Astoria,OR to Florence OR

The Oregon coast hwy is nasty IMO. It's so well used that it needs repairs all the way. There's some nice stretches but some areas are awful. I live in Oregon and hate taking 101 south or north. I do but reluctantly.

RedRollingRoadblock wrote:
...Watch for bicycles as they will always appear in the worst spot. ...

ah, yes, those long distance touring cyclists, who just wait to pop out and ride down the shoulder whenever an RV with extra-wide mirrors comes around the corner :(

Maybe this stretch needs the kind of 'cyclist-ahead' warning lights the put on some tunnels. OR a `sharrow` road marking. Cyclists don't like busy roads with narrow shoulders any more than RVs do.

The worst part of the route is south of Yachats over Heceta Head. The road is windy and narrow for 15 (?) miles but doable. Watch for bicycles as they will always appear in the worst spot. Don't panic at the tunnel! The low clearance is at the shoulder, just maintain your your lane position and you will be fine.

If you need fuel Fred Meyer Fuel in Newport is the price setter, has a new station with great access and exit. Right side, near McD's. Also Fred's in Florence. Tight but doable with care.

You didn't ask but 101 is a good ride into your home state. You said I-5 was preferred. I would cut over at Reedsport on OR 38 and 138 but there is options.

This part of the Oregon coast drive is most beautiful, especially the area fromYachts to Florence. The drive is quite slow so don’t expect to make any fast parts of your trips.
The road though is quite safe as most of the vehicles travel at a proper speed for the road conditions.
You will probably also encounter lots of cyclists along the route also.
Going south you are on the ocean side of the road and able to find lots of pullouts provided some yahoos as previously posted are not using the pullouts as permanent parking areas. What a poor way for RVer’s to operate.
Enjoy your trip it is certainly one of the most beautiful parts of the west coast.

CA Traveler wrote:
X2 Pull off at the view spots. We'll be in Florence Mon and have dinner reservations at Waterfront Depot.

Great choice of a place to eat, on our trips we have never been disappointed at Waterfront Depot

Y-Guy, Thanks for that warning. We're waiting out the holiday traffic in Florence. Then we need to get home and 5 is preferred but the smoke is very bad right now. The fires and smoke may force us to go down 101. While we love the OR coast this time we need to make progress south.

So something to be aware based on our trip to Oregon a few weeks ago. There were numerous RVs pulled off in the view spots and passing areas that were actually "Camping" in those spots along Highway 101. I witnessed over a dozen doing this just between Yachats & Florence. At first I thought they were just there for a quick stop, but then started noticing that jacks were down, as well as stabilizers and trucks were disconnected from the trailers. I first saw them as we drove north from Florence to our campground near Yachats, then had to run into Florence the next morning... same RVs parked in the same spots. IMHO this is a huge safety concern. With my RV & Jeep I try to pull off and let others pass. There is a great spot just North of Florence near Buck Lake but some yahoo was pulled over there along with 2 cars that came and went for 3 days - clearly this guy was not dealing with a break down, just pulled off for some Oregon Free Camping. Never saw this any other part of Oregon and appeared to be no enforcement over it.

I turned on my camera in the holder to capture this while I made the drive to Florence once. If you look at his right rear wheels you'll notice he's got his lever legos out. Camper was parked there for 2 days.

CA Traveler wrote:
X2 Pull off at the view spots. We'll be in Florence Mon and have dinner reservations at Waterfront Depot.

Oh how I envy you! Since the Delta variant arrived we've been avoiding dining out for awhile. Waterfront Depot is our favorite and unquestionably the best restaurant in Florence. If the original poster stops in Florence, suggest he try it too..... reservations generally required unless you dine outside....

obgraham wrote:
Assuming US 101. The hills there are pretty gentle, as there is not a lot of elevation change. A lot of it is along the seashore.
Usually slow going, though, as some of the parts are pretty curvy, and there is lots of traffic. Mostly folks pulling 40 ft fifth wheels (!).
It's an iconic and scenic road, and very enjoyable.

I would also try to avoid driving on the weekends.

X2 Pull off at the view spots. We'll be in Florence Mon and have dinner reservations at Waterfront Depot.