I%26#39;m posting this to both the Washington and Oregon forums, since I%26#39;ve seen others do the same. I need advice and recommendations.
We%26#39;re arriving at SEATAC at midday on June 8 (with a departure of June 18, midday). Originally, I think we%26#39;ll try to get to Port Townsend upon arrival and rental car pickup (after over 8 hours of flying). Another possibility is to head for Anacortes, spend the night, do a whale watching tour (Island Adventures keeps being mentioned), then leave Anacortes for Port Townsend. If that%26#39;s a good plan, what%26#39;s the best route from Anacortes to Port Townsend? How long does that take? Or, better to do this part at the end of our loop, which I%26#39;m posting below, and go from SEATAC to Port Townsend upon arrival. I keep hearing the ferries are jammed, so better to drive around the sound? Also, I read somewhere that at least one ferry is canceled because of tides, but I%26#39;m not sure if it%26#39;s one to/from Port Townsend.
Anyway, our goals besides whale watching for orcas are:
Native art, perhaps in Port Townsend? Northwestern art galleries, also here? One night in Port Townsend.
Olympic National Park (1 night at Port Angeles- lodging recommendations appreciated- and 1 night at Lake Quinault Lodge). We do want to explore and like short, moderate hikes, no more than 5-7 miles round trip. Perhaps a visit to the Makah Reservation. From Lake Quinault, is it best to head for I5, or go along the coast to the Oregon border?
Some select places along the Oregon Coast. A couple of lighthouses look interesting. The whole coast, so different from our Florida Gulf coast, seems fascinating. Is the Sea Lion Cave overly commercialized? We prefer quieter areas and small towns, but with places of interest. Recommendation on what to see in 2 days max would be appreciated.
Northern CA%26#39;s Redwood National Park (given our lack of time, would it be better to drive the entire Oregon coast to Crescent City, or pick a few places, then head for I5 to go south?
Oregon%26#39;s Crater Lake
Columbia River Gorge
Mt. Ranier (if we can squeeze it in)
Back to Seattle, and, if we don%26#39;t do the whale watching when we arrive, go to Ancortes before we fly out on June 18 at noon from SEATAC.
BTW, the Washington and Oregon tourism departments have kindly inundated us with information. Maybe too much %26lt;g%26gt;
Thanks
Washington/Oregon early June
You are really trying to squeeze a lot into 10 days, but since I live in Washington next to the Oregon border, here are my thoughts.
1. Skip the whale watching trip, it takes at least half a day and chances of seeing whales up close can be %26#39;iffy%26#39;. Just tour Olympic National Park and save the San Juan Islands for another trip.
2. Native art--consider driving out from Port Angeles to Neah Bay to the Makah Museum. An outstanding display of Native American culture.
3. Oregon Coast - there really aren%26#39;t any places that are over-commercialized IMO. Skip the Sea Lion Caves, you can see more sea lions on the docks in Astoria or Newport for free.
4. Recommended lighthouses--Yaquina Head, Yaquina Bay, Heceta Head.
5. Since you are only allowing 2 days along the OR coast, I would not try to go as far south as the CA redwoods.
6. Crater Lake - still likely to be some snow there, check their website.
7. Columbia River Gorge--definitely! Easy day trip from Portland to Hood River and return.
8. Mt. Rainier ??? - Do Mt. St. Helens instead, this really is a %26#39;must see%26#39; if you have not been there before.
Washington/Oregon early June
%26lt;%26lt;3. Oregon Coast - there really aren%26#39;t any places that are over-commercialized IMO. Skip the Sea Lion Caves, you can see more sea lions on the docks in Astoria or Newport for free.%26gt;%26gt;
And with less ';stank';.
You might want to keep in mind the fact that driving the Oregon coast is very time consuming. It is a very demanding driving experience with lots of twists and turns that will really tire you out. You will be lucky to make forty miles an hour during the summer months on Pac Hwy 101 because it is only two lanes almost eighty per cent of the way from Astoria to Brookings.
Nonetheless, the drive on Hwy 101 is an experience everyone should have once in their life. I used to live in Englewood and Venice, but grew up here. Nothing compares to it. The other posts are correct in saying you can see sea lions and whales all along the way. There is a family of whales off the coast near Yachats year round, we just saw them this past weekend. Also, there are literally thousands of tide pools and vistas as well, take your pick. The point is you won%26#39;t be disappointed no matter where you wind up on the coast.
For your dates and time, I would drive south to
Cannon Beach and Tolavana. Then go further south to Tillamook, turn toward the ocean and drive the loop from Cape Meares through Oceanside to Cape Lookout State Park and back to 101. These places are a great snapshot of Oregon coast and short enough to give you time to take it all in.
Ft Clatsop in Warrenton is an educational bonanza on Lewis and Clark, and the promenade at Seaside is summertime favorite. They each have their own attributes, but are good stop overs along the way.
As far as Crater Lake goes, you would be better off planning a trip south to Crater Lake using I5 and turning west in Roseburg on Hwy 138 to the South Rim, but it will probably still be snowed in during early June. Make sure you check with ODOT about road conditions before you attempt the drive, http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/ Ditto for Mt Hood, it can sometimes get a late spring snow shower.
Finally, don%26#39;t forget the mountains and coast are still very chilly in June. They can be downright cold after sundown.
Hope all this helps with your planning
Agree with Kitters- thats alot to see in 10 days- you;l be driving mostly- but doable- youll sleep on the plane home!! :)
An alternative to Redwoods NP--I%26#39;d drive down the Oregon Coast, but head inland at Crecent City and visit Jeddidiah Smith State Park(lots of redwoods here) on your way back to Oregon on Hwy 199- instead of going all the way to the Redwoods National Park.
Crater Lake will most likely still have snow on the ground-so youll have to use the the Southern Entrance.
If you get a sunny day, I%26#39;d opt for Mt St Helens(I like to see steamy volcanoes!) over Mt Rainer, but if the weathers crummy you wont be able to see either.
From Lake Quinault, I%26#39;d probably head over to I-5 and then possibly drive down to Salem, OR and then head west on Hwy 20 to the coast. You%26#39;ll miss out on some of the ORegon Coast, but since you dont have alot of time, and there is much to see, this might be an option.
Not to miss areas are Newport, Cape Perpetua, Oregon Dunes, Bandon and South Coast in general(Port Orford to Brookings is my favorite by far).
I don%26#39;t yet have a clear picture of how much time you want to spend in WA?
To give you an idea of distances, the Oregon coast is about 365 miles long via Hwy 101. Yes, you can drive it in two full days, but you won%26#39;t have much time to stop and see/do anything. I would not bother with Three Capes loop since you%26#39;ll see a lot of nice scenery south, and there aren%26#39;t a huge amount of ocean views on that loop.
There are some redwoods that you can see if you take Hwy 199 from Crescent City, but to really see them you do need to go a bit south, not a lot, but add a couple of hours in here too.
Then you%26#39;re heading for Crater Lake (on Hwy 199), which is a half day drive from Crescent City. From there it%26#39;s about two hours to Bend, not counting time at the lake. Note, the north road *should* be open by then, but there is no guarantee!
It%26#39;s about 3 hours from Bend to the gorge, another 2 or so back into Portland. Hope this gives you a feeling for the time/distances. Nine days may not be enough to do what you want :-(
We used to live in WA. I would skip Anacortes and head over to Port Townsend. It is a wonderful little town. Definitely make time for Fort Wordon State Park. Check out Officer%26#39;s Row, the lighthouse, and wander around the old bunkers up on the hill and the views from up there are really good!
If you are interested in staying a night in PT, we have stayed at the Morgan Hill Guest Cottage several times and really enjoy it. They have several properties and the owner is very easy to work with.
In Port Angeles, we have had good stays at the Olympic Lodge. Very reasonable rates, nice hotel, the rooms on the backside face the golf course so it is very quiet.
If the north entrance to Crater Lake is still closed, obviously it will take much longer to get back up here to the Portland area.
If it is open, from Crater Lake to Bend takes about 90 minutes, and Bend to Hood River in the gorge is about 3 hours. Hood River to Portland is only an hour, but with stops to see the sights, it can be as long as you want.
Hi, I know the Seaside area very well, the Rivertide Suites would be a nice place to stay here, there are also several places right on the Prom that would be nice if you want oceanfront. Hi-Tide, Ebb-Tide, Shilo Oceanfront, Inn of the Four Winds are all nice choices for lodging. We also like the Tides by the Sea down by Ave U. www.seasideor.com
I hope you have a wonderful time exploring the Oregon Coast! :)
Not sure the OP has mentioned staying in Seaside?
At this point, travlibrarian, I have a feeling you%26#39;ll need to take a look at your itinerary and decide if you want a quick ';drive-thru'; of the sights, or perhaps cut out some miles and have more time to enjoy each area.
We have a very similar trip planned. We are also traveling from Florida and staying for 10 nights at the beginning of June. We are flying from MIA to Portland.
We visited the Olympic Penninsula June 2007. Flew into Seatac. We stayed at the Red Lion in Port Angeles and had a good experience. Very nicely maintained motel.
Really enjoyed visiting the Hoh Rainforest- it was incredibly lush and otherworldly. As a native Floridian, I was enchanted by a landscape that was so completely different from my own. We didn%26#39;t go as farth south as the Quinault area. Heard from a couple of different sources that the rainforest in the Quinault area was even lusher than in the Hoh area further north. Wish I had had time to see it.
We are spending a full day in the Columbia Gorge- starting in Portland and then spending the night in Hood River. Then one full day in the Northern Willamette wine country. We are doing a few scenic drives with stops for short hikes -traveling south through the Willamette National Forest corridor. We are traveling east but stopping just short of the Bend/Deschutes National Forest area. Maybe I%26#39;m completely wrong, but from what I gathered the forest here is drier. We have enough dryness Florida. We want to see something incredibly lush so we opted to skip this area of Oregon. It might be a mistake because travel guidebooks seem to love the Deschutes area. If we had more time we%26#39;d venture over but choices have to be made... We are also visiting Crater Lake. We are driving south on I-5 to Roseburg where we%26#39;ll take hwy 138 east (the Umpqua Hwy). That road is supposed to be very scenic. We%26#39;ll then take hwy 230 south and circle around to Crater Lake%26#39;s southern entrance. From there we are heading south on hwy 199 and going through Jedediah Smith- this is where we%26#39;ll see our redwoods. I didn%26#39;t feel the need to go further south- people say really nice things about Jedediah%26#39;s redwood forest. Then from here we swing north and are hugging the coast until we reach Newport where we travel inland to I-5. We are spending one night in Bandon and one in Florence as we head north. There will be lots of places to pull over and stops to get out and explore so I know the drive will be very slow-going.
This will be my first visit to Oregon so I don%26#39;t speak from experience, but planning this trip, I know that it will be at a very fast pace. And we aren%26#39;t flying in from Seattle and spending time in WA. I agree with the others that you might want to trim some stuff off. I empathize though, because it is hard, when you are traveling from so far away, not to want to squeeze a lot of stuff in because you don%26#39;t know when you will be able to return.
%26#39;As far as Crater Lake goes, you would be better off planning a trip south to Crater Lake using I5 and turning west in Roseburg on Hwy 138 to the South Rim, but it will probably still be snowed in during early June. Make sure you check with ODOT about road conditions before you attempt the drive, http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/ Ditto for Mt Hood, it can sometimes get a late spring snow shower. %26#39;
Sundaddy, I have searched this site to get the info for Crater Lake Rim Drive, but I can not see it. Can you point me into the right part of the site please? We are going to Crater Lake in june and I am most interested in keeping up with the road and weather conditions.
Thanks
