Towing 40ft 5th on Oregon Coast Highway

We made this trip a couple of years ago driving a 32 ft motor home towing a car. Had no trouble driving the highway but was really frustrated when i wanted to pull over and stop but couldn't. Will do this drive again but want to be In a smaller rig to really enjoy the sites close up.

June to Sept will be virtually impossible to get a spot on the weekend in a St park. Even worse is that not all the St parks will have room for your 40' 5er and truck.
My suggestion is to stay where you like during the week and plan on RV parks on the weekends.
As far as the Ore coast hwy is concerned it's no problem. The place where things get dicey is when you enter CA. We've never towed anything that long thru CA on 101 but even with our 31' TT and 28' 5er it was a little close. It's not the length, it's the width.
With that being said it's well worth the dicey stuff.
Also if you're planning on stopping in Redding then check out JGW RV park. We've stayed there several times. Very clean and the sites are big.

I live in one of those small towns you will be going through. Yes you will annoy us locals, but we are used to it all summer. Come enjoy the views and one of the greatest places on Earth. Just pull off and let us pass when you can. Thanks.

hvydty59 wrote:
We are planning on visiting Oregon coastline down to California redwoods then to Redding to I-5. Help! I see lots of campers large and small in the campgrounds, but what about the road and camping along the route?
We live in Colorado and have driven lots of narrow winding roads up and down. How about the small towns for getting thru and irritating the locals.
Have thought about storing the unit in a camp and just driving the P/U down the route and staying in motels, returning to pick up the camper.
Any suggestions greatly appreciated.
Thank you kindly
G Griffitt
40ft 5th wheel
1 Ton Dodge dually diesel
Old Dog and 11 yr old grandson

When

June to Sept will be busy, especially on the weekends. I agree. Astoria is not to be missed. SO MUCH TO SEE.
The state campgrounds have smaller sites. Plan on private parks as a base and see the sites in the truck.

GS and GPs will love Astoria. Stay at Ft Stevens or Lewis and Clark Golf and RV park. GO TO THE MARITIME MUSEUM you can even park the rig there. Go across the street to the Bow Picker one of if not the best fish and chip restaurants anywhere. No frills and you will wait in line of course but don't miss it. Then hop on the Astoria river front trolley. Trust me everyone will have a great experience. And the Lewis and Clark Fort and kayak trip is also great.

And find out where the cannon in Cannon Beach came from??? Yeah the ship sank in Astoria and you'll already know about the power of the Columbia River and the Pacific Coast currents. The Columbia Bar is the most dangerous one in the world.

No problem on 101. But on the Redwoods Highway (old 101) the massive Redwoods right at the road edge are unforgiving as witnessed by their trailer scars. So leave the 5er in the CG and have a great trip.

To the OP,

We did a trip in 2013 starting in May but in the reverse. Left the Susanville, CA area for Redding then took the 299 to Trinidad, CA which was over a 3 hour run. Windy road but not a problem. There aren't that many choices to go from Redding to the 101 but I would do the 299 again. Going all the way down to Clear Lake was not a good option in our opinion.



Here is our Redding Trip Report.

From there you can follow our route up the 101 and the places we stayed. Our last stay on the coast was Westport, WA. Not sure where you plan on joining the 101 in Oregon...are you coming from Colorado?

When we left Westport we headed inland to the 5 then South to the 84 then East ending up in Homedale, ID (stops in between of course) before heading to Winnemucca on our way to our home base in Reno. The reason I mention this is if you are coming/going to the coast from Colorado this is a route you may want to consider.

With that safe travels and enjoy.

The road is lovely, you should have no problem. Plenty of private campgrounds along the way, but the ones closest to the ocean probably will require reservations, or at least a phone call so you don't pull in to find them full. As for visiting the towns, my only complaint was that some of the southern Oregon towns have parking height restrictions, obviously aimed at RVs. Most of these towns have bus lots on the outskirts of town. Large fuel stops are few and far between, so don't wait until last minute to fill up. Enjoy.

101 is fine. Hope you have reservations though. The road to Redding is going to be your worst nitemare. Consider instead going farther south and heading around clear lake. Much easier drive

The Oregon coast will not be a problem but when you get into the redwoods the road winds around the trees some of the trees a very close to the road. We did this route last year with our 5th wheel and I'm sure we will do it again.