places to stay near things to do in oregon

March 4, 2005 3:35 PM

I'm trying to organize an Easter trip for 8 adults, a 16-month old toddler, and 3 dogs for the dates Fri, March 25th - Sunday, March 27th. I'd like it to be roughly equidistant from Yakima, Washington and Oakland, California. This places our vacation spot in central to mid/south coastal Oregon. I've already googled for pet-friendly Oregon vacation rentals and haven't had any luck (off-season, or already booked).

Has anyone stayed in this area and has a place they'd recommend that was off the beaten path? We'd ideally like to stay in a rustic or cabin-like place with room to sleep everyone, but multiple cabins would be fine with us as well. At this point, I wouldn't even rule out motel rooms if the surrounding area made up for it.

posted by pmbuko to travel & transportation (6 comments total)

If you were planning on taking I-5 South, getting to the coast is going to take you an hour and a half to two hours and be a pain in the butt if you're stuck behind a truck. If you really want to do it, you should but get ready for a long drive.

Some where south of Yachats and north of Coos Bay would probably suit you. You could hit Yachats by cutting to the coast from Corvallis thru Waldport, or you could hit Florence by cutting to the coast from Eugene. It'd probably be easiest to get to Coos Bay from Florence.

As far as where to stay, I don't know. Yachats is a cute little town with lots of cabins for rent. Florence is the next city south and quite large for the coast, I don't think you'll find what you're looking for there but you might need to settle for it. Coos Bay too is a little big but might have what you're looking for.
posted by pwb503 at 3:59 PM on March 4, 2005

Mid/south Oregon is off the beaten path. The big issue is whether you want to be on the coast (where there will definitely be less rentals) or just off I-5. For the latter, I did a google search on "vacation rentals" Medford (that, and Ashland, seem clearly to be your best bets), and got a lot of what looked like good sites.

I suspect that using rental and cabin would work as well or better than "vacation rentals" in a search. For example, this. [And the google sidebar ads may actually be relevant.]

Good luck!
posted by WestCoaster at 4:06 PM on March 4, 2005

If you're not opposed to staying in town, and you like Shakespeare, OSF's season will have started by then. Ashland is close to lots of outdoor activities with the (potential) bonus of being blanketed in free WiFi when you're in town. Great park for kids and adults, shopping, food, etc.

It is, however, an absolutely fucking miserable place to grow up...
posted by togdon at 4:14 PM on March 4, 2005

We rented for a weelend in February here, which is close to Lincoln City. Drove down the coast and back up though the Willamette. Lovely time, nice house.
posted by mwhybark at 5:46 PM on March 4, 2005

I second Yachats or the Alsea Bay area, if you want to be on the coast. North of the bay, towards Newport, there are fewer cabin-type accommodations than you'll find to the south. It's a difference of only a few miles -- it's only about 8 miles from Waldport to Yachats -- but cabins are far easier to come by to the south.

It's possible there are a few out in Tidewater along the river, but if you're really stuck on cabins, I'd head to the area between Waldport and Yachats, and south.

If you're willing to put up with more traditional accommodation, Waldport, Newport, and Yachats are all worth a stay. North of Newport are a few little "cute seaside town" touristy spots to try, too.

(Also, Waldport is a lovely little town, but an absolutely fucking miserable place to grow up.)
posted by majick at 7:50 PM on March 4, 2005

Thanks for the responses so far. Mother-in-law just told me that she already bought to plane tickets to Eureka, CA -- before we even know where we're staying -- and they don't want to drive more than 3 hours from there, so that rules out Yachats and northward. grumble...

The good news, I guess, is that I grew up in neither fucking Waldport nor fucking Ashland...
posted by pmbuko at 9:57 PM on March 4, 2005