Oregon Pacific Coast Scenic Byway
Picture the wind in your hair and the windows are down in your red convertible as you drive south along Hwy 1 down the Pacific Coast. It’s the dream of many. It was our dream too. But instead of the convertible, we did it in a Dodge Mini-Van towing an 18 ft trailer!
After leaving Alaska we drove to Vancouver to see some friends and hike The Grouse Grind; Kelly’s bucket list. Upon completing the hike from Hell, we drove back the States to see friends along the coast. Shortly after crossing the border, we took a detour to Hood River with the intent of Brent kiteboarding but with no wind and 40 degrees Celcius we decided to head back to the coast picking up our road trip on Highway 101 in Astoria, the most northernmost town on the Oregon Coast.
Most people are going to tell you to visit Fort Stevens State Park, the Martime Museum and to hop on the Astoria Trolley, but I’m going to tell you to go watch a flick at the local Columbia Movie Theatre. It’s a relic with the original seats and a slight moldy smell, but it’s so worth the $5 admission. By the way, we saw Top Gun; highly recommended for anyone old enough to have seen the original.
As you leave Astoria, stop at the Visitors Center in the town of Seaside to pick up all the necessary pamphlets and maps of the Coast- trust me when I say they come in handy.
The coastal drive is absolutely gorgeous with the ocean vistas and coastal rainforest both in abundance when you enter Tillamook. We camped at The Blue Heron French Cheese Company, a Harvest Host affiliate. We stayed for two nights in the area and thank the stars we secured this spot because RV camping is scarce along the Coast with sites being booked a year in advance.
Tillamook is cheese country with Creameries to visit along with a couple of museums. Once you fill up on your daily dairy allowance head to Cape Lookout State Park for your choice of 3 hikes and then finish your visit at the Cape Meares Lighthouse as we did. You’ll drive the inland stretch of Hwy 101 and follow The 3 Capes throughout the day. Don’t forget to stop in Oceanside for a photo op of Three Arch Rocks, a national wilderness refuge established in 1907.
The drive south to Florence is both stunning and a bit terrifying if you’re in the passenger seat; picture fog rolling in while you travel a windy road atop very high cliffs. May I suggest taking a deep breath and look to the right as you don’t want to miss it!
Florence is super cool as it’s home to the The Oregon Dunes National Park where we spent a couple of hours whipping around in a side by side from Ocean Breeze ATV Rentals. To be honest, one of us only lasted an hour! I wondered who bailed?
We highly recommend staying at Darlings Marina. It’s a small RV park right on Siltcoos Lake. It’s super quiet and you can rent kayaks and bigger boats to go fishing.
With friends to see in San Fransisco and LA, we drove through the southern part of the Coast right to California but we did stop at the Redwood National Forest. This is a must stop and with plenty of trails, we suggest stopping at one of the Visitor’s Centers to get the lay of the land. For instance, there are some roads that we couldn’t go on because of the size of the trailer. We drove along the 10 mile Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway set in the Prairie Creek Redwood State Park. Not only did we hike through the giant Redwoods, we saw a herd of Elk in the meadow at the south end of the Parkway. This was truly a spectacular afternoon.
Did we get the red convertible experience? No, we did not but we had a great adventure regardless!
You can catch our short Youtube video showing highlights of our trip here! Enjoy the drive!
