Family Trip to Portland Oregon This Summer

2,945 Views | 21 Replies | Last: 3 yr ago by exitone
Robert C. Christian
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AG
Wife and I are planning to visit the Portland area with our 2 kids (9 months and 3 years) in August. I went through some of the older threads but wanted to see if there were new things that we shouldn't miss or if there were other suggestions for families. We are thinking of breaking up the trip between Portland and a town on the Oregon Coast (coastal town suggestion appreciated as well). Below are some of the bigger items that we are planning on doing but, any suggestions are welcome. . Thanks In advance!

Portland Area:
Portland Zoo/Rose Garden
OMSI
Columbia River Gorge Drive/Hike
Powell's Books

Coast:
Tillamook Cheese Factory
Cannon Beach/Haystack Rock
Apache
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Haystack Rock is pretty cool, but definitely drive up the coast about 15 minutes to Ecola State Park & check out Indian Beach.

We built a fire on the beach, checked out the tidal pools, watched surfers & had a bald eagle drop down and get a drink out of the creek next to us. Plus there is a cool lighthouse offshore that makes a good backdrop for photos as the sun goes down.
ChoppinDs40
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Robert C. Christian said:

Wife and I are planning to visit the Portland area with our 2 kids (9 months and 3 years) in August. I went through some of the older threads but wanted to see if there were new things that we shouldn't miss or if there were other suggestions for families. We are thinking of breaking up the trip between Portland and a town on the Oregon Coast (coastal town suggestion appreciated as well). Below are some of the bigger items that we are planning on doing but, any suggestions are welcome. . Thanks In advance!

Portland Area:
Portland Zoo/Rose Garden
OMSI
Columbia River Gorge Drive/Hike
Powell's Books

Coast:
Tillamook Cheese Factory
Cannon Beach/Haystack Rock
go the high desert - Bend, OR, over Mt. Hood, Crater Lake NP, Mt. Bachelor, the sisters.

This is the part of oregon over the cascades and very different from the liberal side of Portland.
VikingNik
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Crater Lake is a haul from Portland. Worth visiting but bear that in mind. Wine country starts on the southern outskirts of Portland. Checking out Mt Hood from Timberline would be an idea. I will always recommend Bend.
Robert C. Christian
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VikingNik said:

Crater Lake is a haul from Portland. Worth visiting but bear that in mind. Wine country starts on the southern outskirts of Portland. Checking out Mt Hood from Timberline would be an idea. I will always recommend Bend.

We wanted to visit Crater Lake but, between the flight and drives we already planned, decided to leave it for another day.
Robert C. Christian
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Thanks for the suggestion. One of the places we had debated on staying was in Seaside, so this wouldline up with a day trip to Canon Beach.
gggmann
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Robert C. Christian said:

Thanks for the suggestion. One of the places we had debated on staying was in Seaside, so this wouldline up with a day trip to Canon Beach.
Yes, if you take the 26 from Portland you just take a right on the 101 to go to Seaside instead of a left to go to Cannon Beach. They are only about 10 miles apart or so. When I lived in Beaverton a common day trip we would take was to drive to Cannon Beach for the day then down to Tilamook for some ice cream and cheese and then take the 6 back towards Portland. There's a nice photo spot on the 101 up on some cliffs just before you get to Manzanita.
gggmann
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Crater Lake is beautiful, but it's a long drive from Portland. I like driving down to the wineries around Newberg and McMinnville. There is a nice aerospace museum in McMinnville. They have the Spruce Goose there.
Aggiewes
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My wife and I spent 9 days in Oregon last summer. Your kids might enjoy Hood River. The orchards were great and tons of families were having a blast picking fresh cherries (the evidence was all over the face of the kids). Also, we rode the lift up Mt Hood. Spectacular! Tillamok is awesome. Go eat at the restaurant right on the beach in Oceanside - It is Roseanna's. Wonderful view and great food!

Side note - I know it isn't on your agenda, but Crater Lake, Yachats and Gold Beach OR were AWESOME. The jet boat ride on the Rogue River was incredible. Have fun!

For my self, we avoided Portland other than fly in/out. Good choice.

Wes '87
Apache
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Quote:

One of the places we had debated on staying was in Seaside

This is where we stayed. Much, much cheaper & more options than Cannon Beach.
FarmerJohn
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My wife and I took an Oregon trip two summers ago. It was a lot of fun, but primarily the outdoor adventures. One that hasn't been mentioned is Silver Falls state park. We went out there an had a fun half day hike, but you could do the full day too. Depends on the kids.

Here's two things you shouldn't do.

1. Don't stay in downtown Portland. Yes, it's very walk-able and there are good restaurants and the like. The problem are the aggressive and unchecked bums. I really wouldn't feel great walking with my kids through there, especially after dinner. It's too bad because between the Rose test garden (pretty cool) and Waterfront park, that could be really nice.

2. Don't go to Tillamook creamery. It's just a crush of people. It's ice cream, not the Mona Lisa.
Apache
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Quote:

Don't go to Tillamook creamery. It's just a crush of people. It's ice cream, not the Mona Lisa.

I'd say the same thing about VooDoo Donuts or the other popular one (Blue Star I think?)
JHUAggie
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Robert C. Christian said:

Wife and I are planning to visit the Portland area with our 2 kids (9 months and 3 years) in August. I went through some of the older threads but wanted to see if there were new things that we shouldn't miss or if there were other suggestions for families. We are thinking of breaking up the trip between Portland and a town on the Oregon Coast (coastal town suggestion appreciated as well). Below are some of the bigger items that we are planning on doing but, any suggestions are welcome. . Thanks In advance!

Portland Area:
Portland Zoo/Rose Garden
OMSI
Columbia River Gorge Drive/Hike
Powell's Books

Coast:
Tillamook Cheese Factory
Cannon Beach/Haystack Rock


Fun list.

Mt. Hood would be another thing I'd add to the list. Tillamook is busy but I liked it
Lt. Joe Bookman
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Check out Astoria for sure. Really cool town. And the bridge over the mouth of the Columbia is neat.

If you go to Tillamook, and you have any interest in beer at all, make sure you stop at de Garde brewing. One of the best breweries in the state.

The Tillamook cheese factory is pretty overrated though.

Multnomah Falls is an obvious stop that is really cool.
marcel ledbetter
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Your kids at their age won't appreciate OMSI. I know this from experience. You'll use up a lot of time as cash to get in only to find out they just like the playground stuff inside and not so much the science stuff. They'd be just as happy on the beach out at a playground.

Jefe07
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My wife and I did a beer/wine trip in Oregon a few winters ago. We stayed in Portland for a night [drank a lot of beer], drove south [drank a lot of wine - Willamette Valley]. One cool thing if you like beer and farming is Rogue Farms. You can tour their hop farm and drink beer made with ingredients grown on that farm. We got a private tour because they aren't actually open in winter, but it will be when you are there.

We then drove west to Newport (from Corvallis, where we met some old friends. Otherwise, no need to stop there-- or Salem, for that matter), which is a cool touristy beach town. Also happens to be where Rogue is based [drank more beer]. We then drove up the coast. As previously mentioned, Tillamook is cool but not life altering. They don't have anything there that we couldn't get at home in the grocery store. But you can sample cheese, eat ice cream. The cafe has grilled cheese, etc. Also as mentioned, de Garde is an awesome brewery if you like sour beers. And the scenery is cool.

Not much to see east/west part of the drive as far as destinations go. Just a very pretty-green drive.

Would have loved to go to Bend, but we couldn't fit it in time-wise.
gggmann
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Another day trip from Portland I like is to Mt St Helens. It's about 100 miles from Portland. You can go to the Northside or the Southside. The southside has more variety w/ lava tubes, Ape Cave (a really big lava tube), and Windy Ridge viewpoint and Spirit Lake access. On the northside you'll see the result of the mudflow out of the volcano and the Johnston Ridge Observatory is pretty neat with a view into the crater.
VikingNik
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Was the new Tillamook visitor center open two years ago? It's impressive. Quite a line for ice cream or another for other dairy products. The ice cream is good but it can be very full.
Jefe07
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I think they were building a new facility when we went. The visitor's center was a big open area with the ice cream, cafe, and cheese area. It was enjoyable, and I'm glad we did it. But I'm not sure I would dedicate part of a trip to that part of the state if we were not already planning on driving up the coast.
breezecustomtravel
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Farmerjohn --- where did you stay outside of Portland? Would you recommend?
Lauren K '07
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@breezecustomtravel
FarmerJohn
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I stayed smack dab in the middle of the downtown at the Kimpton Monaco and while it was nice enough, I didn't enjoy the guy yelling in the middle of the street out our window, the panhandling, having to cross the street because of a convention of guys that were menacing, and dodging the poor guys in Portland PD who apparently have to have a therapy session before arresting someone. It's out of control and why I would stay somewhere else, especially since that's where all the real fun things are.

So don't repeat my mistake but I don't have any specific recommendation.
A New Hope
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I rented an apartment right downtown. Just be prepared for more transgender types than anywhere you've ever been. Portland people make Austin weirdos look normal. I saw some freaky stuff while I was there. Scary.
exitone
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We did the trip up the Oregon coast last year with the family. We actually started out ion San Fran and did a few days there, and then drove up the Oregon coast. I went all Clark Griswald and made the perfect itinerary to hit the parks and such driving up the coast from south to north. If you need hotel recommendations, I could give a few.

A few random comments:

  • Tillamook was ok, but nothing worth going out of your way to see.
  • If you go to Samual H Boardman National Park and need a place to stay, I recommend the Beachfront Inn in Brookings.
  • Since you have kids, take them to Sea Lion caves in Florence. You get caves and you get sea lions. What else could the kids want!
  • Go to Cape Perpetua. Here you will see Thors Well, Devils Churn and the Spouting Horn. You don't want to miss this. If you can, plan your time there for high tide (there are plenty of sites on the internet which will tell you when that is). Thors Well is pretty cool at high tide.
  • If you like a large sand dune and the beach, you can go to Cape Kiwanda. The kids had a lot of fun here.
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