When will you be here?

Cannon Beach is a wonderful area. Ecola State Park is on the north edge of town, and then on the southern end is Haystack Rock, which is not to be missed. If you can be there at low tide, it is even better. From Portland, take hwy 26 over to the coast, and then hop onto 101 a few miles down to Cannon Beach. After your time there, keep heading south to Tillamook and then take hwy 6 back towards Portland. It is a very pretty route, and will connect back with hwy 26 near Forest Grove.

The gorge/Mt Hood area is beautiful too. From Portland, take I-84 eastbound, and get off at exit #22 for Corbett. Go up the hill and at the stop sign take a left onto the old scenic highway. Must stops along here include Portland Woman's Forum (odd name but great views), Crown Point Vista House, and Multnomah Falls. There are many other great stops, but those are the obvious ones. Continue on this highway for more stops before getting back on I-84. I would continue heading towards Hood River and check out any water sports on the river. Then take hwy 35/26 around the back side of Mt Hood, which will take you to Timberline Lodge. After that continue on hwy 26 westbound and that will take you back to Portland.

Thank you! We planned the 1st week in September. Unsure of weather but hoping it's good and not so touristy.

Is this the order you would suggest? Start at Cannon Beach then loop back? Definitely want to see as much as we can. Where are these magnificent waterfalls/hikes I see mentioned? We love to hike but nothing too long given we have much to see....
thanks so much!

For hotels, in Cannon Beach these are the places we have stayed and would recommend. 1--Surfsand Resort, which is near Haystack Rock and has great views of it. It is also a short walk to the heart of downtown. 2--Cannon Beach Hotel, which is next door to Surfsand, but most rooms do not have views. 3--Schooner's Cove, which is a block from the heart of downtown and most rooms have great views. The only drawback, if you will, is that is is further from Haystack Rock. Still very walkable though. 4--Blue Gull Inn, which is an older motel that has been redone. It is about 2 blocks north of Surfsand, but not oceanfront/view. There is a side street that take you right down to the beach, which is a block down. The rooms are nice and some have kitchens.

For the gorge/Mt Hood area there are 2 places I would suggest. Timberline Lodge is wonderful if you want to stay in a historic lodge. Then in Troutdale (off of I-84) is the Edgefield, which is a McMenamin property. Check out the website,as it is too hard to really describe it and do it justice. It is a great place to stay and always has so much going on. A real gem!

The first week of September is usually our best weather of the summer. Plan on highs in the 80's, typically. Schools don't start back up until after Labor Day here, so there will still be quite a few visitors that first week, so book hotels now to get your first choices. The good thing though is our version of crowds really isn't much so don't let that detour you at all.

Yes, I would start in CB and loop back. Especially on the coast if you go from north to south, it is easier to pull over and then get back on the highway.

The waterfalls and such are in the gorge, along that old scenic highway. There are loads of them, so you will be wanting to stop every few minutes

This is great thank you! Weather sounds ideal. Less rainy by chance as well? Surfsand had great looking rooms, that seems like the place.

If you had to choose for views/nice property would it be the Edgefield or Timberline?

Do you think the 2 nights in each area should be good? Hiking/views are all over it's overwhelming!


I guess mt. st. helens would be pushing it.

Yes, the chance of rain will be minimal.

I would opt for Edgefield, personally. Both fill up quickly though so take either one. Two nights in each area is good. Mt. St. Helens is a great place, and if you did the gorge in one day, that would still leave you a day to do St Helens. If you stay at the Edgefield, it would still be a good place to stay that night after seeing it. From Portland, it is about an hour to the exit, and then another hour up to Johnston Ridge Observatory. That is a must see place, as is the short film there. You can hike on trails there as well. For those of us that live here, the day the mountain blew is something we will never forget. We still like to visit the mountain to see how it is coming back, which is amazing, and you can see that for yourself at the visitors centers.

Timberline looks great maybe because of the web images, more scenic but we have been fooled in the past by websites.
It is our anniversary so we want something special.
Will check out Edgefield now.

Sure must have been an unforgettable experience, can only imagine! If we can, we will cram it in there, looks spectacular.

Hoping all goes smoothly with our flights so we don't lose time, always a concern. So grateful for your help, super excited now! Searching places to move to one day.
Would love to check out some of the organic herbal farms/suppliers and such but no time this trip.

We have the choice of Sat the 1st thru Thurs or Wed the 5th thru Monday.

Knowing the first option is over Labor day weekend we ran into surfssand having a 3 night minimum. Airfare was actually a lot less over the weekend but hotels may vary much. Any thoughts on avoiding Labor Day? Looking like it may be a must for us....

I would not choose Labor Day because it gets crowded in the Gorge especially parking at some of the waterfalls you would want to see-

I love the Edgefield but if you stay there, request a room that is not over the area where there is live entertainment- a friend of mine said she did not get a lot of sleep when she stayed there.

And, just to let you know, many of the rooms do not have a private bath- you have to go down the hallway, they provide you with robes. Does not bother me but I know some people don't like to share.

Great to know, thanks!
We booked the 5th thru 10th.

Only concern is that flights get in at 9pm, are we missing any good sites to head to Cannon Beach/surfsand in the dark?
Hope nothing we cannot see the next 2 days.

We have 1.5 full days for Cannon Bach/Ecola then figure the next 2 days for Gorge/Mt Hood/Mt St Helens, if we can see a lot. Thanks!

Yes, some of the rooms at Edgefield have the shared baths, but all McMenamin properties are really good at keeping them clean, and so far we have never had an issue with a bathroom not being available when needed. We have stayed at quite a few of the properties as well. Sunbum brings up a good point though about potential noise if a big event is going on. I still really like the place and would stay there, but it is a good thing to know.

From the airport, it takes about 2 hours to get to the Surfsand. No, you aren't missing much along that drive, and it isn't a hard drive. But since it will be getting dark, just be careful. The road isn't windy except for a couple small parts, so don't stress. But it is in the coastal mountain range, to give you an idea, so it isn't like a flat straight shot over all the way. The extra bit of time it may take going a tad slower will be worth it when you wake up to the ocean in the morning

When you leave CB, see if you can go as far south as Tillamook.
Stop at the Tillamook Cheese factory for some great ice cream and cheese. Take Rt. 6 back toward Portland.
There is a paved Forest Service road that goes on the east side of Mt. St. Helens between Carson and Randle Washington.

Well the bad news, seems hotels are booked on our nights.
As we fly out early on the 10th we don't want to be too far from the airport but we want to stay at a real nice place for the mt hood/gorge and possible mt st helens trek.

Ice cream sounds good to me!

Any other nice locations? We are splurging this trip.
Thanks

We just found space at Carson Ridge Cabins in Carson, WA, just not sure an ideal location for what we want to do.
Any suggestions?

From Carson go north on the Forest Service paved road that goes to Randle. Take the side road out to Windy Ridge which looks over the east side of Mt. St. Helens.

Will map out the distance there, thank you. Do you recommend the Carson cabins or know anything of them? We also found space at Columbia Gorge, a Best Western and a few others.
Columbia Gorge said Mt. St. Helens will be too far with just 2 days. So may great options.

Carson to Randle via NF 25 is 81 miles. 2 hours and 20 minutes.
The spur road over to Windy Ridge is about 10 miles. If you want to see Mt. Rainier, You could stay in Packwood or at Paradise.

If you mean the Best Western in Hood River, I think its a nice place to stay, on the river,

I have stayed there a couple of time.
How about Skamania Lodge-?

Although I'm not as crazy about Cannon Beach as many (I find it over-touristy) you can do a great loop by heading to Cannon Beach, then north through Astoria to the bridge across the Columbia to the Washington side. There, visit Cape Disappointment State Park, with North Head lighthouse - http://www.americapictures.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/North-Head-Lighthouse-United-States.jpg - and Cape Disappointment Lighthouse - http://pauldorpat.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Beacon-in-Storm.-WEB2.jpg - easily visited. Then return to the Portland/Gorge area via the north bank of the Columbia, through some very interesting and historic towns, like Cathlamet. It's a long but quite grand day.

Meant to add, we've stayed at the Best Western in Hood River and can recommend it highly. It's NOT too far for a day trip to Mt. St. Helens IMO.

Also have stayed at the Skamania Lodge a couple of times. Meh.

Wow, some spectacular shots there!

Skamania and Best Western seem like good options.
As we have to depart so early on the 10th we want to be within reasonable distance to the airport.

Has anyone stayed at Bonneville or any of these? http://www.allmounthoodlodging.com/lodging/luxury.php

With all these wonderful tips this may be an annual trip for us, so glad we fly direct at least!

I have stayed at the Resort at the Mountain- it was nice, didnt see much of the property but rooms were pleasant and clean

Skamania is sold out
Loved it and not too far from airport.
The search goes on

The lavender farm on hood river looks like a nice place to stop by also.

We enjoyed the historic Hood River Hotel in Hood River, have you taken a look at that?

http://www.hoodriverhotel.com/

We were looking for luxury with incredible views and under an hour to airport. Unfortunately almost all are sold out aside from The Resort at the Mountain and Columbia Cliff Villas.....guess we should book one fast!

Luxury would be the Columbia Gorge Hotel- beautiful grounds right on the river- have never stayed there- only wish I could

http://columbiagorgehotel.com

Columbia Gorge was sold out one of the nights but I am calling daily Columbia Cliff Villas is next door and an option.
Based on the suggestions it appears everyone recommends a river location vs. Mt Hood for what we want to do.

The itinerary so far:
Canon Beach 2 nights
Ecola State Park (hike)
Tillamook for Cheese
Astoria route possibly over to the river (assuming waterfalls and scenic)
Gorge - Hike Multnomah Falls - other stops?
Visit Lavender farm
Somehow see Mt St Helens if possible...
Need a bit more planning/sites

Last night at Airport hotel or close location since early AM departure

We are booked at Columbia Cliff Villas and excited to plan a few more hikes/sites.

Thanks for all your help!

yay- glad you have a place to stay. I think there are many falls along the gorge to keep you busy but if you have time on your hands check out Eagle Creek hike- a couple of water falls along that route too.

Is Eagle Creek along the Gorge? Do you happen to know how long that fruit loop takes assuming just a couple quick stops? Trying to decide if it can be done the same day as Timberline/Vista house. Thanks!

Eagle Creek is along the Gorge- here is a link

http://web.oregon.com/hiking/eaglecreek.cfm

but sounds like you are trying to do a lot in one day. you will probably want to spend some time at Timberline- not really sure how long it takes to do the fruit loop

Thanks so much! Yes we are known to do a lot.
Not sure we need to do the whole loop, just lavender farm.
Eagle Creek looks great, thanks!
Wish the trip were sooner.

And today we depart for Cannon Beach!
Thanks to all of your wonderful input we have much to see and do, just hope enough time!

Any recommended hikes in Ecola State Park?

Thanks! Will report from Oregon!

Next low tide will be at midnight tonight. http://cannonbeachchamber.com/
If you have your flashlights or headlamps, you can walk out to Haystack. The moon is waning but still quite bright.

Thanks but we arrived after midnight and awoke to much fog.
We are back now, and have to say that Ecola State Park/that enchanted forest was our favorite spot of all. Too bad the points we hiked too had no view, due to fog. I wish I knew what the lighthouse view or other from Tillamook trail looked like but maybe another time. The enchanted forest was well worth it despite that.
Cannon Beach was fogged over the 2 days we had there, so not one great photo of haystack rock.

Loved the sea lions at Astoria, didn't love the branding on their backs

The scenic drive was splendid, many great waterfall hikes, horsetail being our favorite since you can actually go under/behind a portion.

Mt Hood was a hot 90 degree day, too hard to hike up far but Trillium Lake a lovely view.

No St Helens this trip, but hoping in our future.
Oregon is one gorgeous state and we have perfect weather the entire time!

Thank you all for your incredible suggestions!

Thanks for filing a trip report. Shame about the fog but glad you got to see the Gorge and the view from Mt. Hood. Just love Trillium Lake.