Date of Trip: July 2-7, 2022
Oregon was the state I was most excited to visit. Despite my high expectations, its natural beauty surpassed them all. I’ve put together our action-packed itinerary highlighting Oregon’s vastly different landscapes. We went from waterfalls to mountain lakes to the desert all in one day! Then to Crater Lake, the Redwoods and all the way up the coast all within our 5 day trip.
Itinerary:
Day 1: With very little time, we opted for a super early flight from ATL to PDX. Picked up car in Portland and hit the road by 11:45am
First stop was Latourell Falls (35 minute drive from PDX)
There was a two mile hike or you can just walk to the viewpoint. Because we were on a tight timeline, we just walked the viewpoints.
Latourell Falls Loop on AllTrails
https://www.alltrails.com/widget/trail/us/oregon/latourell-falls-loop-trail
Guy W. Talbot State Park (Latourell Falls Trailhead) – Oregon State Parks
Next stop, Bridal Veil Falls which was a 5 minute drive from Latourelle Falls. Parking is limited but it’s short walk to a pretty fall.
Bridal Veil Falls State Scenic Viewpoint – Oregon State Parks
Next stop, Multonomah Falls which was an 8 minute drive from Bridal Veil Falls. A timed-use permit is required (it’s extremely busy). So either plan ahead to join the massive crowds or do what I did and just take a picture driving by. It’s very pretty, maybe if you get there early and have a permit you can have a less crowded experience.
https://www.oregon.gov/odot/waterfall-corridor-permits/pages/default.aspx
Next stop on the waterfall tour was Wahclella Falls which was a beautiful hike. The trail head is a 10 minute drive from Multonomah. Parking is also difficult here, we parked along the road on a steep drive. Careful around here as there are known to be car break ins often.
It was a two mile hike and took us about an hour. Loved the canyon views throughout and we were treated with a beautiful waterfall view at the end.
Wahclella Falls Trail on AllTrails
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/oregon/wahclella-falls-trail?sh=sxlnu6
After the falls, we stopped in Hood River (22 minute drive time). I really wish we had more time to explore because there looked to be tons of adventures in the surrounding areas.
Notable for me was the little lunch spot where we got a picnic lunch to enjoy at the lake, River Daze Cafe.
From Hood River, we drove to Trillium Lake for magnificent views of Mt. Hood (50 minutes drive time). We drove to the trailhead for the Lake Trillium loop on AllTrails. It took us about an hour or less to complete. There was a $10 fee to park.
Trillium Lake Loop on AllTrails
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/oregon/trillium-lake-loop-trail?sh=sxlnu6
From Trillium Lake, we drove to our first hotel in Redmond. It was really interesting to watch the landscape change on the 1hr 35 minute drive.
We stayed at a really cool boutique hotel in Redmond with a perfect location to explore in the morning.
Day 2:
Started with a sunrise hike at Smith Rock State Park. This was one of my favorite parts of Oregon. The hike was 3.5 miles and took us 2 hours.
Misery Ridge and River Trail on AllTrails
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/oregon/misery-ridge-and-river-trail–2?sh=sxlnu6
After the hike, we went back to Redmond for brunch at a nice little brunch spot called One Street Down Cafe.
We hit the road to Crater lake which took 2 hours and 40 minutes. We planned to stop in Bend, and I highly recommend that you do, but we just did not have time. You could also hit Pilot Butte and Sparks lake but given our timeline, we had to skip.
Crater Lake National Park: I advise to try to go as early as possible in the day to avoid Disney like crowds (we did not due to drive times). We stopped at all the tourist stops along the rim. The ranger recommended a hike to Garfield peak to escape the crowds and enjoy 360 views. It was 3.5 miles with nearly 1100 ft elevation gain. I had dressed for touring rather than hiking but with a quick shoe change, I was fine. Even in July, there was still snow on the trail and I got a little cold- especially sliding down the mountain.
Garfield Peak Trail on AllTrails
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/oregon/garfield-peak-trail?sh=sxlnu6
Views from the other side of the Garfield peak trail ⬆️
After our hike, we had a long drive to Medford (1 hour 45 minutes).
We stayed the night in Medford in a regular chain hotel just as a strategic place to stop.
Day 3: We left Medford early for the coast. We decided at the to dip into the California Redwood Forest which didn’t add very much drive time- it took 2 hours to get there from Medford. The drive through the park was absolutely stunning.
We stopped at Jedidiah Smith Redwood State Park and did a short hike through the redwoods I’ve linked below.
Jedediah Smith River Trail on AllTrails
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/california/jedediah-smith-river-trail?sh=sxlnu6
Excuse my distorted upward panorama pics but I couldn’t really find a way to capture how huge these trees were.
From the Redwoods, we drove to Samuel H Boardman State Park (51 minutes). This state park was absolutely beautiful and another favorite spot in Oregon. We stopped at 9 of the trail heads/scenic viewpoints that I’ll list below—and also how I entered them into Google maps. At each spot, we either did an AllTrails hike or just followed some locals to viewpoints.
1- “Lone Ranch Beach Picnic Area”
2- “Cape Ferrelo viewpoint”
3- “House rock viewpoint”
4- “Whaleshead Beach”
5- “Indian Sands Trailhead”
6- “China Beach”
7- “Natural Bridges”
8- “Secret Beach”
9-“Arch Rock”
Lone Ranch⬇️
Cape Ferrelo to House Rock on AllTrails
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/oregon/cape-ferrell-to-house-rock?sh=sxlnu6
Lone Ranch to Cape Ferrelo Loop on AllTrails
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/oregon/lone-ranch-to-cape-ferrelo-loop?sh=sxlnu6
Indian Sands:
One of my favorite sections. Here is an alltrails hike as an example, but we did this one along with all the little local trails.
Indian Sands Trail on AllTrails
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/oregon/indian-sands-trail?sh=sxlnu6
Natural bridges. These are the iconic photos people take at Samuel H Boardman ⬇️
Secret Beach. Loved the moody weather at this spot.
After exploring Samuel H Boardman, we drove to Bandon, Oregon where we stayed in a yurt on a large property with goats, pigs and other farm animals roaming. Highly recommend Dew Valley Nature Retreat for a unique stay.
https://www.airbnb.com/slink/JLB4GERu
Day 4: Checked out downtown Bandon which was a cute little coastal town with great brunch opportunities. We ate at Bandon Coffee Co and also grabbed a lunch for the road.
Did a little walk around Face Rock Scenic Viewpoint in town.
Then based on our airbnb host’s advice, decided to rent dune buggies from Steve’s ATV rentals in North Bend Oregon (45 minute drive up to coast from Bandon).
ATV Rentals Oregon Dunes – Steve’s ATV Rentals
We explored all along the dunes for a few hours. There were nice views and it was a super fun experience (for Steve especially).
From there, we drove up the coast to Thor’s well (1hr 20 minutes). I’ve attached the AllTrails trail guide. It’s a natural sinkhole that appears to drain the sea. Easy walk to view it up close and surrounding bridges and waterspouts.
Thor’s Well – Yachats, Oregon – Atlas Obscura
Captain Cook Trail and Thor’s Well on AllTrails
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/oregon/captain-cook-trail-and-thors-well?sh=sxlnu6
We stayed the night in Seal Rock Oregon on our way up the coast. It was a comfortable airbnb I’ve linked below.
https://www.airbnb.com/slink/6jWPQKnC
Day 5: We started the morning checking out the beach by our airbnb by Seal Rock Beach. Our plan was to drive up the coast and maybe stay the night in Cannon Beach. We didn’t have any accommodation booked for our last night so we could have options.
We stopped quickly at Cape Kiwanda (1hr 25 min drive from Seal Rock).
You could then stop by Tillamook (30 minute detour). We planned to have some ice cream but there was no parking so after driving around for a bit, we opted to skip it.
Our next stop was finally a hiking destination along the coast, 45 minute drive from Tillamook. It was a 2.9 mile hike with stunning scenery near Oswald West State Park.
There was an option to keep going to the beach below which I highly recommend as it was beautiful
Elk Flats Trail and Devil’s Cauldron Overlook on AllTrails
https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/oregon/elk-flats-trail?sh=sxlnu6
After the hike, we decided to make our way to Astoria to stay the night. We skipped Cannon Beach and Ecola State Park due to heavy rain but you could check those out for some great hikes (Ecola point to Crescent Beach Trail was a good one I read about).
We picked a boutique hotel I’ve linked below. It was a hip Scandinavian hotel with welcome drinks and free saunas overlooking the bridge.
I recommend exploring the cute town of Astoria and maybe checking out the Goonies house if you’re into that kind of thing.
To close:
We basically did a full circle around the state in just 5 days. I’d recommend also checking out Big obsidian flow fields and the various hot springs around Bend (such as Umpqua Hot Springs, Snively Hot Springs, McCredie Hot Springs, Paulina Lake Hot Springs, Alvord Hot Springs, Crane Hot Springs, Belknap Hot Springs Resort).
I found this blog helpful in planning. They have great content and recommendations.
The Mandagies – Pacific Northwest Photography & Travel
These are just a few of my recommendations to help you plan your own adventures. If you have any questions or need more tips, feel free to reach out—I’d love to help! Happy travels!
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