This spring our family traveled to Oregon and had an amazing time! You all have loved my posts about vacationing in Missouri and in Kentucky at the Ark Encounter, and many of you asked to hear more about Oregon. Here’s our trip itinerary with all of my honest thoughts, plus the books we read to prepare for our time on the west coast!
Day 1: TRAVEL
We flew into Portland and picked up groceries on our way into Cannon Beach, OR.
Pro tip: whenever we travel somewhere we always do grocery pick up or delivery and this has been such a game changer when it comes to making that first day smooth.
I usually plan for something simple, and when we arrived it was rainy and overcast, so canned soup with sourdough bread was perfect for a quick and easy supper.
This was the first plane ride our kids have taken and it was fantastic. Flying with kids who are old enough to carry their own suitcases and can entertain themselves is such a gift!
Day 2: CANNON BEACH, OR
We wanted to take the first day to enjoy Cannon Beach and orient ourselves to where we were staying. We made sure to visit Haystack Rock right away. We ended up walking to Haystack Rock every night because it was so close! That first day was a memory I’ll never forget as it was the first time any of our kids have seen the ocean!
We had read this book– Curious Kids Nature Guide: Explore the Amazing Outdoors of the Pacific Northwest– ahead of time so our kids kept their eyes peeled for the animals and creatures we had read about. The tide was out so we were able to see so much! Sea stars and sea anemone, lots of birds and so many barnacles. It was amazing.
We also walked around the shops at Cannon Beach. Our favorite shops were Geppetto’s Toy Shoppe and Cannon Beach Clothing Company. We really hoped to go to Sleepy Monk Coffee Roasters but they had recently closed. We also picked up some taffy and it was delicious. I don’t know why taffy is in every tourist town there is, but we fall for the tourist trap of it every time. No regrets!
Day 3: ASTORIA, OR
Lewis and Clark National Historic Park was so cool! My 5th grader and I had read similar books about Lewis and Clark, so getting to see the museum and fort was perfect timing. He read Of Courage Undaunted and I read Undaunted Courage.
I loved how much the museum focused on the lives of the entire party (not just Lewis and Clark) and about what happened to them after their expedition.
My kids loved getting to dress up like the explorers and to walk around the fort.
Unfortunately it was quite cold and pouring rain the morning we went otherwise we would have hiked more of the trails. The few we ventured out on were absolutely beautiful!
Astoria Column was so different from what I expected. We bought balsam planes in the small gift shop and headed inside the column to walk to the top. Oh boy. Inside was a metal spiral staircase.
Maybe it was because it was raining, I don’t know, but the steps felt treacherous. I couldn’t help but feel like I was going to slip the entire time we went up.
My heart skipped about 10 beats any time we had to pass another party going up or down. The railing was freezing cold so that didn’t help either.
But when we got to the top, the view was beautiful! Even with it being overcast, we could still see so far. I barely took any photos at the top because I was nervous, but it was cool to see.
I had a lot of fun watching my kids send off the airplanes from the top. We were able to watch them drift and fly for a very long distance! They especially loved this stop and all said it was a favorite.
Fort Stevens State Park was a short drive from there and I’m really glad we went. There is a black sand beach with remains of a shipwreck in the state park so we visited there first. The kids really enjoyed seeing the wreck!
Unfortunately, right after this we had a child feeling sick so we booked it home otherwise we would have explored more.
Day 4: SEASIDE, OR
Seaside Beach was beautiful but getting down to the beach was not fun. The parking options were very limited and there were so many people walking around it was hard to navigate driving.
We saw many sand dollars at that beach and the walk down to the beach itself with all the sea grass was beautiful!
We made sure to find the Lewis and Clark statue at the Seaside Promenade and walk around the shops there (but honestly they were not as nice as the ones in Cannon Beach). We drove over to the Lewis and Clark Salt Works and that was interesting!
Day 5: OSWALD WEST STATE PARK
Unfortunately, due to erosion and flooding two places we had hoped to visit, Ecola State Park and Hug Point State Recreational Site, were both closed.
But the great thing about the coast line is that there are so many wonderful places to stop and visit so we felt like we still got to see and explore as much as we wanted.
We hiked the Elk Flats Trail in Oswald West State Park. This trail was easy to find and had great parking. The trail itself was quite steep and muddy but the viewpoint was worth it! We also played in the woods for a long while. It was one of my favorite places we went on the whole trip.
After we stopped off at the Neahkahnie Viewpoint. There was a state park employee there that day who told us so much about whale watching and whale migration in the area. We were even able to see a whale and follow their swimming pattern for half an hour or so!
Day 6: TILLAMOOK, OR & CAPE MEARES STATE PARK
Tillamook Creamery was very busy the day we went. We ate lunch first (around 11) and that was the right choice because the cafeteria was packed for the rest of the morning.
We toured upstairs, sampled lots of cheese, and visited their shop. It was very interesting seeing how all of the cheese is made.
I highly recommend taking time to read all of the signs and not just breezing through. The ice cream was delicious (but the lunch was mixed–very challenging for anyone with allergies).
After the creamery we drove to Cape Meares Lighthouse. The views were incredible! It was very windy and rainy the day we went but that just added to the wildness of the coastline. The waves were huge!
Right near the lighthouse was the Octopus tree. I’m glad we stopped to see that too because it was so unusual. The views on the whole drive from Cannon Beach to Cape Meares and back were breathtaking!
Day 7: ARCADIA BEACH
Arcadia Beach was one of our favorite places. We were able to see so many tide pools that day and it was much less crowded than Seaside beach or Haystack Rock beach.
The kids had a great time playing in the driftwood and rocks. Plus the parking was free and easy to find!
We had supper that night at Public Coast Brewing and all of us loved it. They had lots of gluten free options and my kids thought the live music was the coolest.
We couldn’t finish our trip without more ice cream, and Suzy’s Scoops was delicious (especially since they had gluten free and dairy free options).
We didn’t see a lot of things about the Oregon Trail but we did read about it before we went. These are the ones my kids read:
-Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie
-Ranger in Time: Rescue on the Oregon Trail
-The Oregon Trail (You Choose Books)
Our favorite thing to do was just hang out and walk the beach. We went every single day and those are some of the best memories!
We loved basing out of Cannon Beach, though you can't go wrong with staying anywhere along the coast. I hope you enjoyed following along with our time in Oregon!
