Oregon/Northern California itinerary help

Would appreciate critique of our proposed itinerary for 8 September-21 September trip to Oregon and northern California. Specifically, would like to know if you think the places I have chosen to stay and the amount of time I have allocated for each are doable or could you suggest alternatives.

Our plan is to fly into Portland on 8 September and pick up rental car and head to Tillamook area to begin our coast drive (realize Tillamook is not on coast). We have been to the Cannon Beach area as far south as Tillamook before and want to maximize our time so I chose that as our starting point. Once itinerary is finalized (based on your input), I can get busy and make lodging reservations. Would appreciate suggestions of clean, comfortable places to stay that are $125 per night or less if possible. We like to hike, want to do a jetboat ride, walk on the beach, visit aquariums, visit lighthouses, explore tidepools, see the redwoods.

As currently planned our trip looks like this:

Sep 8 arrive Portland, overnight Tillamook or some place in vicinity to start trip south)

Sep 9 drive to Newport overnight Newport (Three Capes tour, Hatfield Marine Science Ctr)

Sep 10 again overnight Newport (aquarium, Yaquina lighthouse, History Ctr, Otter Crest Loop)

Sep 11 overnight Florence (Cape Perpetua, Haceta Head, dunes)

Sep 12 overnight Bandon (Coquille Lighthouse, overlooks)

Sep 13 overnight Gold Beach or Brookings (jetboat here?)

Sep 14 overnight Crescent City (redwoods)

Sep 15 overnight Orick or Trinidad (redwoods)

Sep 16 overnight Grant鈥?City (Oregon Caves, jetboat here instead?)

Sep 17 overnight Crater Lake (already have booked lodge鈥攖his is our splurge)

Sep 18 overnight Crater Lake

Sep 19 overnight Bend (Cascade lakes highway, Newberry Nat鈥檒. Monument, High Desert Museum)

Sep 20 overnight Bend

Sep 21 overnight Portland (stop to see Blue Spruce en route)

Sep 22 fly home to Florida

All of your input will be much appreciated.

Oregon/Northern California itinerary help

I suggest you might not need two nights at Crater Lake.

You will see a fair amount of Blue Spruce out here, but there is only one Spruce Goose. :)

I assume you have websites for much of your list? If not, holler...

That%26#39;s a nice trip.

Oregon/Northern California itinerary help

Looks like a great trip! You have definitely done your homework.

Re: the jet boat tours on the Rogue River - I liked the Hellgate Tour from Grants Pass better than the tour from Gold Beach, but others on this forum tend to prefer the Gold Beach trip.

We did the Grants Pass tour on a very hot day and took the Dinner cruise. When we did the Gold Beach tour, it was cloudy and quite cool when we started out in the morning. It warmed up by the time we got to Agness and was very nice on the return trip, but the cold early morning weather was really disappointing.

Okay, looks as if you%26#39;ve done your ';homework';, LOL ;-)

Sept 10 - Otter Crest Loop is only open southbound.

Sept 11 - Florence is not on the coast, it%26#39;s behind the dunes. There is only one hotel on the ocean there, it%26#39;s called Driftwood Shores.

Sept 13 - If you want to take the jet boat ride, suggest you stay in Gold Beach as it saves the half hour drive from Brookings in the morning.

Sept 15/16 - Here it gets a little more complicated. There is nothing much in Orick other than the carvings; perhaps two very inexpensive motels. Trinidad does have lodging. You%26#39;d have to backtrack north up to Crescent City to get to ';Grants Pass'; via Hwy 199. Why not think about staying two nights in Crescent City and just drive down to Orick area? You could take the Newton P Drury parkway one direction.

Sept 18 - I might be tempted to take away one night from Crater Lake and maybe stay a night in Hood River. The boat ride will have finished for the year, so unless you hike or just want to sit nad relax, there is not much to do beyond about 3-4 hours there!

Overall looks good and you%26#39;ll have enough time to see a lot :-)

Oh, forgot to add Crescent City to Eureka is about 1.5 hours via the main highway 101 (part of it is actual real freeway). So that gives you an idea of the timing.

Blue Spruce?

There is a shoe tree on Hwy 97 near the historic little town of Shaniko.

Hello and welcome, looks like a great time! We love the Hellgate Excursions for the jet boats that run out of Grant%26#39;s Pass. The Riverside Inn is there for lodging, the boats leave from this property. Have fun! :)

Nice itinerary!

Suggest Oceanside or Netarts for your first night. Both are within 10 miles beyond Tillamook, and either would put you in a better frame of mind for the start of your trip.

Don%26#39;t miss Yaquina Head Lighthouse on Sept 9; not to be confused with Yaquina Bay Lighthouse. Might make sense to rearrange activities a little based on relative locations in/around Newport - e.g. Hatfield Science Ctr and the Aquarium are almost next door to eachother.

You%26#39;ve listed the dunes, but no dune buggy ride?

As Kitters said, the reason to choose Grant%26#39;s Pass over Gold Beach for the jetboat is the weather. It%26#39;s usually warmer around Grants Pass, and cold + wet = miserable, on a jetboat. But, full day tours are only available from Gold Beach. And, i you%26#39;re planning a full day jetboat tour, consider two nights in Gold Beach, dropping the one in Grants Pass.

As you note, we can help fill in the holes once you%26#39;ve firmed up the itinerary.

Thanks for all your suggestions. We will stay in Oceanside rather than Tillamook and do the jet boat ride from Grant%26#39;s Pass--we%26#39;re Floridians and don%26#39;t do cold well! Thanks for the correction on the Spruce Goose--that is what I meant. Some restaurant suggestions would be great. Very much appreciate the time you all take to help others.

Roseanna%26#39;s in Oceanside has received very good reviews here. :)

No Ashland/Oregon Shakespeare Festival?

It%26#39;s a genuinely nice town and the theater is one of North America%26#39;s largest and most financially successful.