straits38

Hi, would like some advice please!

My wife and I would like to take a road trip from Seattle to San Francisco this July/August. Hoping to take somewhere around 5 (driving) days to make the trip, cos we're travelling with our 3 year old son we don't want overly long sit downs in the car.

We've got a few days extra, so also thinking about slotting in a day or two maybe to visit Rainier, or a theme park around the Portland/Salem area.

Any advice on where to have our stops? In particular I'm concerned about the 8hr drive between the Oregon coast (which we were thinking about doing on the 101 instead of I5) and Napa Valley.

Thanks!

Doc Savage

Crater Lake is pretty great.

Gardyloo

I've driven between Seattle and northern/southern California so many times I really can't count them; a number of those trips have been with little kids, so I understand your point.

Here's my suggested itinerary - http://goo.gl/maps/mdU2X
In lieu of an amusement park (there really aren't any good ones in the Pacific NW) I'd recommend spending two nights in the Columbia Gorge area, based in Hood River, Oregon. Travel there on the first day with a stop at the Johnston Ridge observatory at Mt. St. Helens, a very impressive view over the volcanic crater left behind the 1980 eruption of the volcano.

Hood River is the center of a marvelous area for visits with kids. The Columbia Gorge is incredibly scenic, with vistas, numerous waterfalls, deep forest trails... but also plenty of things for kids and their parents to enjoy. For example, you can visit Herman the Sturgeon, a huge and ancient fish (maybe 80 years old?) at the Bonneville hatchery near Bonneville Dam on the Columbia. I remember visiting that hatchery when I was a little kid, and kids for generations now have loved visiting Herman, seeing the millions of young salmon being reared in the hatchery... great.

But an hour up the (gorgeous) Hood River Valley and you're at Mt. Hood, which in the summer is (IMO) equally impressive, and much more easily accessible, than Mt. Rainier. Visit Timberline Lodge, a beautiful old depression-era structure, and - maybe - there might still be some snow nearby to play in. (There's summer skiing at Mt. Hood but this is a weird winter so no promises.) In either case, a whole day in and around Hood River and the Gorge will be VERY worthwhile.

Columbia Gorge -



Mt. Hood from Hood River Valley -



The next day is a longish but not particularly boring drive down through the Willamette Valley and out to the coast on Oregon Hwy 38, which passes through a lovely river canyon before opening up into a meadowland area (just before the town of Reedsport) where there are usually numerous elk grazing in the pasture off the south side of the road. You then continue south on US 101 through Coos Bay to the lovely little town of Bandon for the night. Bandon's "old town" is picturesque and has a number of quite good seafood restaurants, fishing boats, etc.

The next day is a stunner - along the southern Oregon coast (the most scenic part of the coastline) and into the redwoods in northern California. There are countless pull-offs, beaches to explore, places in the redwoods to stop and gawk at these incredible trees... it's a full and terrific day. Spend the night in Trinidad or Arcata, CA, and if the timing works out, take your son to the Samoa Cookhouse for a family-style dinner - very memorable.

The next day, take the "Avenue of the Giants" byway (parallels US 101 south of Eureka) for some of the best giant redwood groves, in particular the Founders Grove) and then on to San Francisco.

This drive offers amazing diversity - volcanoes, alpine lodges, giant rivers and waterfalls, rocky beaches, the (awesome is the only word) redwoods... all of it terrific for adults and their kids. Highly, highly recommended.

darthbimmer

Excellent suggestions above. The coast route through southern Oregon and northern California is beautiful. But there are also beautiful sights to be found further inland. It depends on what you like to spend your time seeing. Remote beaches? High peaks? Waterfalls? Some combination of these? Also, what interests your son... or at age 3 is it too early to tell with him?

straits38

Thank you for the awesome replies!

I didn't even think of Hood River, but it does sound great. Will definitely consider it! Mt Hood sounds great, especially if its more accessible than Rainier!

Is the Enchanted Forest in Salem worth the time?

Well, my wife and I love mountains and greenery. Not as big a fan of the coast, but we do love big cliffs too! So we could probably do a combination. As for the 3 year old.. do 3 year olds enjoy scenery? (honest question.) Right now my son likes diggers, and cranes, and fire engines, and airplanes.. maybe he'll enjoy a waterfall but I don't think he'll notice mountains or trees

darthbimmer

In that case you could loop inland. From Portland head east into the Columbia Gorge then south toward Bend and the Oregon Cascades. From there keep heading south toward Crater Lake and then toward Mt. Shasta and possibly even Lassen Peak in California. July/August is a good time to visit these higher elevations as there is often snow on the ground until June.

Gardyloo

The problem with the interior route, including Crater Lake, is that part of the trip is made through what's basically desert, and there are long stretches where the scenery is pretty mediocre, to be honest. And in August it's going to be very hot (of course if you're from Singapore that's a pretty laughable comparison.) But as for greenery, not so much.

People have different views; IMO Crater Lake is a terrific "two hour" national park - gorgeous, but with a tight timeframe you have to decide whether it's "worth" the long access trips.

One alternative to my original route suggestion would be to skip Mt. St. Helens and replace it with a route to Hood River that crosses the Cascades right out of Seattle and then goes through some very scenic ranching country, then a bit of desert, then the Yakima Valley wine district, the Yakama reservation, then terrific "old west" dry pine and sagebrush country down to the awesome Columbia River at Maryhill.

Visit the Maryhill museum (or just hang out on the grounds with the peacocks) and maybe visit the Stonehenge "replica" nearby, then it's a very scenic and easy drive west to Hood River. Not counting stops, it takes about the same time to get to Hood River from Seattle as it does coming down the boring and trafficky I-5 corridor, but adds a huge amount of variety into the trip.

For cliffs and greenery, the southern Oregon coast has plenty of that, for example...



As for the Enchanted Forest, never been there, looks cheesy. However, the coastal route (US 101) between Crescent City and Eureka CA offers the Trees of Mystery, an attraction that's been drawing kids and their parents for something like 70 years. Kitschy, fun, and a real landmark along the road.

Yes, in my experience 3-yo kids don't spend a lot of time looking at scenery - no frame of reference. Activities, on the other hand are more rewarding, hence my thinking about the hatchery at Bonneville/Hood River, maybe a jet boat ride at Gold Beach on the southern Oregon coast, the Trees of Mystery, etc.

Here's a revised map showing this route - http://goo.gl/maps/JgYgK