We live in Northern California and would like to rent a small house for a week or two at the end of August. We have two small children (4 and 6). We are considering southern Oregon somewhere. We are not attached to being at the beach, though some water options would be nice. We'd like somewhere dry but not brutally hot during the days. We'd also like an area that is close to a town (or more) that has a good cafe for coffee and the like. Other than that we mostly want to rent a house somewhere remote-ish in which the kids can go out and explore the outdoors, climb trees, etc. Any ideas for towns/general areas? I know virtually nothing about the state - oh, and probably in the southern half of the state to avoide a drive longer than 6 hours or so. Thanks!

Consider Black Butte resort. Do you know Northstar at all? It's like that (self-contained) but much bigger and flat (no ski mountain). Two golf courses, lots of bike trails, tennis courts, swimming pools, various kinds of accommodations, from condos to luxury homes. Near the little town of Sisters and a little farther (but not far) from Bend. You can get your latte on-site!! We loved our family vacations there -- we went when our kids were in the 6-10 range. Here's a link:

http://www.blackbutteranch.com/

The other possibility is to forget Oregon altogether and go to Tahoe!

Thanks! Looks like a nice place. We like Tahoe but were thinking that somewhere up in southern Oregon might be less expensive (wishful thinking?) The all-in one packages at this resort look great, but we are less of the tennis/golf types, and we were thinking of renting a house in a more remote area, but with kids we are open to any and all options!!!

Ashland and the Rogue Valley's where you need to be.
Rogue River, mountains, a nice town.
http://www.southernoregon.org/
Look for housing here:
http://medford.craigslist.org/vac/
and:
http://www.abbnet.com/
http://www.ashlandchamber.com/

and you can daytrip to the ocean.

Grants Pass would be a nice place, there is the Rogue River there. You could take the Hellgate Jet Boat excursion down the Rogue, lots of fun. There is also great fly fishing in this area, the River Wild was filmed here. Have fun! ***kim***

Sunriver near Bend is great for kids (pools, floating river, etc). If you want something more rustic, check out Diamond Lake Resort. Sunriver is closer to a town (Bend) but it will be a little bit of a drive. I've heard good things about Running Y Ranch in Southern Oregon. Might check them out.