Hwy 26 between Beaverton and Seaside OR.

djgarcia wrote:

ktmrfs wrote:

djgarcia wrote:

Me Again wrote:
I have found this to be a long and boring route to the Oregon Coast! Chris

Is there another alternative route to the coast starting in Beaverton?

We live in beaverton and yes there is an alternative to the coast.

Highway 6. AKA Wilson river highway. it has less traffic to the coast than highway 26, still often busy on weekends, but nowhere near what 26 gets. also very scenic, road near the summit has more frost heave damage than highway 6. So it is a little slower over the summit if your towing.

And again, I'd not consider it a "pass", a nice hill and that's about it.

On both 6 and 26 I can pull both passes in high gear with a 10,000 trailer and grade brake alone is way more than I need to keep speeds down on the downhill side.

Summit on both routes is around 3,000ft.

IMHO it all depends where you want to end up on the coast. if your wanting to end up near seaside, etc, then highway 26. If your wanting to end up near tillamook, lincoln city, Newport etc. then take highway6.

If your starting in beaverton, going to 35 and longview is way out of the way unfortunetely.

Since your planning on hitting it midweek, you'll find very little traffic on the road. For whatever reason, 26 gets way way more traffic than 6 to the coast.

99W and 18 area also options, but we seldom use them from beaverton since I don't like going down 217 and I5 or the backroad options to get to 18 or 99W.

And if you use 6, or pass through tillamook, the "Tillamook Cheese factory" is a must stop for at least great ice cream, or a nice lunch. On highway 6 you'll want to go north at the junction for 101 a few miles to the cheese factory. they have a huge parking lot for trailers/RVs and easy in and out access.

How RV friendly is Hwy. 6? Can you drive normal speeds?

I prefer highway 6, over 26 only one hill climb, way less traffic than 26, and easy to run the speed limit(55) virtually the whole way. And there is not as much truck/commercial traffic.

The only downside is that the roadbed near the summit is on unstable soil, so even though they reconstruct every few years, pretty quick there are some slumps. Currently there is about a 2 mile section with some slumps on the east side of the summitt you'll want to slow down (45ish) for. maybe 4 or 5 spots, each about 100 yards long or shorter. But then highway 6 has just as many frost heave sections as well, just spread out over longer distance.

And if you have time stop at the forest interpretive center on highway 6 around milepost 25 IIRC, lots of info on our famous "Tillamook Burn" that occured 3 different times.

http://tillamookforestcenter.org/about.html

PM if you need/want further info or have questions.

djgarcia wrote:

ramgunner wrote:
If going through at 03:30 (or anytime really) keep an eye open for deer and other animals. They may be just dying (or willing to die) to meet your grill/bumper.

djgarcia wrote:
There is a great restaurant half way to the coast with great food and plenty of parking for RV's.

Are you thinking of Camp 18? They do have some good food. Morris' Fireside in Cannon Beach is great for breakfast. In Seaside, Pig N Pancake is good, and at one point the place in the Shiloh Inn was good for lunch/dinner but I heard it went downhill.

Yes, Camp 18 is great. I really enjoy their breakfast:):)

yup, very good food, plenty of parking. One breakfast will feed DW and I, along with enough leftovers for lunch. Doubt anyone complains that the portions are to small!!

ktmrfs wrote:

djgarcia wrote:

Me Again wrote:
I have found this to be a long and boring route to the Oregon Coast! Chris

Is there another alternative route to the coast starting in Beaverton?

We live in beaverton and yes there is an alternative to the coast.

Highway 6. AKA Wilson river highway. it has less traffic to the coast than highway 26, still often busy on weekends, but nowhere near what 26 gets. also very scenic, road near the summit has more frost heave damage than highway 6. So it is a little slower over the summit if your towing.

And again, I'd not consider it a "pass", a nice hill and that's about it.

On both 6 and 26 I can pull both passes in high gear with a 10,000 trailer and grade brake alone is way more than I need to keep speeds down on the downhill side.

Summit on both routes is around 3,000ft.

IMHO it all depends where you want to end up on the coast. if your wanting to end up near seaside, etc, then highway 26. If your wanting to end up near tillamook, lincoln city, Newport etc. then take highway6.

If your starting in beaverton, going to 35 and longview is way out of the way unfortunetely.

Since your planning on hitting it midweek, you'll find very little traffic on the road. For whatever reason, 26 gets way way more traffic than 6 to the coast.

99W and 18 area also options, but we seldom use them from beaverton since I don't like going down 217 and I5 or the backroad options to get to 18 or 99W.

And if you use 6, or pass through tillamook, the "Tillamook Cheese factory" is a must stop for at least great ice cream, or a nice lunch. On highway 6 you'll want to go north at the junction for 101 a few miles to the cheese factory. they have a huge parking lot for trailers/RVs and easy in and out access.

How RV friendly is Hwy. 6? Can you drive normal speeds?

ramgunner wrote:
If going through at 03:30 (or anytime really) keep an eye open for deer and other animals. They may be just dying (or willing to die) to meet your grill/bumper.

djgarcia wrote:
There is a great restaurant half way to the coast with great food and plenty of parking for RV's.

Are you thinking of Camp 18? They do have some good food. Morris' Fireside in Cannon Beach is great for breakfast. In Seaside, Pig N Pancake is good, and at one point the place in the Shiloh Inn was good for lunch/dinner but I heard it went downhill.

Yes, Camp 18 is great. I really enjoy their breakfast:):)

If going through at 03:30 (or anytime really) keep an eye open for deer and other animals. They may be just dying (or willing to die) to meet your grill/bumper.

djgarcia wrote:
There is a great restaurant half way to the coast with great food and plenty of parking for RV's.

Are you thinking of Camp 18? They do have some good food. Morris' Fireside in Cannon Beach is great for breakfast. In Seaside, Pig N Pancake is good, and at one point the place in the Shiloh Inn was good for lunch/dinner but I heard it went downhill.

Depends on where you are headed.
Seaside/ Astoria area take US 26
Lincoln City, Newport points south, Take US 99W to OR 18.
Yes, OR 6 to Tillamook area is an option,

djgarcia wrote:

Me Again wrote:
I have found this to be a long and boring route to the Oregon Coast! Chris

Is there another alternative route to the coast starting in Beaverton?

We live in beaverton and yes there is an alternative to the coast.

Highway 6. AKA Wilson river highway. it has less traffic to the coast than highway 26, still often busy on weekends, but nowhere near what 26 gets. also very scenic, road near the summit has more frost heave damage than highway 6. So it is a little slower over the summit if your towing.

And again, I'd not consider it a "pass", a nice hill and that's about it.

On both 6 and 26 I can pull both passes in high gear with a 10,000 trailer and grade brake alone is way more than I need to keep speeds down on the downhill side.

Summit on both routes is around 3,000ft.

IMHO it all depends where you want to end up on the coast. if your wanting to end up near seaside, etc, then highway 26. If your wanting to end up near tillamook, lincoln city, Newport etc. then take highway6.

If your starting in beaverton, going to 35 and longview is way out of the way unfortunetely.

Since your planning on hitting it midweek, you'll find very little traffic on the road. For whatever reason, 26 gets way way more traffic than 6 to the coast.

99W and 18 area also options, but we seldom use them from beaverton since I don't like going down 217 and I5 or the backroad options to get to 18 or 99W.

And if you use 6, or pass through tillamook, the "Tillamook Cheese factory" is a must stop for at least great ice cream, or a nice lunch. On highway 6 you'll want to go north at the junction for 101 a few miles to the cheese factory. they have a huge parking lot for trailers/RVs and easy in and out access.

I wouldn't even consider that route over the coast range a pass. A few hills yes, but not by any means a "pass".

Now for traffic, another story. we do this route and highway 6 lots of times. And I avoid hitting it westbound on friday afternoon like the plague or eastbound on sunday afternoon like the plague. It's getting a huge amount of weekend traffic at those times.

In fact, I avoid friday and sunday all day if I can now that we are retired.

However, it is a nice scenic route, there are passing lanes, but don't be suprised if you see a few idiot drivers.

If you are in Beaverton, certainly Hwy 26 is the most direct route to Seaside. If you are near PDX airport, getting to and heading north on I5, then through Longview, WA, across the river back into OR, west on Hwy30 is an alternative.

Seaside to Beaverton and/or PDX is a trip I did many, many times... ~ 100k miles worth. Either route is not something I would consider even moderately difficult for a mountain pass. Very low altitude, grades are not very steep and traffic generally flows faster than the speed limit of 55mph. I would highly advise headlights on as there are a lot of people who pass unsafely on those roads. Even on sunny days, with the very large tree forests, cars disappear in the shadows very easily. Make sure you can be seen!

Me Again wrote:
I have found this to be a long and boring route to the Oregon Coast! Chris

Is there another alternative route to the coast starting in Beaverton?