Great Western Road Trip: Oregon's Roads and Coastline

Throughout our entire trip, Oregon was probably the single most beautiful state. It's not full of great contrasts, such as towering mountains and deep valleys, just gentle beauty. It's got a great coastline, too!

As you arrive at and drive through Oregon from Interstate 199, the tightly-packed tree-covered hills of California move further off to your sides and at greater distances in general, providing a more panoramic view of their height and forests. Even a sharp snow-capped peak can be occasionally seen further off and standing above the nearby hills. It's a very serene sight and a great introduction to Oregon

We arrived at Crater Lake from the south (Highway 62) and it is absolutely amazing. Crater Lake is definitely one of the most beautiful sights on earth. As you leave Crater Lake and head west on 138, you descend down and down and down through thick pine forests and before long, you're driving alongside the Umpqua river. It provides some really great views and helps to relax the whole driving experience. It's not too windy, like you might expect, but it does have occasional sharp curves. After about 2/3 of the way down along the Umpqua River, the forests take on more variety and add oaks and other deciduous trees to the pines.

When you get on Interstate 5 North and head towards Eugene, the hills become smaller and patches of the forest are often replaced with farms. This seems to give the landscape an even greater range of perspective and is very nice and scenic. Overall, southern Oregon's mix of rolling hills, narrow plains, and the occasional mountain seems to be the absolute perfect ratio (if there is one) and makes for an incredibly enjoyable driving experience

In the immediate area around Eugene, the landscape turns mostly flat and unattractive. The roads we took through Eugene (while landscaped and gardened in the style we've come to expect of the West) mostly seemed to be through an industrial district and didn't showcase any inviting architecture or anything else worth looking at. As you leave Eugene and head west on Highway 126, you continue to travel through some nice forests with a large variety of trees, but the hills are a bit lower now and closer to the road.

Arriving at Interstate 101 will put you back along the coast of Oregon. Oregon's Interstate 101 is basically California's Highway 1 (but Oregon's coast is warmer). The views of the ocean are pretty evenly interspersed with views of trees (mostly pine forests) but thankfully the forests aren't too thick and you can easily see through them to the sky or often, the ocean. There are quite a few coves along the Oregon coast and though it is generally hilly with some cliffs, it's not near as rocky as the Northern California coast. So, the absence of so many stark contrasts doesn't present the same kind of beauty - Oregon's coastline is simply more gentle, but far from flat.

Long stretches of sandy beaches on Oregon's coastline are fairly common. Every few miles are public access routes to the beach for picnicking, walking or swimming (much more frequent and with better facilities than Northern California). It's also less windy and less chilly than Northern California and the vegetation appears to reflect a warmer climate. The Oregon coastline maintains these features all the way up Interstate 101 until Highway 18 East (to Portland). It makes for a very nice drive and provides plenty of opportunities to relax and enjoy the beach.

On Interstate 101 in Oregon, about 10 miles north of Florence, there are some interesting sea lion resting areas known as the "Sea Lion Caves." There are hundreds of sea lions lounging around on rocks and inside the largest sea cave in the western United States. If you pay the entrance fee (a little steep), you can take an elevator down to the cave and view the sea lions from just a couple hundred feet away. I think it'd definitely be worth it if you have children. But if you don't want to pay, you can still view plenty of sea lions on many of the rocks from lookouts along the interstate just north of the private sea lion cave. Make sure you have binoculars though.

There are also several lighthouses along this stretch of the Oregon coastline. Some can be viewed from Interstate 101 and others require you to drive off the main road a bit and possibly pay an entrance fee (which includes visiting the inside of the lighthouse). There are also many small towns along the drive and a few larger ones. The small towns seem very pleasant and there are plenty of small motels and even resorts if you're looking for a place to stay. Most of the lodging options include ocean-view rooms and decent ones can be found for less than $100. There are also plenty of smaller restaurants advertising fresh seafood.

When you head back east towards Portland on Highway 18, you start heading back into the evergreen forests and hills. However, the forests don't last too long and shortly, the landscape opens up into more of a plains-type area with grasslands, some farms, and more distant low-lying hills. It still looks pretty nice, but not quite as nice as Oregon further south. As you get closer to Portland, Mount Hood rises up from the horizon with its solitary spire jutting up as if to stab the sky. It adds a lot of nice perspective to the landscape and makes it all very beautiful.

The Portland area itself is fairly nice-looking with some nice architecture downtown and a busy waterfront on the Columbia River (which separates Oregon from Washington). If you're looking for a fairly quick and very nice scenic detour, you can take Interstate 84 East from Portland and enter into the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. This is a heavily forested area with great views of the Columbia River, tall (but mostly forested) cliffs on either side of the river and occasional views of Mt. Hood.

About 15-20 miles east of Portland on Interstate 84, there's a place you can pull off and see the beautiful Multnomah Falls. You can view it from the base very near the parking area or take a very short hike up to a bridge just in front of the upper waterfall. In my opinion, this waterfall is one of the best we've seen on the whole trip. Though it doesn't drop as far as Yosemite Falls, it's a bit fuller and the forest area is nearer to the actual waterfall. Combine the lush natural surroundings with the bridge and it's a very spectacular and beautiful waterfall.

After this detour, you just head back to Portland and leave Oregon on Interstate 5 North. Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to check out eastern Oregon, so I can't say much for its scenery. However, western Oregon and Oregon's coastline are both incredibly beautiful.