Oregon Coast ???

[dezldog1]

DH and I have decided to go the Oregon Coast for holidays leaving on the afternoon of Aug 14Th.
It is last minute as we weren't sure if we should "chance" it with our next to new 5er.
I have a zillion questions so please be patient with me :-)

We are leaving from Edmonton Alberta Canada and really not sure of the best route. Tossing things around but haven't ever being there we really are going in "circles"

We have no idea of any do and don'ts, must see's and stay away froms.

Worried about the highways as we hear all winter about the slides on the coast..scary stuff..

We would really love some advice on this and campsites. Would love to stay at some really scenic sites but we are 35' with 3 slides and no reservations. We thought maybe we shouldn't go because we may not get a campsite then what would we do ??.....yikes !
Anyone been over the Sandpoint Bridge lately ???

Randy and I love nature. We have very short [COLOR=#11593c !important][COLOR=#11593c !important]RVing[/COLOR][/COLOR] season here so need to use our time wisely :-)

I am looking forward to any assistance as well as hints and tips you all may have to offer.

Thanking you in advance.
Jo

[Nigels]

Hi we did the whole length of the Oregon coast about a month ago, it is awsome, we did it in 3 sections stopping off for 4-5 days at a time and toured from there. We did not have reservations the campsites were about a third full due to the recession, we arrived back in Oregon today at Crater lake, here for a week they are about 75% full.

If you pass thru Portland we stayed at Portland Fairview RV Park, very nice and as close to Portland as you can get. Near Camping World 1 mile. The downtown open market in Portland is a must see and the gardens, especially the rose garden!

From Alberta you may end up doing the Columbia River from east to Portland, we stayed at a campsite at Maryhill, an interesting museum and stone henge, yes a replica, from there you can do Portland in a few hours. back track to places like Hood River. This is a beautifull river and Gorge with impresive waterfalls.

From Portland you could even do a day trip to Mount St Helens.

On the coast be prepared for fog on some days, it hangs on the coast but a few miles inland its sunny so on days like that do the interior.

First nite we stayed in Bay City there is a Pacific Oyster restaurant on the Wharf not to be missed, camp site Tillamook Bay City, spacious pull thrus, nothing special a bit of road noise but quiet at nite. Visit the Cheese factory at Tillamook, excellent, and try their IceCream, mmmmmmmmmm

Stayed next at Waldpoort Chinnook RV park, clean , friendly convenient, quiet, on a river would stay again, 35 sites, it is a small park. third stop Robins nest at Bandon okay, spacious quiet, boring, but reasonable rates.

Newport, Florence and Depoe Bay are delightful fishing ports with great restaurants. Gracies Hag in Depoe Bay does great Fish and Chips. New Port is good for day fishing trips you wil come back with a sack full of fish.

We skipped the seal caves as we had seen loads of seals on beaches and rocks in various places, and you can do caves on your own off the beach, we heard it was smelly, lol.

We visited most lighthouses, just about every park, great for birding, the whole coast is stunning.

Florence has the cheapest gas. we use gas Buddy.

If I can think of anything else i will post again.

How long vacation do you have?

[dezldog1]

What wonderful information !!
Thank you so very much
Unfortunately we haven't much time. We have to be home no later than Aug 28th.
My husband loves to fly fish and we both love golfing

I am at little more at ease about finding a site. We will travel on weekdays and try to "hunker down" on Friday for the weekend.

I guess what will be will be

Thnx again so much for your help

Jo

[F and E Damp]

Hello, Jo;

I second Nigel's comment about Sea Lion Caves - don't bother - it's expensive and when we visited last October, the sea lions weren't in residence.

On that trip, our first actual on-the coast stop was at the south end (almost) at Bandon and worked our way north to Lincoln City before the weather went sour on us. We might go back this year and do the Astoria to Lincoln City stretch.

From Anacortes, we stayed at a CG just off the freeway in Ridgefield the first night, then at a Good Sam place just south of Roseburg the second night. We went from Roseburg out to the coast and stayed at Cape Blanco SP. We headed north the next day as far as Florence and stayed at a Good Sam CG at Heceta Beach.

It had been a glorious few days - warm and sunny, not much wind but pleasantly warm rather than hot. The next day dawned wet, very windy and cool. We headed north with a stop at Sea Lion Caves, ending up at a KOA in Lincoln City that night.

Since I'd hurt my back at the first stop, we were thinking of abandoning the northern half of our planned trip. When we turned the TV on at the KOA, the weatherman said "five more days like this", so we headed for home.

Two weeks isn't long enough to do the Oregon Coast justice. It would take at least three, maybe four weeks.

My feeling is that you're better off going south, as almost all the sight-seeing places are to your right and it's much easier to turn off if you don't have to cross oncoming traffic.

It's your choice where to hit the coast. Since you're time limited, I'd recommend not trying to do the Astoria to Lincoln City section. It's a long way back north out to Astoria after you get to Portland. I'd suggest taking Highway 99 to the southwest from Portland, which merges into SR18 and goes through McMinnville to Lincoln City.

In McMinnville is the Evergreen Aviation Museum. The cargo airline, Evergreen Airlines, started out in McMinnville. The founder became very wealthy and started the museum after he bought Howard Hughes' "Spruce Goose" flying boat when Disney decided to sell it. It's a wonderful museum, well worth a visit.

With the economy the way it is, I don't think you'll have too much trouble finding sites. A lot of the grade schools out west have gone back this week or will next Monday, so it's only the weekends that will be a problem.

It's a wonderful place to visit and I hope you enjoy it.

[Bill_C]

BROOKINGS, beautiful place, campsite on the beach, big units parked there when we were there, walk to the small restaurant where the fishermen off load their crab catches and eat the freshest crab and clam chowder you ever tasted. We went for a day and stayed a week.

[flyrotor]

A lot of cool stuff to see and do at the Oregon coast, pretty much where ever you pick, just pack a sweatshirt, gets pretty cool sometimes

[tonyz]

I have spent a lot of time on the coast in Oregon. There is so much to do. I highly suggest researching a trip to check out the lighthouses, ft Stevens, fort canby (both have great camping) tillamook cheese factory, Cape lookout, Sea lion caves are good, but the whale migration should be in swing right now, you will see informational help at most pull outs on the weekends. Personally I avoid seaside and cannon beach, too busy. Newport is amazing. I suggest a north to south hwy 101 trip staying a couple nights in nice parks and only traveling an hour or so between stays. Once you get close, there will be more info than you can absorb once you are in the area, check the info centers and enjoy