Planning Our First Oregon Road Trip

Yesterday was an all around awesome day. I went on a great hike with some friends, caught up with one of my favorite people in the world, and planned our first Oregon road trip! Our goal is to be settled into our new digs by the end of July. This means August is a perfect time to get acquainted with our new home state.

So what are we going to do for roughly 2 glorious weeks?? It looks something like this!

Leg #A: The first stop is Hood River, actually a small town called White Salmon, just across the Columbia River in Washington State. ‘They’ call it a town with “All of the outdoorsy flavor, none of the crowds”. Hood River and White Salmon are located in the Columbia River Gorge. This part of the Pacific Northwest is STUNNING. I can’t wait to explore this area. We’ll be enjoying the views of Mount Hood, searching for waterfalls in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, mountain biking around the Coyote Wall, and driving through the Gorge! The Columbia River Gorge is considered part of Oregon’s “7 Wonders.”

Leg #B: I am obsessed with the band, Nathaniel Rateliff and the Nightsweats – they are playing in Troutdale outside of Portland at an outdoor venue called McMenamins Edgefield Amphitheater. We are suckers for outdoor music venues surrounded by trees! There is a wonderful hotel on property of the Amphitheater but of course it was booked, so I found a glamping dome on a farm about 10 minutes away. BTW, airbnb was a great resource when planning this trip.

We MUST also stop at the Multnomah Falls assuming we can get the required timed reservation ticket. These falls are the most visited natural recreation site in the Pacific Northwest with more than 2 million visitors a year.

Leg #C: Silver Falls State Park

Where do I start with this one? People call it the “crown jewel” of the Oregon State Parks system. The images below are from the Trail of 10 Falls which is a 7.2 mile loop that takes you by 10 waterfalls through a dense, lush forest. There are also mountain biking opportunities here that we’ll take advantage of. The plan right now is to camp in this area, but we’ll see – we are winging that part.

Leg #D: Many of my Bend friends absolutely love Yachats (Ya-hots) so I scoured airbnb and we’ll be staying in a tiny cottage on the beach so the pups can get some good walks along the shore. A few highlights here include hiking Amanda’s Trail, Cape Perpetua viewpoint, Thors Well and of course, the town of Yachats itself. Just maybe we’ll be granted an infamous sunset or two ❤️.

I’m CONFIDENT this post barely scratches the surface of what we will find on this adventure, but I think it serves as a good starting roadmap.

The beauty of this whole trip is that we’ll be on sabbatical so if we choose to extend our time on the road, we can. We can do whatever the hell we want!!

…i choose this…

Pam