Bend, OR to Fort Stevens, OR

I agree with Old Duck. I would add that if you are traveling on Friday (west) or Sunday (east), You can use Hwy 30 instead of Hwy 26. This means you take the freeway north of Portland to Longview then across to Astoria(Hwy 30). The two roads both have some hills and a little curvy on the coast side (overall these are no worse than other roads), but Hwy 30 doesn't seem to back up the way I have seen on Hwy 26. Hwy 30 is about 5 miles farther, but more freeway.

X2 on Sisters Coffee. Also doe a great lunch or dinner check out in the next block The Open Door. It's plain awesome. I'd choose Hwy 22 to Salem, then I5 north to 217 to 26 headed west. Last head north on 101. If you want to break up the drive a few State Parks to check out are Silver Falls, Champoeg and Stubb Stewart.

louiskathy wrote:

Powts wrote:
Just wondering if anyone has experience towing from here to there! We've got a 35' trailer and 1 ton truck. We did the trip last year but only in our minivan with the kids. This year we'll have the truck and trailer and wondering if there's a suggested/ better route than we took last year. We took the 20 and 22 and it was beautiful but there were lots of very steep hills. Wondering if anyone has more experience than us? Any advice or feedback appreciated. Thanks much!

When you say you took the 20/22 route.. did you stay on Hwy 22 thru Detroit, down past Stayton to Salem?

For that area, I wouldn't say it has a lot of steep hills but it is curvy since it follows the Santiam River. Not a bad road though in my opinion.

Fishermen's Bend CG is just 1 mile west of Mill City, OR and it is one of the best BLM campgrounds I know of. You can reserve online ahead of time or take your chances of finding a spot. Camploop has FHU pull thru's that can accommodate larger rigs. It's got lots of hiking/bike trails along the Santiam River... a two night stay would be advised.

hwy 22 west of Salem is good. When you get to the junction of 18/22, take hwy 18 west (hwy 22 gets curvy) and just ahead you'll find Spirit Casino. You can stay overnight there. Great buffet the last time I was there... 2 years ago.

If you have time, swing thru McMinneville on your way west of Salem... The Spruce Goose is worth it. There's a Good Same cg in McMinneville.

That's correct. We took the Sisters route then veered NW at Santiam. I'll look into the places you mentioned. Fisherman's sounds great. We've got young kids so don't really need to introduce them to the casino yet. That and they'd probly beat the pants off me at the tables.

Powts wrote:
Just wondering if anyone has experience towing from here to there! We've got a 35' trailer and 1 ton truck. We did the trip last year but only in our minivan with the kids. This year we'll have the truck and trailer and wondering if there's a suggested/ better route than we took last year. We took the 20 and 22 and it was beautiful but there were lots of very steep hills. Wondering if anyone has more experience than us? Any advice or feedback appreciated. Thanks much!

When you say you took the 20/22 route.. did you stay on Hwy 22 thru Detroit, down past Stayton to Salem?

For that area, I wouldn't say it has a lot of steep hills but it is curvy since it follows the Santiam River. Not a bad road though in my opinion.

Fishermen's Bend CG is just 1 mile west of Mill City, OR and it is one of the best BLM campgrounds I know of. You can reserve online ahead of time or take your chances of finding a spot. Camploop has FHU pull thru's that can accommodate larger rigs. It's got lots of hiking/bike trails along the Santiam River... a two night stay would be advised.

hwy 22 west of Salem is good. When you get to the junction of 18/22, take hwy 18 west (hwy 22 gets curvy) and just ahead you'll find Spirit Casino. You can stay overnight there. Great buffet the last time I was there... 2 years ago.

If you have time, swing thru McMinneville on your way west of Salem... The Spruce Goose is worth it. There's a Good Same cg in McMinneville.

Awesome, thanks for the info. We did the Sisters route last year on the way home to North Vancouver from Bend. Beautiful drive up to about Detroit Lake, then not so much. We did the Mt Hood route on the way to Bend and that was a gorgeous drive. I was amazed at how when you climbed out of the Hood area you were all of a sudden in desert. I'm still amazed at how quickly the topography changed. One minute you're in the middle of massive pine trees and the next you're staring at sand, rocks and flat straight stretches that went on for miles and miles.

I would recommend Sisters (with a stop at Sister's Coffee Company) through Salem, at least on weekends. Hwy 26 weekend traffic is pretty heavy now, and it makes for a stressful drive with a trailer. All of the passes are about equally steep I think, it's just some have tighter curves, and others have more passing lanes.

I don't tow but make the trip to Bend from Portland on a regular basis. The two basic routes are either through Sisters over over Mt Hood - the Sisters route is prettier but the Mt Hood route seems to be easier and based on gas mileage maybe less steep.

You can go from Bend to Portland then to Ft Stevens. It has better roads i think but longer grades. Going thru Portland is a bit confusing. I had=ve done both in a 36 ft MH pulling a jeep with no problems but I loved to drive a MH.
Jim