Oregon Tour Planned in May of 2018

[John_S2]

My DW and I are planning on camping (27'airstream trailer) with our daughter and son in law in OR along the coast next May, 2018.

We have never been there before and would appreciate and and all suggestions and tips, etc.... Don't want to miss anything if we can avoid it.

We love being by the water and beautiful campsites.. Like to have electric but not essential.

Is the following preliminary timeling a good one? What would you suggest?

Drive North from SLO, CA
May 2 Bothe Napa State Park
May 3 Jedediah Smith Park

May 4th – 10th 7nights Oregon coast (look at possible booking on weekend nights, flexible on weekdays?

May 11-13 Portland 3 nights (weekend)

May 14th Willamette

May 15th Bend, OR

May 16th Crater Lake, OR

May 19-20 Ashland OR

TIA, for all tips and ideas, John S

May 21 sacramento, CA

May 22nd Drive to SLO, CA

[Lynnmor]

It would be better to access pullouts when driving south, but keep in mind that you will be driving into the sun.

[MarkTwain]

John S wrote:
My DW and I are planning on camping (27'airstream trailer) with our daughter and son in law in OR along the coast next May, 2018.

We have never been there before and would appreciate and and all suggestions and tips, etc.... Don't want to miss anything if we can avoid it.

We love being by the water and beautiful campsites.. Like to have electric but not essential.

Is the following preliminary timeling a good one? What would you suggest?

Drive North from SLO, CA
May 2 Bothe Napa State Park
May 3 Jedediah Smith Park

May 4th – 10th 7nights Oregon coast (look at possible booking on weekend nights, flexible on weekdays?

!!!!!!!!skip Portland ---save it for another trip. Too much traffic and congestion especially on the weekends. add the 3 days to a stay along the coast.

May 11-13 Portland 3 nights (weekend)

May 14th Willamette

May 15th Bend, OR

May 16th Crater Lake, OR

May 19-20 Ashland OR

Your trip will be a marathon of driving and set up, tear down and more driving. Instead of criss crossing from the Oregon coast to eastern side of Oregon then south back to SLO, I would drive straight up 101 along the whole coast of Oregon to Astoria and then make a south bound trip along the whole coast again back to your home. Save the eastern part of Oregon for a seperate trip.
Go on line to the Good Sam Parks application and select all the cities/areas you want to visit. Select an RV park in each of the areas/towns and make your reservations as soon as possible. You can always cancel/change your RV parks as you travel. Just check the cancellation policies of each park. There are no boon docking RV areas on the coast that I have ever found. Staying at a Wall Mart parking lot would not be my first choice. You might look for local Fair Grounds. To really enjoy your RV trip try keep the 1 night stays to a absolute min. Setting up and tearing down for a series of 1 nighters will be a frustrating and stressful experience in a short period of time, even in a trailer.
I travel up and down the Oregon coast every year.

[Janss]

People highly recommend driving the Oregon coast north to south because you would be on the ocean side and you can more easily and safely turn into the many many pullouts for views. I may ruffle a few feathers by writing this, but IMO it's not the end of the world if you drive south to north. I've done it a few times and I survived and had a great time.

[ORbiker]

John
Listen to what the others are saying. If you only have a short vacation, pick what is important to you and your family.

Crater Lake rim road probably won't be open yet. You CAN still see Crater Lake by going in the South Entrance.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

eubank wrote:
Airstream club international rally is in Salem, OR from June 20 to June 29. Going to be a lot of Airstreamers up there!
🙂
Lynn

🙂 Hi, we won't be there camping, but plan to visit, and have visitors to our house. We live 6.3 miles from the Fairgrounds.

[bikendan]

Having lived in the Napa Valley for 13 years, I can tell you that Bothe-Napa SP only has only a few campsites that could possibly be big enough for a 27' Airstream. Unless they've done some expansion.

I recommend Skyline Park for a trailer your size.

Bothe-Napa is mainly for tent campers and popups.

[romore]

What they said. 2 weeks is simply not enough time in such a scenic state. I have been there a number of times and still haven't seen all of it.

[rr2254545]

fly-swatter wrote:
we stayed at State parks exclusively and really enjoyed them. Cape Lookout, Carl Washburn and Harris Beach, all nice parks. No shortage of things to see and do, we spent 10 days on the coast and could have used another week.

Yes your schedule is way too rushed - We lived on the Oregon Coast and this winter will be our third winter on the coast in 5 years - never would i think of three days in Portland and why Willamette? - Bend however could be a week on it own.

We will be on the coast from 4/40 to 6/9 and I would stay longer if I could

[fly-swatter]

we stayed at State parks exclusively and really enjoyed them. Cape Lookout, Carl Washburn and Harris Beach, all nice parks. No shortage of things to see and do, we spent 10 days on the coast and could have used another week.

[donkeydew]

you need to slow down and smell then roses. with the schedule you have all you will have time to do is wave and say "yep i have been there"

[nightshift]

donn0128 wrote:
You need two weeks just on the coast. You absolutely need to travel north to south on the coast.

This.

Also, Multnomah Falls is a must. Stay at Ainsworth State Park for a couple of nights.

[Lwiddis]

Why speed through the Redwoods from Botha to Smith? Three hundred plus miles of the most beautiful part of our beautiful state. Do you know what you’ll miss or blow by?

[eubank]

Airstream club international rally is in Salem, OR from June 20 to June 29. Going to be a lot of Airstreamers up there!
🙂
Lynn

[CA_Traveler]

X2

Also we really like Astoria - as in the Maritime Museum, the Bow Picker, the waterfront trolley, Fort Stevens and the Lewis and Clark Fort. Great place to start heading SOUTH down the coast.

[agesilaus]

Dick_B wrote:
Do a Google search for `Oregon tourism' and you will find sources of information for the different areas of the state.
According the Weather.com the averages for Portland in May are 67F and 49 high and low.

Maybe but always plan on rain on the coast from N. California all the way up to the end of Hwy 101. May just be light mist type rain but it's rather predictable. Sunny days are not the norm.

We traveled that route N to S and had zero problems calling ahead a hour or so before we wanted to stop to get a RV campground reservation. That was in private FHU parks. There are a lot of nice state parks along that route and I'm not sure how easy they are to get into. I would absolutely add a couple days at Mount Hood to your list if possible. There are a lot of good CG right outside the park.

I'm not sure how long we spent going from the Redwoods to Olympic NP but it was probably 3 weeks or so. I hope you aren't planning on swimming the water is cold and the surf is high all along the coast.