Originally Posted by
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
Originally Posted by
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.
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