Oregon Coastal Drive: Portland, OR to Eureka, CA

In My Humble Opinion
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In a couple of weeks we’re doing a Washington and Oregon vacation: a few days each in Seattle and Portland, followed by a drive from Portland back home to Berkeley, CA.

I’m reasonable familiar with Seattle and northern California (I’ll actually be in Seattle for business at the start of this trip; its more for the benefit of our travelling companions, although I love Seattle and will enjoy being a tourist there again), and we’re taking the train from Seattle to Portland. What I haven’t done before is the Oregon drive. We intend to cut across from Portland to US-101 and take it all the way down the coast until at least Eureka. We’ve done the California coast before so at that point we’ll probably cut inland and stop by some of the Redwood related parks. We have about three days to get home from Portland, excluding time spent in Portland proper but including the detour I want to take to go see the Multnomah Falls.

Does anyone have any advice in terms of must see stops, good places to eat, etc? I hear this piece of coast is renown for its lighthouses. Any strong recommendations?

Thanks!

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I did a portion of that trip once, circa 1978: Bay Area, up Highway 1 all the way to Coos Bay, over to I-5 at Eugene, and up to Portland. While in Portland, I did the Multnomah Falls. There is a trail alongside the waterfall that goes from the bottom to the top. Do that.

On the way home, I stopped at the little wide spot in the road at the mouth of the Rogue River. There are (or were?) several small family-business tour operators there that did flat-boat excursions up the river. On the spur of the moment, I decided to do that. Strongly recommend, if you can spare a day. If you can’t spare a day, change your schedule so you can.

They take you up river, where there are some little B&B type lodges that can only be reached by boat (owned by the same people who run the tours, of course). You stop there for a communal-style lunch, then they take you back down the river. Unless you’ve signed up for the overnighter, in which case you stay for dinner and all night, and go back down the next day. Again, on the spur of the moment, after the lunch, I decided to do that. They had a room available, so it worked out. Beautiful one-night-stay side trip.

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Thanks! I forgot to mention that we’ll be travelling with our 2 year old son, so a day long boat excursion is probably more than we can handle. But I’ll check out the river close to the coast and see if there are some good shorter excursions.

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We drove the entire Oregon coast a couple of years ago, staying in state campgrounds all the way. We visited all of the lighthouses and a lot of the beaches. It’s very difficult to recommend a specific choice, although places like Cannon Beach and Newport are pretty crowded. The coast is spectacular and rugged, but unless you really feel like you have to walk on the actual beaches, I’d mostly opt for overlooks along the way. Some of the lighthouses have great views, with short hikes to get out to them. Restaurants are hit or miss, with most catering to tourist traffic that they know won’t be back. The more weathered and olde timey they look, the worse they are likely to be. I’d check out ratings on Yelp or other guides to find places you might like.

If you’re headed over to the coast from Portland, you’ll end up in Astoria. There’s a really good maritime museum right on the main drag. Not far from it, on the left, is a fish and chips shack that is pretty good. I think it’s a converted railway car. Drive all the way up to the Astoria Column, which is a good overlook and of historical interest. Further down the coast, Sea Lion Caves has been a tourist stop of many decades. I wouldn’t bother with it, unless you enjoy the stench of a million years of seal shit.

At Tillamook, you can visit the eponymous cheese factory.

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If you’re anything of a bibliophile, check out Powell’s bookstore in Portland.

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My Home town!!! The jet boats really are amazing, and a 2 year old might enjoy them, especially if you only do the short trip. There are two companies, the Mail Boats and Jerry’s Rogue Jets, and buying tickets ahead of time is a good idea, it gets busy. Jerry’s is based out of the town marina, and has a little gift shop and museum about the area.

There isn’t much else to do in Gold Beach, but its as good a place as any to spend the night, and its better than some, because it has a 24 hour grocery store.

Bandon, about an hour north of there, has a cheese factory too, and the itty-bitty hamlet of Langlois (pronounced LANG-luss) has a convenience store that sells locally made fancy sausage-inna-bun that is good. Worth stopping for lunch.

South of Reedsport, every town has at least one Myrtlewood store - they say it only grows on the southern Oregon coast and in “The Holy Land” (which makes it super speshul because???). But it can be pretty and makes a nice keepsake, a lazy susan or a stamp dispenser or a clock.

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We drove on 101 from the Rogue River to Astoria on a trip all over Oregon two summers ago. Stayed the night in Bandon, Newport, and Astoria.

The lighthouses are all picturesque and generally easy to access, even with a small kid. Also, they are mostly 15-minute type stops, which works well with a toddler’s attention span. Be aware that sometimes the fog is so thick you can’t see much, still fun though.

The bridges on 101 tend to be good-looking as well, and they all seemed to be different. Not exactly worth stopping and marveling over, but cool nonetheless.

If it says “state park”, “scenic overlook”, “state recreation area” or similar, it’s probably worth pulling over for a walk or at least a quick look-around. Cape Perpetua (near Newport), Devil’s Punchbowl (same), and Ecola (near Cannon Beach) state parks are the only names that come to mind, but we stopped pretty much everywhere and even the worst views were nice. Tidepools, sea stacks, seabirds, unusual wave patterns, etc. Again, very amenable to a small child’s interests and the adults’ desire to get some fresh air and a walk.

Razor clams at the Drift Inn in Yachats. Just sayin’…

Newport is a smallish city with a quaint if a bit touristy waterfront, a harbor full of fishing boats, and a couple of good places to eat. The Oregon Coast Aquarium is in Newport. It’s not huge, but is quite well done. Nearby is the Hatfield Marine Science Center, run by Oregon State U, which has octopuses and a touch tank, among other things. Rogue Brewery is also in Newport, if you like their beers, not sure if they do tours.

Astoria has some nice old buildings, a busy, if kinda touristy, waterfront and the excellent Columbia River Maritime Museum; in addition to the exhibits there is a lightship out at the dock that you can climb around in. A bit further down the street is Josepheson’s Smokehouse, where you can get enough smoked fish to last the rest of your trip.

The Sea Lion Cave, near Florence, is a hoot. Yes, it’s sort of a tourist trap, but it’s one of the good kind. How can you not enjoy a big dark cave with the ocean in it and a ton of loud sea lions hanging out on the rocks? Be aware that you are not actually going to be wandering around in there, it’s more of an overlook from an interior ledge.

The areas in and immediately surrounding Coos Bay and Tillamook seemed kind of boring, but nothing bad.

FYI, all gasoline is full service in Oregon and an unusually large number of businesses do not take American Express.

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No recommendations; just wanted to note the nice thread title/username combo.

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AND if you’re a movie geek and loved Goonies, you can drive through Astoria and just…be amazed at seeing everywhere in the movie XD On the same note, you can see the famous Haystack Rock from the movie if you take a stop in Cannon Beach, which is further south.

Also, the shortest pier in the world is in Depoe Bay. Seaside is a good kid town but it is an absolute MADHOUSE on the weekends if the weather is even halfway decent. Tillamook Cheese Factory’s a nice short visit. I love the free cheese samples myself lol. And there’s a pretty nice outlet in Lincoln City. A good place to make use of our lack of sales tax. Further south of that, I have no idea.

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I like Bandon a lot, as it has childhood memories of my mother, my aunt and I staying in the Table Rock Motel (which is still there, 55 years later), and playing with the anemones in the tidal pools. Also Agate Beach, although you can’t find agates there any more. I remember scooping them up as I walked along.

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When I was a kid, my family did a very similar drive: from Salem, OR down to the redwoods in northern California. We designed it as a “lighthouse tour” – I’m pretty sure we saw them all. My memories are a bit fuzzy, as this was around 15 years ago, but my family still spends a lot of time on the Oregon coast and it’s pretty spectacular. My highlights (I spent most of my time in the area between Tillamook and Newport):

  • Cascade Head: There’s a pretty spectacular walk you can do out to the head, which is a protected wildlife area. Lots of birds, butterflies, and often elk. You can drive nearly to the top, so it’s a mostly flat walk.

  • The Three Capes Loopis also nearby; stunning gorgeous views and a few lighthouses.

  • Pacific Cityis one of my favorite small towns (although sadly, rapidly expanding–my family stays in Oceansidenow, which is even tinier.) There’s car access to the beach just north of Pacific City–you can park on the beach or in a small parking lot and walk all the way to the sand dune that separates that beach from the large beach in PC proper. From the top of the dune, you get a great view of the famous “Dory boats.”

  • Boiler Bayis a great quick stop on the coastal highway.

  • The Newport Aquarium is pretty good.

  • Bandon, further south, has spectacular seastacksas well.

  • Restaurants we like:

Grateful Bread(Pacific City)
Hawk Creek Cafe(Newskowin)
Mo’s (a local cliche, now sadly degenerated, but the clam chowder is still good and their Lincoln City location has a beautiful spot on the beach) (Lincoln City or Newport)
Dory Cove(still have good fish and chips, but sadly now in an extremely ugly–although convenient–location) (Lincoln City)
Local Ocean Seafood(REALLY good local seafood, right on the bay) (Newport)

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In Astoria there is a riverfront trolley that you can ride all along the waterfront for a dollar or two. The conductor will describe the area and sights, good show for a couple bucks. I would also recommend the view from the Astoria Column. If you are passing through on Sunday there is a great Sunday Market right in the middle of downtown.

In Cannon Beach drive up to Ecola State park for excellent ocean views at the end of the Lewis and Clark trail. I think it is a couple dollars to park.

Wherever you dine while on the coast, if you like seafood, you must have fried razor clams, they are in season and to die for. I’ve got a couple hundred razors in my freezer so far this year.

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Grateful Bread is that shack along the main drag, right? It’s the place all the touring music groups like to stop. I know Heart has been in there along with many others. Gets a 95% on Yelp. Mo’s was outstanding back in the 70s when I stopped at the original (and only, at the time) in Newport. I’ve heard it’s gone downhill.

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Any locals know where the beach with all the agates is? mrAru used to go there when he was a kid with one of the scout troops he hung with. I am pretty certain it is in Oregon …

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My hometown is in Brookings, just across the California border. Tons of beautiful beaches there; you really can’t go wrong. Try Lone Ranch or Whaleshead.

And the redwoods in that area are pretty awesome, too. :slight_smile:

edit: I don’t know about THE agate beach, but there’s one across the border near Smith River that’s supposed to have a lot of agates.

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As I mentioned, it was likely Agate Beach. But the agates are now buried under about 20 feet of sand.

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Thanks for all the suggestions! I’ll have to take some time to digest them and see what fits into our schedule.

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Just south of Tillamook, there is an air musium in an old blimp hanger. If you are even a little bit into aircraft it is worth a look. Last time I was there, it was allowed to touch the exhibits. My boys loved it!

In Portland OMSI, Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, is worth the time and $$.

Gotta go now. I will check back later.

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I want to piggyback on this thread; I’m also driving the coast. My wife and I are flying into Portland, then driving to a family reunion in Springfield by way of Astoria, Lincoln City, Coos Bay, etc.

The only things I know we’re doing are Goonies locations and tidepooling at Cannon Beach. MrsGnu is too burnt out from work to make any decisions and she’s calling the whole state “your hometown” since I grew up in a Portland suburb.

I kinda want it to be seat-of-the-pants whatever, but I’m concerned about motel vacancies on the coast in late June and early July. Should I reserve rooms?

Good suggestions so far :slight_smile:

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I would definitely get reservations during the summer. The place gets mobbed, especially on weekends.