DAY 4

the oregon coast

coos bay → 15 coast stops→seattle

I was sooo excited to start day 4 of our road trip! Day 4 was the day we got to take Highway 101 all the way up the coast of Oregon to see amazing views! This day we decided to stop wherever we wanted to and see as much as we could. We took a total of 15 stops on the way from Coos Bay back to Seattle. It was bittersweet having an epic day just to have it all end. If you have more time, I definitely recommend taking at least 3 days to do the entire coast. If you don’t want to read about all the stops or the journey, here is a list of where we stopped starting in Coos Bay:

• John Dellenback Dunes

• Umpqua Lighthouse State Park

• Torex ATV Rentals (Dune Buggy Rental spot)

• Sea Lion Caves

• Heceta Head Lighthouse

• Thor’s Well/Spouting Horn

• Devil’s Churn Overlook

• Cape Perpetua

• Yachats (ate at Luna Sea Fish House)

• Nye Beach

• Agate Beach

• Yaquina Head Lighthouse

• Pacific City Beach/Cape Kiwanda

• Tilamook

• Cannon Beach

Some of these 15 stops are mainly just look out points/points on the map we thought looked cool. I’m only going to talk about some of the bigger highlights of the day!

big stop 1: sand dunes for buggy adventure

Staying at our AirBnB the night before, our hosts told us about all the sand dunes we would see coming up the coast. We decided last minute that we wanted to do Dune Buggys. We rented from Torex ATV Rentals on our drive up the coast. They are more expensive than doing a regular ATV, but since almost everything we did on the trip we did was free, we decided to splurge! You watch a quick safety video, see a map of the sand dunes, get quick instructions and you’re off! We hit the dunes and got an hour to drive around. You’ll learn about “sand vision” and it is 1000% accurate. Basically the dunes look totally flat until your at the top and there’s a massive drop off! It’s crazy but also so much fun. A really fun adrenaline rush. We paid for one hour, but there were also options for 4+. We had a great time and I would definitely recommend! Next time we go to the sand dunes I also want to try sand boarding.

big stop 2: yachats

The following stops are all within 20 minutes of each other: Thor’s Well/Spouting Horn, Devil’s Churn Overlook, Cape Perpetua, town of Yachats. My favorite parts of this stop were Thor’s Well and Spouting Horn. Thor’s Well is a natural wonder, its like a cauldron spewing and bubbling at high tide (picture at the top of this blog.) Spouting Horn is above (third image) and is like an ocean geyser. The water and location are picture perfect. We spent at least an hour here walking along the rocky shore and watching the natural wonders. After, we drove into the town of Yachats. We ate at Luna’s Seafood house recommended to me by a friend. It was absolutely amazing. Some of the best seafood I’ve had on the west coast. After, we walked into several town shops while eating ice cream from a shop nearby. There is also a cute brewery I would go to next time we go back.

big stop 3: pacific city beach

Pacific City Beach reminded me of a mini Cannon Beach. A beautiful haystack rock out in the distance, several large sand dunes, and beautiful reflections from the water. The sand hill in the right of the picture you could climb up to watch kite gliders go off the other side of the hill. The beach was wide to spread out from people. There were also several people surfing here. If you want to sit and chill not on the beach, Pelican Brewing has a large outdoor patio right next to the beach. We enjoyed our walk on the beach here and I definitely want to come back and explore more.

**I am not putting Tillamook as a big stop because the Tillamook Creamery was closed due to Covid. However, if it was open, I would count it as a big stop. Instead, we went to Blue Heron Cheese Shop next door and bought cheeses to create a mini charcuterie board for Cannon Beach! I don’t recommend stopping in Tillamook unless the factory is open for tours.

big stop 4: cannon beach

Last but certainly not least, was our stop at Cannon Beach. Probably the most well known spot of all the stops we did along the coast. We spent two hours here walking along the beach at sunset. It was just as beautiful as I had pictured it to be. It was surprisingly not crowded, but could be because it was a bit cloudy and chilly at sunset this day. Haystack rock was really cool to see. It was covered by Puffins and Seagulls. I would recommend bringing binoculars because their hard to see without them. Cannon Beach also has a cute little town with several options for dining, drinking, and shopping. This town of all the stops we took has the most to do, if you want to plan your time accordingly. After watching the sunset we took off back to Seattle to end our amazing trip. I would 10/10 recommend an Oregon road trip adventure!

day 2

salem→Tamolitch→smith rock→painted hills→bend

Day 2 of our road trip! If you can’t tell from the route of this day, we really packed it all in! We took off from Salem at 7am and headed to Tamolitch Blue Pool 2 hours away. Along the drive there are several beautiful camp spots on Detroit Lake as well as several trails that will lead you to views of Mount Jefferson. We joke that we always had 1 fail a day, and our fail was trying to find a trail that was unfortunately blocked by an active logging road. We laughed it off and headed to Tamolitch Blue Pool only 45 minutes away from our failed hiking attempt.

Stop 1: tamolitch blue pool

We arrived at Tamolitch Blue Pool trailhead at 9:30am, the parking lot was empty when we arrived. On the way out however, there was limited parking remaining since its all parallel parking on the side of the road. The hike itself was very easy, 4 miles round trip with only 300 ft of elevation, so very flat. Along your 2 mile walk to the Blue Pool you’ll see a blue river, mossy trees, and some volcanic rocks. When you arrive to the pool, there are multiple viewpoints. The water is so clear you can see every outline of the rocky bottom. The pool’s reflection is so clear mirroring the trees surrounding. We sat on some cliff rocks and had a snack as we admired the color and reflection. On the way out, the trail was very crowded so make sure to bring a mask.

cool pit stops

From Tamolitch we headed to Smith Rock State Park only 1 hour and 15 minutes away. Our drive views included several lava fields, gorgeous mountain views, several massive forests, and lakes. On the way we took 2 pit stops, one at Black Butte Ranch and another at the town of Sisters. Black Butte is a gorgeous ranch that offers places to stay, dining, and several recreational activities. We stopped because they have an amazing view of Three Finger Jack, Three Sisters, and Mount Washington across their lake. Our next stop was in the cute town of Sisters. We got sandwiches from Sisters Meat and Smokehouse that were absolutely delicious, especially their homemade cookies! On the road again we passed several farms with cattle, lambs, goats, and alpacas, and then arrived to Smith Rock.

stop 2: smith rock state park

Arriving to Smith Rock State Park feels like you’ve left the state of Oregon and landed in Arizona. The climate is hotter, drier, and you’ll notice really cool rock formations. The park has multiple trails for all experience levels. We started out doing the Rim Rock walk that goes 1 mile around the park to see the views from above. We then went into the canyon and did the 2.5 mile River Walk trail. Both are easy walks where you get great views of the canyon, river, wildflowers, and rock climbers. There are harder trails available, but given our time constraint, we enjoyed the 3.5 miles of easy walking. We still feel like we got the full experience. After our mini hikes we did the 1.5 hour drive to Painted Hills. There’s not much to see along this drive aside from Ochoco National Forest where you’ll go up and down mountain ranges until you hit Painted Hills.

Stop 3: painted hills

Painted Hills is part of John Day Fossil Beds National Park. When you get there, you’ll feel like you’ve entered outer space and landed on Mars. Absolutely incredible to see how millions of years of fossils have turned these hill sides into beautiful banded colors.If you go in the evening, the sun makes the colors pop. There are no major trails, so it’s an easy visit. We walked along the Painted Cove Trail (0.25 miles) where you can read more about how the colors of the hills formed. Make sure you always stay on the trail as the dirt is fragile. Painted Hills Overlook gives you the best view point for pictures. After we gazed at the hillside for a bit, we started our two hour drive to Bend. Also, random but fun fact I learned on this drive, if you see a tumbleweed go around it!

stop 4: bend

When we got to Bend we did the first thing anyone should do, hit up the local taco joint. We decided to sample tacos from Sancho Taco Shop. Our favorites were the Carne Asada and the Chipotle Chicken, not to mention the chips and guac were delicious. Next stop, most important, we went to get beer from Deschutes Brewery. We got the Da Shootz Pilsner and Hazy IPA. Luckily, we had friends staying in Bend the same weekend and they let us crash at their cabin for the night. We sat in the dining room watching the sunset through massive windows overlooking the Deschutes river. It was the perfect ending to our day 2 adventures!