Oregon has a beauty which is bound to enthrall you by its diverse landscapes, Dense forest, Mountains, Mighty Rivers, Waterfalls and beautiful coastlines. To be precise on map Oregon is an US state located at pacific northwest.
Oregon hold a special place in my heart as this is the place where I had my first LONG road trip. Honestly, I didn’t know much about Oregon before I saw a beautiful picture of a canyon with water bed somewhere on the web and then quietly I longed to visit the place ONE DAY. I didn’t know where to start from and soon after few searches I got the name of this beautiful place, Yes it’s “Oneonta Gorge” in Oregon.
Little did I know that my dream would come true the same year 2015. I came to work in Houston, Tx and initially I planned this trip as solo but then my partner agreed to join me for a week+ vacation.
My travel plan started aiming at Oneonta Gorge but as I progressed I was mesmerized by the beauty of Oregon, just by reading about it.
I do not wish to dis-remember any of its memoir and so I penned it down in my own amateur way 🙂
I had 8 days with budget of approx 2500$ for two of us which included our flight fares (HOU – PDX), Stay, Car rental, Food, miscellaneous.
I do not like to rush during the vacation so opted for relaxed road trip which included daily drive of 2-4 hours at max. Here is the road trip route –
We planned to night camp on Day 1, 2, 3 and 4 so I packed all of the necessary camping gear with us. We booked our flight on Southwest so as to get 2 free check-in baggage’s for each one of us.
Day 0 – The night of arrival
We reached Portland at 9 PM on 4th September and hurray our trip has already begun.
Upon arrival we picked up our car from Enterprise. It was a labor day weekend and so things were little slow.
Note: I was not having US driving license so I inquired before renting a car if I can rent and drive a car in Oregon without hassle on my Foreign driving license printed in English and they said Yes 😀
I requested them to add a liability insurance only and damage waiver was covered by my BOA travel rewards credit card.
We drove straight to Walmart and stacked our car trunk with necessary food items and water for next four days of camping. Our night stay was at Days Inn, Portland. We did late check-in and I could notice that the person at the reception was not happy to receive us. He seems to be irritated may be because we woke him up 🙁 well our excitement was so high that we didn’t care much and slept nicely after checking in.
Day 1 – Gorge with beauty and toughness – Crown Point, Multnomah, Oneonta Gorge, Bonneville fish hatchery
Crown Point
Our day started early and we made sure that we are all set and ready for a ride to Crown Point via scenic route.
Crown Point
I must say the view from Crown Point is fabulous, the beauty of Columbia Gorge river is breathtaking, its heaviness is what makes it look mighty. There were very few people around and we had enough time to ourselves wondering how beautiful the river is. We spent good half an hour to absorb the charm of the mighty river and its surroundings
Multnomah Falls
We headed towards Multnomah falls, the parking area was big but still it wasn’t sufficient for the long weekend crowd. We reached at 8:15 AM and at this time too it was tight to get a spot. After parking we casually walked around the Multnomah bridge, clicked few shots. We were not sure how busy it would be at Oneonta Gorge (Highlight of the trip) so we didn’t hike at Multnomah. I do not regret missing out the Multnomah hike because it was too busy anyway.
Multnomah Falls
Oneonta Gorge
We reached here at around 10 AM and to my surprise the place was not crowded at all as I was expecting it to be. We had ample time to take pictures in calm and then do the hike.
The Oneonta Gorge hike of approx one mile is from Oneonta Gorge trailhead to lower Oneonta Gorge falls and is not easily accessible. The trail is basically a creek bed and we need to cross piles of log jams, the beautiful canyon and waist level water to finally reach the lower falls. The log jam is bit scary, however with proper caution it turned out to be fun.
Note: Be careful and do not hurt yourself.
I always wanted to hike this pretty and challenging gorge and finally I made it to the fall at Oneonta gorge. It was a good decision to carry water proof bag and pouch to keep cell phones and camera in safe.. And yes do not forget your wet shoes, you definitely need it here.
Clockwise – Lower falls , Log Jam and beautiful canyon with water bed
Bonneville Fish Hatchery
After the Oneonta Gorge, we happened to visit Bonneville fish hatchery. Its lovely experience if you have never been to one before. Kids would enjoy watching big fishes for sure.
Clockwise: Bonneville Dam, A view from Terrace , A view into the fish Ladder
Now we started our journey towards Mt Hood National Forest and on the way we stopped by the Lavender Field. The season was not right for lavender so couldn’t actually view the beauty of lavenders. It was a pleasant drive towards Mt Hood National Forest, and while driving we could spot the hood at its best.
On the way- View of Mt Hood
Still Creek Campground
We reached pretty late to the campground and had some difficulty to locate our site. The camp hosts had stuck the tag on the site and so we were all set for our first night camping experience.
It was very cold and misty, It rained in the morning. While setting up the camp we realized that we forgot tarp for the ground. O my my it was so cold without it. :_(
Next day morning was pleasant and after breakfast we began our onward journey to trillium lake in drizzling rain.
Day 2 – Trillium lake, Timothy lake loop trail, camp at HoodView, Mt hood national Forest
Trillium Lake
The lake is not so big however it surroundings are covered with green lush. On clear weather the lake reflects the Mt Hood. It was a misty day for us so we couldn’t see the hood reflection on the lake.. We did the lake loop hike of distance 1.9 miles.
There is fee for day use costs $5. The lake is pretty good for Kayaking and fishing.
Trillium Lake
Timothy Lake / Hood View Campground
Once we were done we headed towards our campground at Timothy Lake, Hood View campground and on the way we bought a tarp and some street food for lunch. The campsite was awesome with clear view of the lake and with plenty of personal space. Timothy lake is bit calm and perfect for relaxed day. We managed to hike 4 miles sround the lake before sundown. The lake loop hike is actually of 11.5 miles and needed a complete day. Due to misty weather we didn’t go to Mirror lake.
Timothy Lake – Do you see the heart?
Day 3 – White water river rafting at Bend, Short Hike and Camping at Tumolo State Park
Deschutes River
Our next destination was to explore Bend a little and then white water river rafting on Deschutes River. We reached early to check-in ourselves at the Sun Country Tours for Rafting and then we had 2-3 hours to explore nearby recreational area at Bend before the rafting adventure. We visited River bend Park and Farewell Bend Park. These parks are at two sides of the river bank. Both parks are fairly decent which attracts people for water activities and relaxation. We walked from one park to another via a cute wooden bridge, view from the bridge was very pleasant. Many and many were on kayak and stand up paddle board. I wish I had time for kayaking. 🙁
Bend Metro Park and Recreation – Deschutes River
After visiting the parks, we went back to Sun Country’s pickup location. The staff were all helping and courteous. Ross was our raft guide and he made the rafting easy, smooth and special by sharing information about Deschutes and locales. We chose the Big Eddy Beginner level adventure and it was spot on my expectations. I ordered rafting photographs and it reached my email in two days.
Rafting at Deschutes River
Tumolo State Park Campground
After the adventure we headed towards Tumolo State Park for our third night camp. We did short hike along the river trails and then enjoyed our rest of the evening in the camp.
Day 4 – A day at Crater lake, Having the hike down, jumping off the cliff to the lake, Boat tour and encircling the lake via drive, Camp at Mazama Village
Crater Lake
It’s Blue..! Its Crater Lake…! Words gets shortened to describe its beauty. The beauty lies in about everything – Its color, crystal clear water, serene and breathtaking views from each Vista Points around the rim drive and none the less is its history of formation. Of course RIM drive is must however I would insist to go for the Cleetwood Cove hike as well. The hike to the lake is easy and exciting. However way back is little tiring. This is the only way to touch down the lake and do not miss your chance to swim in the bluest of the blue lake, which has history tied to volcano. The jump off of the cliff isn’t that scary if you have used high rise diving boards in swimming pool. What I was scared of the super chill lake water and I literally screamed ” Its freezing in here ” but a moment later I was on cloud nine 🙂
Crater Lake
The boat tour operates from bottom of the Cleetwood Cove , believe it or not it was worth taking the tour and knowing the history behind the crater lake. We entered from North entrance, there were few road work going on but it’s manageable. I drove clockwise as well as anti clockwise along the rim. Clockwise is definitely a bit scary 🙂
Mazama Campground
After having a wonderful time at crater lake we headed towards our last day of camping at Mazama Campground. We were late so couldn’t really explore the campground.
Day 5 – Hike at Mt Pisgah summit , stay at americas value Inn Eugene
Mt Pisgah summit
We stayed little longer at mazama in the morning and did try to explore the village.
I had planned a stop at Eugene to continue my onward journey so as to not strain ourselves by driving way too much from Crater lake to Newport. So I decided on to go for this short hike to the top of Mt Pisgah. They have parking charges of 4 bucks per vehicle. It seems that this hike is very popular for the regular walkers and joggers from near by locales. The trails were good and maintained properly.great views while going up and coming down. It was little difficult to hike up but pretty easy to come down 😛
It felt great upon reaching the top and the view of Willamette valley was sheer brilliance from nature 🙂
View of Willamette valley from top of the Mt Pisgah
Our 5th night stay was in America’s Value Inn, Eugene.
Day 6 – Elijah Bristow State Park ,All the major vista points at US101 , drive was through Siuslaw national forest, stay at Days Inn New Port
Elijah Bristow State Park
Soon after we started from Eugene, our route was along the Willamette river. The river was looking very beautiful in the early morning sunlight and then we decided to touch it down. We detoured to Elijah Bristow State Park. We did the turtle trail hike of 1 mile and which goes to Willamette river.
Driving @ US101
Soon after finishing the one mile hike, we continued our journey towards Newport via Siuslaw National Forest. So we were driving through the forest and over the hills with curves and finally we reached at a point from where we could view the pacific. There’s no word to explain how touched I was to experience this first look of pacific from US 101 (Siuslaw national forest), where mountains, clouds Ocean, sky are all hugging each other. Then on our rest of the trip was on US 101 and experiencing each and every vista points and finishing not so long hiking trails.
First look of Pacific from US 101 (Siuslaw national forest)
We could get lost for hours in any of the stops off of the US101, especially the Devil’s Churn, Thor’s Well and the Spouting Horn. These places are best to visit while the pacific is on high tides, the rougher the waves the better the view. It’s amazing to watch the water rushing in and splashing on rocks and is completely mesmerizing.
Thor’s Well – Do you see the well?
It was evening now and so we resumed our drive to Newport. We reached Days Inn, Newport and went out for a walk in the city after checking -in.
Day 7 – Went back to devil’s churn, Aquarium, walk at the Newport streets, Stay at SeaShore Seaside
Next Morning we decided to go back to the devil’s churn once more and then to Seal Rock.
.Oregon Coast Aquarium
This aquarium is great place for kids, However I was expecting more from coastal line Aquarium. I personally likeed the outdoor exhibit of sea lions and birds. The ticket for an adult was over 20 $
The next stop was Yaquina Bay Lighthouse, it’s small and neatly maintained Lighthouse. The view of Yaquina Bay Bridge is beautiful from this location.
Yaquina Bay Bridge
Lighthouses have always fascinated me and so I had to visit Oregon’s tallest lighthouse Yaquina Head Lighthouse. The lighthouse and its surrounding area are known as Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area. The day was misty so I was kind of disappointed for not getting the clear picture of the lighthouse. However I thoroughly enjoyed the birds eye view of pacific and the coastal line. There is a trail to go to the tide pool and you can actually spot few marine lives here.
Yaquina Head Lighthouse
Our next stop was to explore a small town called Seaside. We reached seaside at approx 7 PM and checked in at The SeaShore Hotel. The hotel is situated just in front of the ocean and we got a room which face the shore.
Day 8 -Seaside beach and the cannon beach. Finally back to Portland before Dark.
Seaside
The town is vibrant and lively that anyone would want to retire and stay here 🙂
We were blessed that the town was hosting a vintage and modified car show which made our stay a lot more colorful. The live music and crowd dancing on it was so much of fun to watch.
Seaside
Our last point to visit was Cannon Beach, Cannon beach would have been more fun in clear weather. Personally I enjoyed it in mist as well the only disappointment was not having able to click good picture of cannon beach.
Cannon Beach
Our trip came to an end with Cannon beach and then we headed towards Portland to catch our flight back to Houston.
Oregon has a lot more to offer, I would like to go to Oregon again in Summer so as to catch breathtaking views of Mount Hood and Coastal Line. However I would really like to see crater lake in winters covered with snow. Oregon has definitely all the shades of nature and this trip has given me a boost to build memories without worrying about the footprints.
Places we missed in this trip –
Painted Hills, Smith Rocks and Wallowas. Hope to go to Oregon again. 🙂
Make the memories 🙂
Cheers!