Oregon/Northern CA roadtrip recommendations?

May 30, 2024 12:39 PM

I've never been to Oregon and will be taking a little road trip starting in Portland this August. I'm trying to figure out if we want to fly in/out of Portland or fly into Portland and out of San Francisco. I'm tempted to keep it simple and loop back to Portland.

My kids and I are interested in spooky vibes, the ocean (we're going to try and stay by the ocean each night), animals, forests, offbeat places and people. I'm thinking of first heading north to Cannon Beach, then south. I'd really appreciate any recommendations, even a suggested itinerary to work off of. Ultimately, the goal is to explore a new place, relax, be by the ocean, see animals, eat ice cream and collect sea glass.

posted by retrofitted to Travel & Transportation around Newport, OR (8 answers total)

My wife, son (then five), and I did a similar trip during the summer of 2022, starting in Portland and driving one-way to San Francisco, with lots of stops in between. We took I-5 south from Portland then cut over to the coast at Eugene to hit Florence. It sounds like you might want to consider going from Portland to Astoria and following the coast all the way down to maximize ocean stuff and chances to eat ice cream (especially at Tillamook).

Here are some random observations from our trip that might be helpful. First, finding a *nice* hotel along the Oregon coast is sometimes challenging. This can determine where you stop and how much time you spend in places along the way. As part of our trip, we ended up staying in a decent-enough place in Gold Beach, though my wife was very happy that it was only for one night. On a related note, our most expensive hotel for the trip was the Holiday Inn in McKinleyville, CA---much more than the much nicer hotel we stayed at in downtown San Francisco. Not sure if this is because of how we planned and booked things, but I was surprised by this detail.

If you are going to spend any time in downtown Portland, or at the Oregon beaches for that matter, then you will encounter many unhoused people. This is not a negative, but if you or your kids are not used to this, it's good to have some conversations before the trip just to know what to expect and how you might react. For example, my then 5-year-old son was curious about the open drug use we saw happening in downtown Portland, so my wife and I had to figure out a realistic (non-demonizing) way to respond. For the most part, all of the people we saw and interacted with mostly wanted to do their own thing, though there were a few shouts and strong words directed at us a couple of times. The Oregon beaches were similar with many people camping at the beaches, and the challenge for us was to keep our son from waking up too many people!

Finally, it's A LOT of driving to do this as a one-way trip. We stopped for a few days to visit family in Northern California (Humboldt County), but even with this break in driving the stretch from Humboldt to Ukiah was the most boring part of the trip for me. I'm not sure if there is a better way to break up that part of the trip. Overall, the driving was good, but we were also pretty happy when we turned in the rental car in San Francisco.
posted by El_Marto at 2:20 PM on May 30 [1 favorite]

I would do a loop so you have more time doing and less in the car. Portland - Astoria - down the coast maybe as far as Crescent City, CA where the redwoods are awesome, literally. Then back up along the Smith River, maybe Oregon Caves, back up 5 with whatever ice cream and winetasting stops you need.
posted by janell at 3:39 PM on May 30 [1 favorite]

Best answer: If you like spooky vibes, it's definitely worth it to go a little further north to Fort Stevens near Astoria. There's a big rusty boat wreck on the beach and (the real highlight to my mind) this huge old crumbling cement artillery battery. It feels like wandering around some missing level from Myst, and there's all sorts of dark spooky tunnels and ladders to weird places. More of it seems to be closed off every time I visit (since it's crumbling) but I still manage to find cool new stuff almost every time I go.

Photos and more information: https://stateparks.oregon.gov/index.cfm?do=park.profile&parkId=129
posted by duien at 4:02 PM on May 30

Best answer: Another fun stop along the coast is Oceanside. It's a cute tiny beach town with a really cool, unique beach. There's a cliff at the northern end with a tunnel blasted through it that leads to a more secluded beach full of tide pools that can be a great spot to find agates and jasper (although summer isn't the most likely time to find them). At very low tides, you can walk around the base of the cliff as well, but the tunnel is reachable even at high tide, so you won't get trapped on the beach. You can see some similar sea stack rocks to what's at Canon Beach, even without going through the tunnel, and it'll be much less crowded.

A little south of there in Netarts, there's a restaurant called The Schooner that's right on the bay with a good-sized outdoor seating area and really excellent food.
posted by duien at 4:12 PM on May 30

Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport.
posted by matildaben at 5:35 PM on May 30

Fort Stevens is a good inclusion. And do get some hot-smoked salmon to nosh - there are a million shops in Lincoln City and Depoe Bay. Watching boats navigated the channel into Depoe Bay is nice entertainment while chomping the fish.
posted by janell at 5:53 PM on May 30

We're planning a honeymoon roadtrip between San Francisco and Seattle. I can't vouch for any of it, but this is stuff south of Portland that looks cool or I've had recommended:

- Heceta Lighthouse Bed & Breakfast
- Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park (Damnation Creek Trailhead)
- Crescent City (coast)
- Fern Canyon (hiking)
- Trinidad (hiking)
- College Cove Beach
- Patricks Point (coast)
- Arcata (bay)
- Ferndale (Victorians)
- Petrolia (coast)
- Black Sands Beach
- Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens
- Glass Beach
- Point Arena (coast)

Beyond that I can specifically recommend Sea Ranch (cool architecture, nice beaches), Salt Point State Park (cool rocks, tide pools), and Fort Ross (Russian fort).
posted by umwelt at 8:54 PM on May 30

Best answer: August in Cannon Beach is nice, but August in Rockaway Beach, just a bit further south, is every bit as nice and waaaaaaaaaaay less crowded. Not sure what your time scale is, but stay the night in Rockaway and visit Cannon Beach during the day and you won't be sorry. Rockaway's charming and fun, and the beach itself is wide and accessible and really nice, and Rockaway is also significantly less expensive than CB in the summer. There are a lot of cool shops and restaurants along 101, the main street of town, and during the summer there's a scenic railroad you can take to Garibaldi and back that's a fun little 30 minute adventure.
posted by pdb at 11:58 AM on May 31