My wife and I are planning a road trip where one of the main stops is Bellingham area in Washington. We are in Modesto, Ca, so we’ll need to break up that drive into two days as we have little ones.

I was thinking of stopping in either Salem or Eugene, as they seem to be about halfway and I’m not really interested in Portland.

My wife asked about Oregon City so we could do some of the Oregon Trail tourist stuff.

Of those choices, what would you choose?

I have not been in the North half of the state for months but what I have read and heard the rioting is pretty much confined to downtown Portland. Eugene (which has its share of crazies), Salem, and Oregon City have been pretty quiet. The homeless in Portland are camping right up to the edge of the I-5 R/W so I recommend using the I-205 bypass around Portland. Actually you will see homeless all up and down I-5, its more critical in Portland.

quote:

Originally posted by Mr.Brooks:
.....what I have read and heard the rioting is pretty much confined to downtown Portland. Eugene (which has its share of crazies), Salem, and Oregon City have been pretty quiet. .....

Um, no... Oregon city was ground zero a few days ago...

https://www.katu.com/news/loca...-at-clackamette-park

https://www.koin.com/news/prot...-after-riot-in-park/

I saw this post and I'm trying to think of a good place for the OP to stay. Oregon City is a blue collar town that's always been a bit rough. Honestly, I would not stay there for the night. It's Not like West Linn or Lake Oswego.

If the OP just needs a place to crash, do Wilsonville. If you want to do tourist stuff, you won't find that anywhere near I-5 except for maybe the Mt St Helens visitor center, Ft Vancouver, or maybe Silver Creek falls if you want to hike. Or the Boeing Museum. Most of the good tourist stuff is a bit of a drive from I-5.

I'd suggest hooking a left off of I5 and run Hwy 101 all the way up to Hwy 12 in Wa and head for Olympia and I5.
Traffic may be heavy in spots but there are plenty of towns to crash for the night and the coast drive is really cool.

The N end of Salem has a host of hotels that so far seem fairly normal.

There are a few name brand hotels just off I5 at Eugene's Beltline. Right near Cabelas. And lots of food. And about a dozen miles from my range

Oregon city and Portland are the same only difference is a sign saying you have entered the city limits, Eugene and Salem are full of homeless people. if you are going for a fun trip and dont mind the coastal drive 101 as others have mentioned is the way to go. if your looking for a place to spend the night and keep going there are tons of hotels up the I5 corridor from Eugene to Portland.

101 coastal route sounds wonderful. Tillamook (ice) Creamery would be en route.

What about taking a route that would go through Sunriver/Bend? Quick stops at the obsidian flow and Lava Lands / Newberry Volcano. Maybe the Lava River Cave? That was interesting to me.... YMMV

I guess my response would be: what are your time goals? If you are just looking for a safe place to crash, that's one thing. If you are looking for a place to tourist around on a no-stress drive to Bellingham, that's another.

To me, I don't see that you have the kind of time for the latter, especially if you have young kids in the 0-10 yrs range (which I'm assuming at least one of yours are) that were like mine that needed pee, food, walking breaks fairly regularly. So the Coast is great, and Bend is too, IF YOU HAVE THE TIME. But I-5 traffic, specifically in the Portland area (about a 20 mile zone from Wilsonville to Vancouver, WA) and the Olympia (about 60 miles south of Seattle) to Everett/Marysville area (about 45 mi. north of Seattle), the traffic can be, frankly, nightmarish. I mean the stuff of horrifying legends, and problematic even at the best of times. So assuming "Day Two" is wherever you stop then north to Bellingham . . . well, you're in for a hard day, to a nightmare drive. I'd plan on that. Specifically, if I were you (and I've done this in reverse, I live in Tacoma and drive to my mom's in San Jose regularly) I'd go as far north as possible on day one, probably to Kelso if possible, to avoid all of that (counting on hitting Portland about 6 pm when the traffic is . . . lighter) and going about 50 miles further north. Then leaving Kelso in the am, getting to Olympia at 11 ish, and hopefully getting the Seattle traffic at off, and less horrific, traffic flow hours. That way you get to Bellingham about five ish. I can't emphasize this enough - You cannot judge the travel time on the distance driven. The drive time from Oregon City to Bellingham is FAR MORE than the total miles divided by 70 MPH, at least assuming you aren't doing it starting at 10 pm.

Just my .02 cents.

^^^ that's good advice on the traffic. Staying south of Portland and leaving in the morning to go north puts you right in the thick of the traffic.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
101 coastal route sounds wonderful. Tillamook (ice) Creamery would be en route.

What about taking a route that would go through Sunriver/Bend? Quick stops at the obsidian flow and Lava Lands / Newberry Volcano. Maybe the Lava River Cave? That was interesting to me.... YMMV

Tillamook is a pretty nice little town, and the creamery is world-famous. Another spot off US-101 is Pacific City, which has a nice beach and is quiet.

flashguy

I generally stay off the Interstate and Hwys around Portland at all costs.
I drive out of my way to avoid them if at all possible.

If you are driving through North be on the other side of Vancouver by no later than 5 am or deal with traffic.

Twice trucks have flipped over on Tewilliger Curves lately and jammed it up tight for hours.

OR-22 is a fairly nice 2-lane road with fairly little traffic. You could leave I-5 just south of Salem and take OR-22 to the coast--it intersects US-101 at Hebo (I was stationed near there for 2 1/2 years) and proceeds on north to Tillamook. Lots of nice places to stay in Tillamook.

My Streets & Trips map shows the stopping point (from 0900 to 1700) to be around Eugene. Tillamook is 2 1/2 hours farther north, so you may not want to go that far.

Another possibility would be to hang left at OR-34 and go through Corvallis (home of OSU). There would be lots of places to stay there. This route changes to US-20 on the way to the coast, where you'd pick up US-101 to go north. Taking this route and stopping at Corvallis would make your first day end around 1800 (if you drive like I do). Day 2 would be 0900-1700. (Add time both legs for stops.) This route is about 1040 miles total (16 hours of driving).

The direct route using I-5 all the way is 920 miles, with about 14 hours of driving.

Myself, I like the lesser-traveled roads, but I drive alone without spouse and kids to have needs. Oregon roads are all very scenic, too. Frankly, given a minimum of 920 miles to travel, if I had the time I'd split it into 3 days, doing 300-400 miles each day. That would be a lot more enjoyable for the kids, too. Doing that, I'd probably turn off I-5 at Redding on CA-299 and head for the coast, taking US-101 all the way to Olympia, WA. Beautiful drive, 1080 miles, 18 hours drive time. First day (6 hours) puts you at the 101 turnoff, near Eureka, CA. Second day (6 hours) you'd be at Depoe Bay, OR. Third day (6 hours) to Bellingham, WA. But that's just the way I'd do it.

Suggestions:
First night--McKinleyville or Arcata, CA.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/To...ornia-Vacations.html
(FWIW, that section of CA-299 is called the Trinity Scenic Byway, and it looks to be an interesting drive:


Second night--Depoe Bay, OR.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/To...regon-Vacations.html

Third night--at your destination.

flashguy

This message has been edited. Last edited by: flashguy,

Old friends visiting left last Sunday mid day heading N to PDX. They
advised traffic was bumper to bumper flowing average 10mph
all the way to PDX from just N of Albany on I5.

Unknown cause but occurring more frequently. After 50 years
traveling the region, PDX has lost its charm for me, and I take any alternative
route in preference.

I live here in Portland. Oregon City is nothing suburb of Portland. I cannot think of 1 hotel I would recommend there. Frankly, there is ZERO reason to go to Oregon City.

Eugene is a college town there are a few chain motels right off of I-5 in Springfield. I would go Hilton Garden inn, or HOliday inn express eugene-springfield.

Get pizza from Tracktown pizza for dinner if you stay there.

Salem, again no reason to go there, no hotel would stay at.

Wilsonville just south of Portland there is a Holiday Inn and La Quinta. Standard chain, probably not too expensive.

Grants Pass, maybe a bit further south than you are thinking. It's a small town but right off I-5 are several hotels. It is a safe town, low cost and several restaurants for breakfast or dinner.

Turns out my wife was interested in Oregon City so we could do the End of Oregon Trail stuff with the kiddos (at that time they will be 4, 6, and 9).

But if there are safety and traffic concerns, we can reroute. I’m kinda digging the 3 day plan instead of 2……

I might have to make a thread for each leg of the journey to gather expert input.

Avoid this area like the plague that it is.

I've lived here since 1986 and it used to be a pretty cool place.
It didn't take long at all for them to fuck it all up.

Between the non stop riots it's gang warfare that is city wide now.
Bus driver shot in the chest through the windshield, guy watering his lawn by my kids school shot in the ankle when two assholes started shooting at each other.
Guy breaks into a woman's home, is arrested, let go and tries to get into stopped cars later.
Gets chased by the cops and the problem corrected itself when he ran in front of a train.

Going to work yesterday at 5am, some junkie comes out and starts trying to get into cars stopped at the light. Tried the three in front of me, then crossed the street and started trying the cars stopped on the other side.
Been hearing that is getting common and got to see it firsthand.

What scared me the most at that moment and the first thing that I thought of is " Oh shit I'm gonna be on youtube if he comes over here" as people had their phones out filming it.

I drove down the road a bit and called it in, yep that's a joke and a waste of time.
The only time they show up now is when someone else had to deal with them.
Don't be on youtube beating the shit out of a junkie wearing a shit eating grin and say you were in fear for your life if it's you.

I live in Oregon City and I have to say that it is NOT LIKE PORTLAND.

We have had 2 incidents in the last year and a half that were a result of the Proud Boys hosting flag waving type events that ANTIFA decided to shut down by showing up and starting fights. The city is not issuing permits for these type of events anymore and intends to shut down any future event. To my knowledge neither Oregon City PD or the Clackamas County Sheriffs office have any of the restrictions placed on them that are limiting Portland PD's response. One of the two events took place 2 miles away from me at a community college that I drive past every day and if I hadn't read about it in the news I would never had known it had happened.

We do not have many quality motels in the city but there are a number close by and not far off the freeway within 10 miles.

Your biggest issue at this point is that the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center is still closed because of COVID. Another great resource is the Clackamas County Historical Society museum, but it is also closed right now.

The bottom line is that Oregon City is a safe and clean place to visit and it is unlikely that you will see much of what makes Portland undesirable to visit. Unfortunately much of the best places to visit that deal with the Oregon Trail and pioneer history are closed, but that could change shortly as the governors restrictions are all being lifted on June 30th. Hopefully they would be back open at the time of your visit should you decide to come visit us.

If you do decide to drive the Trinity Scenic Byway (CA-299), you might like to peruse these links:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Sh...unty_California.html

https://www.aaroads.com/guides/ca-299/ (going west from Redding begins a little more than halfway down).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...rnia_State_Route_299

flashguy

Thank you for all the very helpful input, everybody.