We are going to leave Seattle about 4 in the afternoon and would like to stay somewhere south of Portland so that we can get up early, miss Portland rush hour, and drive 101 to Klamath, CA, where we are renting a house.
Would it be best to drive to a town on 101 in Oregon and spend the night the first night? Then we’d have the next day to drive the coast during daylight hours. Or do you recommend we stay overnight in Salem then make our way to 101 in the am?
Is 101 in Oregon in decent shape? Any issues we need to be aware of?
Things to do in Redwood National Park area?
Coastal restaurants we shouldn’t miss?
We know nothing of this area, but D1 called and suggested a spontaneous trip and we are game for it. She loves hiking and outdoor activity. We are arriving in Seattle on a Wednesday and are returning to Seattle on Sunday with plans to fly back to Dallas on Monday morning. I think that gives us 2.5 days in CA.
At Redwood National Park hike to the Tall Trees Grove (about 2 miles down the hill from the parking lot) where the biggest trees are located. They only give permits to 25 people per day (you get a code for the lock on the access road) so go to the visitor center fairly early in the morning (though we’ve never had problems getting the permit on a weekday).
Sounds like a fun trip! You are going to miss the wonders of the Olympic Peninsula (Hoh Rain Forest etc.) and Cannon Beach… I recommend at least making a brief stop at some of these beaches. They are spectacular. Cannon Beach would make a good point for an overnight stop. It has been awhile since we driven that route, so can’t say anything about the road conditions.
We drove multiple times down Oregon 101 to Redwood and beyond. The Oregon coast is spectacular, you will make many stops just to take in the view. IMHO, Cannon Beach, Bandon and Harris Beach SP with their haystacks have the most jaw dropping views. Stay on the coast overnight if you can. Cannon Beach is very popular, rooms are expensive and maybe hard to come by, depends on when you travel.
Walking among the world’s tallest trees when the light filters thru the canopy is like being in a cathedral. Unforgettable.
Redwood NP is a big area, with both state and national parks interspersed so pick an area and just hike. Lady Bird Johnson Grove hike is only 1.4 mile, an easy introductory walk. Check in with the rangers and they can recommend walks according to your ability. Where are you staying in Redwood? They are off the beaten path and I don’t recall lodging options there. We mostly camped.
Top of my head, I like these restaurants:
Gearhart: Pacific Way Bakery & Cafe
Cannon Beach: Ecola Seafoods
Oceanside : Roseanne Cafe
Newport: Local Ocean Seafood
Bandon: Lord Bennett
They are quaint charming restaurants, we like those better than the fancy ones. The Oregon coastal towns have been gentrified over the years so new restaurants crop up all the time.
Should you decide to stay overnight in Cannon Beach we really enjoyed the Inn at Cannon Beach. Not a hotel vibe, more like an Airbnb vibe. I feel like maybe the units did not have AC (???) but we were there in June and it just wasn’t needed - lots of nice amenities: http://www.innatcannonbeach.com/
S mentions that rush hour traffic in the Sea-Tac area is a nightmare. You might want to check the gps estimates on traffic at different times of the day and time your trip south accordingly.
@sylvan8798, thanks for that tidbit. D1 has to work that day, though she thinks she can get off at 3:30 and take the light rail to the airport. So I’m thinking it will be 4:00 at the earliest before we head south. We’ll just have to deal with the traffic.
@ccreader, we are staying 3 nights in an airbnb house near Klamath.
Due to the distances, I’m thinking we are only going to have 2 full days to enjoy the national park area. But from the sounds of it, the drive is actually a major draw to this trip.
Wednesday: travel from Dallas, meet D at the airport and drive 4 hours or more to overnight lodging.
Thursday: take the whole day to travel the coast from Oregon hotel to Klamath, stopping to enjoy sights along the way and make it to the airbnb well before dark.
Friday/Saturday: enjoy the CA area
Sunday: take the whole day to get back to Seattle and stay at airport hotel.
Monday early am: back to Texas
We would normally have planned more time for a trip like this, but D1 has to work, so our time is limited. But who knows how many times our D will want to travel with “just us” in the future? We take it when and however we can get it.
The bakery in Gearhart is wonderful. We’ve been going there for about as long as it’s been open.
Travel south from SeaTac at 4pm-ish is awful.
Traffic in JBLM and the Tacoma areas can be a nightmare. Check the Washington State DOT or Waze for traffic info. Also, the Olympia area can be a major State Patrol speed trap. Best to strictly keep to the speed limit on that area.
Astoria has a couple of great breweries. Ft. George is popular with my family.
@Nrdsb4 It’s a long drive down the coast for one day. My H thinks you should just drive part of it, either north or south, but not both. I will describe the coast to the best of my memory and you can decide.
Cannon Beach to Newport, the highway hugs the coast, many viewpoints to stop along with cute towns to visit.
Newport to Florence is fine but after Florence, the highway veers towards inland, mostly dunes. You can drive straight to Bandon, another cute town with killer view.
After that, go to Harris Beach State Park in Brookings, only an hour or so to Klamath. Skip the town (unless you want dinner), drive into the park, walk down the beach and catch the sunset. Spectacular. Then you can head to Klamath to rest for your Redwood NP adventure.
Don’t do the whole coast. You’d be too tired for Redwoods, one of my all time favorite parks. Think like general McArthur “I shall return”. Enjoy your time with your D.
We used to drive to Eugene OR to visit friends. Pedal to the metal kind of driving takes about 6 hours for that trip down I5. Your return plan in one day is quite ambitious if you want to make i back in one day up 101. I5 driving is much faster but not very scenic.
For staying at SeaTac, I recommended the Cedarbrook Lodge. It is an impressive green oasis in the middle of urban jungle. The restaurant there is really, really good.
Not to divert. But having always wanted to see the great forests of the PNW and maybe will only go once. Would the Redwood Forest in CA be the right destination or a sequoia forest in Oregon and Washington.
Biggest trees? Don’t need a lot of attractions etc. looking for the forest version of the Grand Canyon awe.
Okay, so maybe hug the coast on the way south, but then take I-5 when we do the longer drive from Klamath to Seattle on our last day?
D called tonight and said she is going to get off work at 2:30 and meet us at the airport at 3. So maybe we will squeak by some of the rush hour traffic going south?
@BunsenBurner, that Seatac hotel looks just like my style. If I have to get on the road north at 5 AM, I’m willing to do it!
If you end up staying overnight in Salem, I can recommend Robert’s Crossing for a nice dinner out. We just had my daughter’s graduation dinner there. People like the Grand Hotel for an upscale hotel… I haven’t stayed there. We usually go less fancy at one of the places right off I-5 (Best Western Mill Creek Inn or La Quinta). Salem itself is a little run down so don’t feel you have to stay there unless it makes the most sense for your itinerary. But there are also a lot of cute wineries nearby. The whole region itself is really pretty, it’s just the city itself has seen better days. Oh and Annette’s the next morning for brunch in West Salem.
@privatebanker you might want Sequoia/Kings Canyon national park in central CA. Well… Redwood NP is also amazing. Hard to pick just one. Redwoods are taller, sequoias are fatter.
I don’t know Seattle and where your daughter works, but I avoid the airport rental hassle (bus, luggage on bus, hassle of lines, etc.) and have an Uber pick me up curbside an take me to an off-airport rental car location (I.e.Enterprise) and save $$$$. Maybe your daughter could meet you at that location and avoid airport congestion hell? Just a thought.
