify that . . . for me Crater Lake is semi-meh. Very pretty, but - especially when all the roads aren't open it isn't 'worth' the effort IMO/IME.

Look, you really can't go wrong, but much depends on what you want out of this trip. Do you want a mainly outdoors, more road-trip sort of experience, or a more urban one with day trip excursions?

It's all about choices and personal tastes, of course, but your first alternative doesn't whelm me. Crater Lake may not be fully open (lots of snow on the rim road) when you're visiting, and - at the risk of sounding churlish - to me Crater Lake is a "two hour" national park. Oh wow, how beautiful. Now what? Plus, every time I've been there in the early summer (also late summer/early autumn) it's been socked in for all or part of the time, with the actual lake being invisible.

And for that experience you're driving a hell of a long way. How else could you spend those hours in a region that's overflowing with marvels?

Your second alternative is more to my liking, although here I wonder how Forks squares with your expressed interests in hiking, cities, and beer. The hiking part, fine, but Forks is (being charitable here) quite plain, potentially soggy in June, and all the local beer comes in cans. Port Angeles is certainly better, but PA is a major schlep from the Hoh Valley or the Olympic NP coastal beaches.

You could combine Portland, the coast, Olympic NP, Seattle and the Gorge more effectively in my mind, with a route like this - https://goo.gl/maps/PY2X2N6fXD52 (Hint - using Google maps, go to the menu bar and choose "share or embed this map" then opt for the "short url" option.)

This would entail driving east from Portland through the Gorge, up scenic US 97 through great "old west" scenery to Yakima, then across the Cascades on I-90 to Seattle. I'd then suggest visiting Whidbey Island en route to the Olympic Peninsula, then visit Hurricane Ridge, the Hoh Valley, Ruby Beach and Lake Quinault before continuing south to Cape Disappointment and Astoria/Cannon Beach before returning to Portland to fly home. This would eliminate the train but would simplify things.

I'd look at the Edgefield for your Portland area stay - http://www.mcmenamins.com/Edgefield - sounds like it would be right up your alley. And to save money while having a great experience, stay in Mukilteo, a very cute little town 30 min. outside Seattle instead of paying scary sums for a hotel in the city. Mukilteo has a cute lighthouse, a terrific brewpub, and the Whidbey Island ferry dock all a block from the Silver Cloud hotel, which sits out over the water. It's a cool location - http://www.silvercloud.com/mukilteo/

On the west coast of Olympic NP, I'd try to book space at Kalaloch Lodge, or else Lake Quinault Lodge. Accommodation out there is mediocre. Forks would do in a pinch, but it involves doubling-back from Ruby Beach and the Hoh valley.

Keeping the car and using it for exploring Portland and Seattle makes sense because the savings on accommodation you can achieve by staying outside the city center will more than outweigh the cost of parking the car while you visit some attraction or another.

1 To Portland, overnight McMenamin's Edgefield
2 Edgefield, day trip to Gorge, Mt. Hood
3 Gorge, overnight Hood River
4 Hood River to Mukilteo via US 97
5 Seattle area
6 Mukilteo to Port Townsend via Whidbey
7 PT to Forks via Hurricane Ridge
8 Forks to Kalaloch via Hoh rain forest and Ruby Beach
9 Kalaloch to Astoria via Lake Quinault, Cape Disappointment
10 Astoria to Portland
11 Day in Portland
12 Portland to Chicago

What are you going to do for 3 days in Forks?

I don't think I'd do ONP at all. And I like your first itinerary more than your last itinerary. Gardyloo's above suggestion would be a good route but entirely too rushed for me. I agree with Suze about Bend- I'd pick that over Forks, Mukilteo, and Even PT any day. For one thing, the weather on the east side is likely to be a whole lot drier- I'll hike in the rain but it's not my first choice. Also, Bend has an awesome beer culture- the other three would be my last choice in the whole region if I wanted good beer.

I feel rather comfortable about your initial plan... I was quite moved by that first post/instinct, that I've been ready all along to wholly endorse your very first offering.

BUT now I'm slightly curious as to why you are so interested in Forks... for IF it is because of the Twilight movies, you can get more bang for your Twilight buck in St Helens, Oregon than you would in Forks itself.

There are many spots in the small town of St. Helens, Oregon which served as recognizable sets in the first Twilight movie, including Bella Swan's original home. (The Cullen home is in the Portland area)

Oh, and if nobody mentions it specifically, you might add Timberline Lodge to your east of Portland itinerary.

Also, if you find central Seattle hotel prices to be prohibitive, then consider finding a spot very near to the Seattle airport, from which you can take the Link Light Rail into the center of town, for $2.75 each way.

IF arriving into Seattle by train-train, you could cross the street from the train station, to the local bus tunnel, and from there catch the rail RIGHT to the airport (where hopefully you'd find a room at a better rate very nearby) (and have the bonus of waking up there, near the airport, on your fly-home day).

Generally, though, your very FIRST offering here was about as spot-on as we ever expect OP's to be!

<< 2 parts (Portland/Columbia River Gorge/Northern Oregon coast and Seattle) ... cut Olympic National Park & focus on Seattle with daytrip to snoqualmie falls.

You did... just arrange the itinerary that is. That plan works fine :-)

You have a lot of good options and it's hard to go wrong. We spent 3 nights in Bend last week as part of a month long Glacier/PNW trip and really enjoyed the surrounding area and could've easily spent another night or two. We went to Smith Rock and Newberry Crater and had we had more time would've liked to have done the McKenzie and Cascade loops. We also spent one night at Crater Lake Lodge and thought the views were magical but almost missed seeing the lake entirely due to fog (our appreciation of the views might actually have been enhanced by the fact that the lake hadn't been visible for two days before we arrived)! The rim road and north entrance closed early this year so there really wasn't anything to do other than walk around in knee deep snow but we're still glad we didn't skip it and would like to return at another time when the road/trails are open. We've been to Olympic NP previously and loved it and became fans of the North Cascades on this trip. Sorry, you'll just have to start planning the second one :)

You'll have to wait until late November for the guided snowshoe hikes in Crater Lake NP. https://www.nps.gov/crla/planyourvis...shoe-walks.htm
The Park Service does provide snowshoes for your hike. The one time I did the hike, I brought my own snowshoes.
The south entrance is open all year and they use a rotary plow to clear the road from the visitor center up to the lodge parking lot.
The McKenzie Pass (242) is closed until spring. ODot runs a rotary plow through one way in April and the highway is open to bicycles until it is deemed safe for cars.