Oregon Coast recommendations

[michaelrecycles]

We're planning a summer road trip from the Monterey Bay to Vancouver BC and back, and would like to incorporate some stops on the Oregon Coast. Please let me know if you have any suggestions! What's good? What's not so good?

Any other recommendations on the route are welcome too. We both enjoy nature, food, beer, and wine (who doesn't?).

[terarym]

Greetings!  The Pelican Pub in Pacific City is bustling, but good.  Wanda's in Nehalem is the best breakfast on the coast. Beverly Beach State Park outside Newport is lovely, and right next to me is Nehalem Bay State Park. Cannon Beach north to Astoria will be hopping all summer; so just wade in & enjoy!  Be in touch if you like.

[forummm]

Cannon Beach. Gotta check out Portland. It's an experience.

[2ndTimer]

If you are camping Cape Disappointment is great.

[forummm]

If you are camping Cape Disappointment is great.

I enjoyed it. So it was kind of a let down for me.

[AJ]

Newport has an aquarium and a Rogue brewery. Will you be camping or staying in hotels? We camped up and down the coast all through my childhood, so I'm pretty biased towards the camping out there :)

[michaelrecycles]

Terarym thanks for the ideas! Great suggestions all!

Our hotel points bank is low, so camping sounds like a great alternative. Just need to sell this to my girlfriend haha! I'll look into Cape Disappointment (built-in tough sell). AJ any other camping suggestions?

[Bardo]

Newport has an aquarium and a Rogue brewery. Will you be camping or staying in hotels? We camped up and down the coast all through my childhood, so I'm pretty biased towards the camping out there :)

Second Newport.  Also they you can see the sea lions at the piers, which at least for me was a blast. 

[horsepoor]

Definitely check out Florence, Oregon.  It's about an hour south of Newport.  It may have changed, since I haven't been there for a long time, but it used to be much less touristy.  It has a nice downtown right at the mouth of Siuslaw River, great beaches that are never crowded, and just north of there IIRC, there is a botanical garden specializing in carnivorous plants.  It's also less than an hour inland to get to Eugene, if you have any interest in checking that place out.  I worked one summer at the little coffee shop downtown just inland from the bridge.  It was a total small-town community hub that all the locals hung out at, and had great coffee too.  Very laid-back place with beautiful surroundings.

[Erica/NWEdible]

The Tillamook Cheese factory! So much fun, and there's ice cream. :)

[swick]

We just got back from our Oregon Adventure :) We stayed in Seaside on the prom and explored Seaside and Cannon Beach. Haystack Rock is definitely worth a visit. Apparently you have to be careful where you park in Cannon Beach, but the main public parking near Haystack rock has a great little coffee roaster called Sleeping Monk. Super good coffee.

Also, Ecola State park is worth the drive up. Awesome views from both vantage points.
 

[michaelrecycles]

Circling back to this thread now since the road trip ended a couple months ago. Just want to say thanks for everyone's ideas.

We car camped at Sunset Bay State Park. As the name suggests, the bay/cove is beautiful and the sun sets right down the middle. I've also gotta say, if that was representative of other Oregon State Parks, you guys have it going on. Park hosts? Clean bathrooms?? Hot showers???

We also stopped to see the dunes just north, then cut inland to head up to Portland.

We didn't get to spend a whole lot of time on the coast but enjoyed the time we were there. Next time we'll stay longer, explore the central and northern coast, and definitely camp again.