Oregon Coast , Crater Lake, River Hood Gorge

This is just the beginning steps in our planning a trip to Oregon. Our family of four will be flying into Portland on May 26th and spending only one week. We would like to see the coast and any other must see areas during our trip. It may be the only time we see Oregon. If we head south is there another airport we can fly out from so that we don%26#39;t have to back track? Is this too early to even try to see Crater Lake? Would you stay at a new location each night or can we home base and do day trips in some areas? I really am open for suggestions. We enjoy the outdoors, but not camping.

Oregon Coast , Crater Lake, River Hood Gorge

You could definetly make a loop out of your trip and not feel like you are backtracking...although it depends on how much time you want to spend on the road.

I cant think of an airport, other than the one at Medford, OR-which you probably would have to puddlejump back to a hub-Portland or SF. So I dont know if that would be worth your while or $$. There is a pretty big airport in Eugene, OR that would have more options of flights- but it%26#39;s only 2hours away from Portland, so you might as well save the cash and drive up to PDX.

Just check to see what the road conditions are like for Crater Lake. This is probably as you found out the begining of the %26#39;summer season%26#39; and it just vaires from year to year as to when things open. You should be able to get to the rim and look around, but you might not be able to drive around the rim.

Crater Lake is really beautiful- esp. if the skies are blue so if you really want to see it- I%26#39;d say go for it.

As far as staying at 1 location or home basing it- it again depends on how much you want to see or how much time you want to spend at one spot- and how relaxing you want your trip to be!

Theres lots of good advice here, so I%26#39;m sure others will have ideas too.

Oregon Coast , Crater Lake, River Hood Gorge

As far as must sees- I think the whole state is %26#39;must see%26#39; :)- but Im biased... Once we know a little more about your route(one way vs loops, etc) can definetly help you find some good spots.

So far you have a good start.

Hi! Crater Lake is beautiful! I used to work there in the summers, and still try to visit it once a winter. You will be able to visit Crater Lake then-the park will be open (actually the Lodge and other facilities will have just opened prior to Memorial Day Weekend), however there will probably still be significant amounts of snow in certain areas of the park. You will probably not be able to drive very far around the rim above the lake-maybe only a little ways, or not be able to drive on Rim Drive at all-it depends n how much more snow they get this winter, and how far it%26#39;s been plowed around the Rim. You may only be able to enter the park through the south entrance if they have not plowed out the whole north entrance.

It is still well worth visiting! You may be able to do some ranger-led activites (possibly even the snowshow hike if there%26#39;s enough snow), see the lake, see the visitor%26#39;s center, maybe have a picnic at the rim overlooking the lake, walk through the Lodge (they have a nice historical display section off one side of the lobby), etc. If you like snow, there will probably be plenty to play in. Check the forecast ahead, and take warm clothing-the Rim is at 7,000 ft elevation. It will probably be nice, but not as warm as the valley.

For a good overview of the park and when they clear the snow, check:

http://www.nps.gov/archive/crla/day.htm

or the park%26#39;s website:

www.nps.gov/crla

About airports, Portland Is really the only large airport in Oregon. In southern Oregon, Klamath Falls and Medford both have flights back to Portland, and Medford has flights to elsewhere. Alaska Air, which operates out of both, often has specials and sales on airfare, so if you think that you might want to fly back to Portland, it might be worth checking prices closer to your visit. But it might not be worth the hassle. Both airports are about 5-6 hours from the Portland airport.

THe Oregon coast, the Cascades, the Columbia Gorge, and southern Oregon are our favorite eares to explore (of course we live here, so it%26#39;s considerably easier!) :) Have a great time planning your trip! Oregon is a beautiful state. Lots of outdoor stuff to do! What else are you thinking of wanting to see? Lots of waterfalls, state parks, beaches, a few caves, wildlife, etc.

Thank you Thank you Thank you! I love this site for really good advice. We have now decided that a loop is the way to go, and we will head south from Portland following 101. Now I found a map that shows Oregon coast tours that divides the coast into thirds. North Coast, Central Coast and South Coast.

www.visittheoregoncoast.com/home.cfm鈥?/a>

This looked like a place to start. We do like to get out of the car and spend time in areas of interest. We like to do many different things in one trip, outdoors, museums, shopping, eating, ocean, mountains and whatever strikes our fancy.

Websites you might want to also check are

www.traveloregon.com

the Oregon State Parks website-

they have a pretty good website of all the state parks-with little panoramic shots of various things- just to give you a feeling of what is there as well as the narrative descriptions.

If you are only going to visit Oregon once you might want to consider after going to Crater Lake to travel back to Portland on Hwy 97 through %26#39;Central Oregon%26#39; which is completely different than the coast. It would be a little slower than I-5, but worth considering.

If you decide to go through Central Oregon, Then once you get up north to Bend you could decided to continue up Hwy 97 and back to I-84 and go through the Columbia River Gorge(I think this is what you mean by %26#39;River Hood Gorge%26#39;?) or go over the Cascade Range via hwy 26 or 22 to Portland.

Hope that wasnt confusing don%26#39;t want to overwhelm you too early for your one week stay. It would probably mean more driving than going straight up I-5 after you visit Crater Lake.

If you are going to go all the way south to Brookings (on the southern Coast), then you will want to go just 20 miles south to Crescent City, CA, to see the redwoods. It would be a shame to get close and miss them.

Crater Lake is wonderful to visit--I wouldn%26#39;t plan to stay there, unless you want to spend a night at the Lodge (very expensive, not kept in great shape although fairly newly remodeled, but the view is SPECTACULAR--you must have a lakeside room, of course). Otherwise, you might want to spend part of a day at Crater Lake and then move on, depending on which direction you%26#39;re going. Staying overnight in Ashland could be quite fun, and they have wonderful theaters there (Shakespeare, etc.,) if you like that sort of thing--great little town with interesting architecture, good restaurants and lots of bed and breakfast type places to stay at, as well as hotels...

Otherwise, with only one week, loving the beach the way we do, you might not do the central OR trip at all (and skip Crater Lake), and spend a more leisurely time driving up and down the Coast. It is an incredibly beautiful and varied landscape, much of the road is very close to the ocean, and there are lots of places to stop and picnic, hike, dune buggy ride, walk on the beach, etc., etc. The drive in to Crater Lake and back will take at least one full day out of coastal travel time, and you%26#39;ll spend lots of time in the car getting to it...IT will be a great trip, whatever you decide to do, as this is a wonderful state to visit! Welcome!