Ore-gone Road Tripping: One Week in a Camper Van on the Oregon Coast
Updated: Jul 19
This year I knew I wanted to do a road trip somewhere in the United States in a camper van. I decided the perfect place to do this was the Pacific Northwest, specifically the coast of Oregon! Oregon has so much to offer: amazing beaches, fun cities, beautiful waterfalls, gorgeous mountains, and so much forest to explore. Ryan has a friend from high school who lives in Oregon, so he joined me for this trip!
Ryan and I planned out a rough itinerary with an idea of where we wanted to be each day, but we left the trip flexible so we could make changes and go with the flow. The beauty of a camper van is that you can bring your home with you wherever you want to go. I have never travelled this way before (I'm usually very type A and know exactly where I am going/staying) and I actually LOVED it! It gave me an appreciation for slower travel and really taking the time to enjoy the places we were visiting instead of just checking things off a list and moving on. Now I am considering purchasing a van like this for future adventures... better start saving up!
Exploring Portland
Day one started early with a direct flight from Boston to Portland. From the plane we both got to see Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams, and Mt. Saint Helens. It was amazing to see mountains like that from above! They are much different than the mountains we have in New England. We had a smooth flight and arrived at the Portland Airport around 9:30 AM. This airport was the most beautiful airport I had ever seen. It had recently been renovated and it was gorgeous! There was so much natural light and it was very clean. We were both so impressed and we actually were sad we had to leave the airport. 🤣 They had a lot of artwork and movie posters of films that were made in Oregon. There were even trees growing inside! We caught an Uber and headed to pick up the van. We rented through Outdoorsy and got to choose the exact van we wanted. We picked a 2019 Mercedes Benz 4x4 Revel. Ryan took a lot of time doing research and making sure it had everything we needed. We opted for a van that had solar power so we could cook and use electricity without any hookups. This allowed us to camp wherever we wanted. It had a mini fridge, a stovetop, and a bed that was long enough for both of us (we're tall). It had a cassette toilet and a shower inside and an outdoor hose. We tried not to use the toilet unless it was an absolute emergency, and we ended up not using the shower, but it was nice to have the option. It also came with some camp chairs and an awning for shade. The van also had a mileage limit, but we only went over by about 100 miles. Overall, we were really pleased with our van and would 100% rent it again. It took a bit of practice to learn how to use everything, but we were pros by the end of the week.
Once we were settled in the van, we headed to Proud Mary Cafe to meet up with Ryan's friend Matt. Matt was able to give us so many good recommendations for our trip! If you are reading this Matt, THANK YOU! We enjoyed some coffee and pastries and then headed to the Peninsula Park Rose Garden. I did not realize, but Portland is pretty serious about roses. There are several rose gardens throughout the city! The roses were all different colors and very beautiful. It was fun to walk around and pick out our favorite ones.
We then headed to Powell's City of Books. Make sure you go to the correct one on Burnside Street, because we went to the other location by mistake! This was the biggest bookstore I've ever seen and it was honestly a little overwhelming. Ryan picked out a book and then we decided to get some lunch at Deschutes Brewery. We sat at the bar and enjoyed some refreshing beers and split a Pork Katsu Bowl which was delicious. Driving around Portland was fun because every now and then we would catch a glimpse of one of the huge mountain peaks! Luckily we had a clear day. I did not expect the large amount of homelessness in the city, which made me sad. Our next stop was the grocery store to stock up on food for the week. We decided to buy some easy breakfast items, a couple dinner options, veggies, fruits, and other snacks. We continued on to Fort Steven's State Park and took a walk on the beach. We saw a cool shipwreck on this beach that washed ashore in 1906. After our walk, we decided to cook dinner here and enjoy the beach a little longer. We got to try out our stove top and made some tacos and rice. We decided to drive a little further and made our way to the town of Seaside and took a sunset walk on the beach. We saw a sculpin fish and a deer. For the night we camped at Bud's RV Park and got the last spot. They had hot showers which was great after a long travel day.
Cannon Beach and Tillamook
We woke up after a very comfortable night in the van and made some breakfast. I stepped out with my mug of tea and immediately saw a bald eagle! 🦅 Our first stop today was Cannon Beach. If you've ever seen The Goonies, many of the scenes were filmed in this area. We arrived around 10 AM and it happened to be an extremely low tide (there had just been a full moon). This was very lucky because it meant we could walk right up to Haystack Rock. All along the bottom of the rock were tide pools filled with thousands of sea stars and green sea anemones. We spent almost an hour looking at all of these creatures. The marine biologist in me was very excited! We also got to look at the birds that were nesting on Haystack Rock. There were cormorants, common murres, puffins, gulls, and oystercatchers. There were a few naturalists on the beach who set up a couple spotting scopes that zoomed in on a few of the nests. We watched birds flying to and from the rock, bringing back fish and gathering nesting material. If you enjoy looking for animals and you are coming to the coast of Oregon, I highly recommend bringing some nice binoculars. Ryan brought his and we used them almost every day of our trip. There are lots of little touristy shops and restaurants up and down Cannon Beach, but we settled on getting some ice cream at Suzy's Scoops and made our way back to the van.
Our next stop was Short Sand Beach and from the parking lot it was about a ten minute walk. The beach lies within Oswald West State Park. There were a few different trails to explore, and we spent some time on the Beach Trail and the Old Growth Forest Trail. This beach was much less crowded than Cannon Beach and had some cool caves on one end. We spent a while walking around on the rocks here and looking for more sea stars. There was a lot of people surfing which was fun to watch. We even found a little waterfall. We stopped to have some snacks and walked out to a viewpoint that Ryan remembered from his last visit to Oregon. The viewpoint was on top of a cliff and we saw a beautiful bald eagle. The walk down to the cliff was very overgrown and I was skeptical, but when we got there it was worth it!
We continued on the road and saw signs for a winery, so we decided... let's get some wine! It was a cute little place called the The Winery at Manzanita , and we went with the Wosé flight (white wine and rosé!). They had a lovely porch, the wine was very good, and we shared a soft pretzel. Our next stop was the Tillamook Creamery. I don't know what I was expecting, but we were both shocked by how big this place was. We did the self guided tour and got to look down into the factory and learn about how the cheese and ice cream is made. They also have free samples of cheese, which we very much enjoyed and we totally filled up our pockets. The line for ice cream was so long, so instead we decided to buy ice cream bars from the gift shop and store them in our van's freezer! We went with the mudslide bars and they were amazing.
We continued on and saw some harbor seals in Depoe Bay. We parked off the highway and took a short walk to a viewpoint and watched them through the binoculars. They were so cute! Tonight we stayed at Beverly Beach State Park Campground and loved it. We ended up with a really nice spot under the trees. They had hot showers and bathrooms which were only a short walk from our campsite. This campground was fairly large and the sites were spread out so it was quiet and peaceful. We made quesadillas for dinner with our leftover taco supplies and headed to bed.
Seals, Sea Lions, and Salmon, Oh My!
Today was probably the rainiest day of our trip, but it cleared up by the late afternoon. We started by making our way to Devil's Punchbowl which is a huge hollow rock formation shaped like a giant bowl. The water was really rough here and it was quite slippery around the rocks so be careful if you decide to walk to the bottom. We saw a few more sea stars and enjoyed walking around the inside of the punchbowl. We grabbed some coffees and treats at Cliffside Coffee and Sweets and continued down the coast.
We stopped at the Yaquina Head Lighthouse next. This was a fun stop! We saw so many seals here and enjoyed watching them. There were baby seals nursing and playing in the waves. We were able to view them very closely on the beach. We also saw a bald eagle being attacked by a little bird which caught our attention. The lighthouse was very beautiful too.
Our next stop was Thor's Well which is another rock formation. It is basically a sinkhole within the rocks right where the ocean meets the land. Waves come through it and drain out of it, and while it was interesting we were both a little underwhelmed.
From here we passed a sign for the Sea Lion Caves. We didn't know much about this and decided, why not? This was a spur of the moment decision and we are so glad we stopped. Tickets were $18 each to enter the caves, but it was well worth it. You get to take and elevator down 20 stories into an underground cave with an opening into the ocean. This was actually really fun too. Once you get down there, you walk into a dark cave with an opening to the ocean. A sea lion colony hangs out here and you could see them all inside the cave. There was a fence to keep you separated of course. There were a few other viewing points outside of the cave too. It was fun to watch the sea lions hanging out on the rocks, swimming, and making a LOT of noise. The male sea lions were massive and looked very proud watching over their harem of females. Ryan and I got pretty good at our sea lion impressions by the end of our visit. On the way out we grabbed some popcorn from the gift shop which really hit the spot, especially after smelling stinky sea lions for an hour!
Our goal tonight was to start making our way inland towards the Umpqua National Forest and find a campsite. We ate our ice cream bars on the road and stopped to see some elk at a rest stop. While driving through the forest we saw a cute little waterfall on the side of the road and decided to pull over and check it out. Both of us gasped and said "Wait, was that a salmon?" We got closer to the falls, sat on some rocks and ended up watched salmon jump upstream for about an hour! It was so entertaining and amazing to witness. We later found out this waterfall was called Deadline Falls, and salmon migrate up it every year from May-October. We found a campsite nearby called Susan's Creek and drove around it multiple times trying to figure out how to pay for it and book a spot, we didn't have any cell service or internet to help us! Eventually, the site host saw us and flagged us down. She was super helpful and it was only $20 cash, and luckily we had cash. This was another beautiful campsite and we had a lot of space here. They also had showers and bathrooms. We made some dinner and turned in for the night. We went to bed dreaming of jumping salmon and screaming sea lions.
The Highway of Waterfalls
We slept in a little bit today and then hit the road. Ryan stopped at an inn to see if they had an ATM, which they did not have, but we ended up finding out that Highway 138 is nick-named Oregon's Highway of Waterfalls, and the woman at the front desk gave him a huge booklet with different waterfalls to check out! We ended up adding a couple of the waterfalls into our plans for the day and we were so glad we did. Our first stop ended up being a hike to the Toketee Falls. This was a relatively easy hike and only took us about 20 minutes to get to the viewpoint. The waterfall was very beautiful and had multiple tiers.
Next we stopped at the Umpqua Hot Springs! I love a good hot spring, so I was looking forward to this! The hot springs are on top of a cliffside, so you have to hike up to get to them. The walk took about 15 minutes and it was a little steep. Tough to do in flip flops! Once we got to the hot springs it was already pretty crowded. There were several small pools along the cliffside which were all different shades of pale blue and had a range of temperatures. They were fairly shallow, quite slimy 🤢, but still felt nice. My favorite was the one that had a stream flowing into it. Clothing is optional here, so be prepared to see a lot of skin. Luckily there was only one naked guy (no it wasn't Ryan). When we were there it was pretty warm out, but I can imagine how great the hot springs must feel when it is chilly!
We made a quick lunch in the van and then we hiked to Watson Falls which was stunning. I think this was my favorite hike of the trip. It took us about 40 minutes to get to the falls. The waterfall was so tall and majestic, and it felt like you were inside of a fishbowl when you looked up at it. We both took turns getting right next to the bottom of the falls, and we both got pretty wet from the mist. It felt great!
We continued driving towards Crater Lake National Park. There are multiple entrances to the park, so make sure you check beforehand to see which are open. We entered the park on the South West side and exited at the North side, so we got to drive around a good amount of the lake. The lake was much larger than I thought it was going to be, and so blue! We watched chipmunks for a bit, checked out the gift shop and stopped at a few viewpoints. We took out the last of our Tillamook ice cream bars and enjoyed them at Watchman's Lookout.
We continued onward to Bend for dinner and drinks. We parked our van and walked down to the waterfront. We stopped to get beers at Bend Brewing Company, which we really enjoyed. There are so many different restaurants in Bend, and we were contemplating what to get for a while! We settled on pot pies a British Pub called The Cellar with live Irish music. Our pot pies were so yummy and the music was lovely. After dinner, we walked back through Bend and got to hear the Lord Huron concert playing in the Amphitheater. A ton of people were out on the river in kayaks or on paddle boards listening to the show. If I ever go back to Bend, I would love to get tickets to a concert. Tonight we booked a last minute spot at a HipCamp site on someone's farm, which was very private and peaceful.
Camping on Lookout Mountain
This morning we woke up early and drove up to Redmond for coffee and split a blueberry muffin at The Junction Roastery. We drove towards Mt. Hood and stopped at Tamanawas Falls. This was the most challenging hike of the trip, it took us almost 3 hours to complete. It's about 4 miles round trip with some challenging sections that were steep and rocky. If you come, make sure to bring water and snacks!
After our hike we wanted to drive up to Timberline Lodge, which is on Mount Hood. We were hoping to see a very cool view. Sadly, it was very foggy and freezing at the top! People were still skiing here which we did not expect, but it turns out they operate all year long! We explored the lodge for a bit and then headed back down the mountain.
We continued on to find our campsite for the night on Lookout Mountain. On the way up, we passed signs that said "Fire Activity" and we saw a bunch of firefighters gathered at the bottom of the mountain. We didn't know if they were training or if there was actually a fire, but no one stopped us! This mountain had a bunch of roads leading to different camping spots. We looked around for a bit trying to find the spot Matt suggested for us. This road was very bumpy and had huge holes in it, so if you are planning on coming here be careful! My Toyota Corolla would not have made it up. We finally made it to the campsite and luckily no one was there! Hooray! We had an amazing view of Mount Hood. It looked like there had been a recent fire right next to this spot and there was a lot of equipment. There were huge yellow tanks of water, generators, and lots of other things. We didn't see any signs that prohibited camping, so we decided to stay. We set up the hammock, read our books, and just relaxed. It was very peaceful and quiet. We spent a lot of time enjoying this campsite, and it was our favorite of the trip. For dinner we split a can of soup and made a little charcuterie board of cheese and veggies. We slept like rocks.
Heading to Hood River
We woke up early and said goodbye to our campsite. For our last full day, we wanted to check out Hood River. On the way, we found a place to shower for $2, the Hood River Aquatic Center! It had been a few days since we had a nice hot shower so it was necessary. On our drive we saw a huge rainbow! After our showers we stopped at Pine Street Bakery to get breakfast and coffee, it was really good! We walked around by the water and stopped at Ferment Brewing to get a flight of beers. We really enjoyed them all! My favorite was called the Forest Gnome. We sat outside by the fire pit and relaxed.
On our way out of Hood River, we grabbed a peanut butter and espresso smoothie from Stoked Roasters. It was very filing and gave us some energy for the next bit of our drive. We made our way to back Portland and stopped at Hole in the Wall Falls. It was a flat walk on a paved path to the falls, so it is very accessible. We saw wedding photos taking place here! We went to the Pittock Mansion for a little walk and we saw a huge slug! There was a nice view of Portland at the mansion. Our last task before returning the van was to dump the toilet and the grey water tank. We decided to deal with it tonight so we wouldn't have to worry about it in the morning. We luckily found an RV site that let us pull in and dump everything for free! They were very nice to us and so helpful! The toilet was very small so it was not difficult to take out and dump. We could have dumped it in any public toilet to be honest, but we wanted to do it correctly.
For dinner, we met up with Matt and his family in Portland. We went to Lo's Burgers and got their famous smash burgers and fries! We grabbed beers from Commensal Fermentation. It was so good! Ryan and I were excited to eat a real meal after a lot of snacking. We were able to stay the night parked on their street which was nice. In the morning we ate pancakes all together and said our goodbyes. Ryan and I cleaned out the van and got organized before returning it. Returning was very easy and we took an Uber back to the airport! I got a maple donut and chocolate milk from Blue Star Donuts which was a sweet treat before my flight. Ryan was flying home to Boston, and I was flying onward to Seattle to meet my friend Amanda for another adventure. We said our goodbyes and made our way to our gates.
Advice for Planning a Trip to Oregon
Park Passes: If you are planning a similar trip, I would recommend purchasing a Oregon State Parks Pass. We ended up purchasing the annual pass for $75 because we were going to multiple state parks. It made it cheaper than buying a day pass every time. They allow up to two cars on this pass. We also purchased the Oregon Coast Passport which was $10 for 5 days. This allowed us entry into places on Highway 101 like the Yaquina Lighthouse. Depending on what else you are doing, you may also consider getting a Northwest Forest Pass especially if you are camping at Forest Service sites, or even a National Parks Pass! We did not get these two passes, but it all depends on what you want to do and how long you plan on staying in certain areas. M
Campsites: I would also recommend making reservations for campgrounds/sites in advance, especially if you are coming in late June-August or on weekend dates. We were very lucky and were able to book everything last minute, but this was only possible because we were here on weekdays and in early June before it got too busy. We utilized some apps like iOverlander and HipCamp to help us find camp spots, showers, water, and dump sites.
Cell Service: We did not realize how little cell service we would have. There were a few days on our trip that we were unable to send or receive messages. We also had no internet or data to look things up on our phones. It ended up being fine and honestly a refreshing break from our phones, but if you need to communicate with your family daily or work remotely you may want to look into getting wifi.
Overall, we were really happy with our Oregon trip. We got really lucky with good weather and I liked that we didn't have a set agenda so we had a lot of flexibility. We had a nice balance of making our own food and going out to eat. We were both impressed with how much variety Oregon had to offer, and we only just scratched the surface! I would love to come back and spend more time in Bend and get down to the Sand Dunes and the deserts on the eastern side of Oregon. We absolutely loved it and I am already wondering when I'll be able to return!
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