Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Trip Report Short Oregon Trip

We truncated our trip but had a really nice time anyway. We flew to Portland Oregon in the morning, and drove to Silver Falls State Park, about 1.5-2 hours away. It was freezing and I had a cold, so we walked around a little bit, saw the first fall which was nice and skipped the rest of the hike. We drove another 3 hours to Newport, on the coast later that day and stayed overnight.

The next day, we drove to Yaquina Head and the lighthouse which was really scenic along the water and just a few minutes from where we were staying. We hadn't planned on going, but it was so close and well worth it. Then we drove further along the coast. We got to Cape Perpetua in Siuslaw National Forest. We hiked from the ranger office/gift shop to Thor's well and spouting horn (it's a short walk, less than half a mile) and scenic. Thor's well is supposed to be spectacular in high tide, but it was still nice when we went.

After that we had a long drive to Crater Lake National Park. We were hoping to get there before dark and were staying in Chemult, which we passed along the way to the park. On the map it had seemed like they were only 25 minutes apart, but in reality it's double that, however, still pretty close. We got to the entrance of the Park at around 6:10 pm. Our plan was to see a little bit that day and more the next morning. However, at the entrance to the park, there was no one manning the booth anymore and we didn't have exact change to put in the envelope for admission fee. We were really disappointed- we weren't sure if we put in too little and then asked for change in the morning if that's allowed, or if we put too much money, if they would refund it. So we drove all the way back to Chemult.

The next morning we woke up early to go to the park. No one was manning that booth again, but we had filled up the car with gas, so at least we had exact change this time. I think it was the West rim drive that was closed. The East rim drive was open and we drove all along, stopping every so often for pictures of the lake which was foggy, but it was obvious that on a clear day, it's stunning. Wonder if it would have been cloudy the day before at sunset if we were able to go in to the park- maybe it would have been clear, but who knows. In the park, behind the visitor center, we stopped by the Sinnott Memorial Overlook to look at a beautiful but cloudy/foggy view of the lake again. We also passed by Vidae Falls on the way in, but missed it cuz the sign is partially hidden, but on the way back we drove through east rim again and this time saw it-it's small but worth stopping a minute for.

We were thinking of going to Tokotee Falls, which we hear is dramatic and beautiful, but didn't really have enough time and I couldn't gps it. We really wanted to go to the Columbia River Gorge, but because of the fire, almost everything was closed, so we skipped it. We drove back to the airport later that night and flew home.

I think one extra day would have been perfect for us, but all in all, our really short trip was beautiful! I liked everything we visited, but especially Yaquina along the water and Cape Perpetua. (Crater Lake would probably have been top if it wasn't cloudy.)