Oregon Coast and the Redwoods: Portland to San Francisco

1. Jour 1 : Arrive in Portland

   Portland International Airport (PDX) to your hotel in downtown Portland

   • Environ 30 min de route
   • Repas du soir
   • Nuit : Portland
   Détail du jour 1

   Fly into Portland International Airport (PDX), about 20 minutes from downtown. We meet arrivals at set times through the day and drive you to a central hotel; the pick-up windows come with your final itinerary. If you land early, Portland is an easy city on foot: Powell's City of Books fills a whole block a short walk from most downtown hotels, the Pearl District has galleries and cafes in old warehouses, and Tom McCall Waterfront Park runs along the Willamette River. At about 6 pm your See Sight Tours guide meets the group at the hotel for a short briefing on the trip south: how the days are paced, how the tides decide when we walk the beaches, and why a warm layer matters on a summer coast. Then we walk to a welcome dinner nearby. Tomorrow starts with roses and a view of Mount Hood before we head for the sea.

   Compris

   • Pick-up at Portland International Airport (PDX)
   • Welcome briefing with your guide
   • Welcome dinner in Portland

   Temps libre : Free until the evening briefing

   

2. Jour 2 : Through the Coast Range to Cannon Beach

   Portland to Washington Park, then US 26 to Ecola State Park and Cannon Beach

   • Environ 2 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   • Nuit : Cannon Beach
   Détail du jour 2

   At about 9 am we drive up into Washington Park, in the hills west of downtown, to the International Rose Test Garden, quiet at this hour, where the terraces look over the city to Mount Hood on a clear morning. Then we head west on US 26 through farmland and the forested Coast Range, about an hour and a half, to Cannon Beach, a village of cedar-shingled cottages on a long beach. Lunch is your choice in the village. In the afternoon we drive a few minutes north into Ecola State Park, where viewpoints look down on Indian Beach, the headlands and the old Tillamook Rock Lighthouse on its rock offshore. We walk to Haystack Rock, about 72 m high, at the daylight low tide, set per departure from the tide tables, when the pools at its base show sea stars, anemones and crabs; from about April to August, tufted puffins nest on the rock. The evening is free on the beach for sunset.

   Compris

   • International Rose Test Garden in Washington Park (Portland)
   • Drive through the Coast Range on US 26
   • Ecola State Park viewpoints and Indian Beach, day-use fee included
   • Haystack Rock tide pools at low tide with your guide

   Option plus facile : Stay at the Ecola viewpoints and watch the tide pools from the sand near Haystack Rock.

   Option plus active : Walk part of the Clatsop Loop Trail above Indian Beach, about 4 km with about 150 m of climbing.

   Temps libre : Lunch and evening free in Cannon Beach

   Activité : About 4 km on foot in all, on garden paths and sand. Tide pool rocks are slippery; wear shoes that can get wet. If the Ecola road is closed for slides on your dates, we go south to Hug Point instead.

   

3. Jour 3 : Down the coast to Yaquina Head and Newport

   Cannon Beach to Tillamook, Cape Kiwanda and Depoe Bay, then Yaquina Head and Newport

   • Environ 3.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Newport
   Détail du jour 3

   We leave at about 8:30 and follow US 101 south past the dairy country of Tillamook Bay, about an hour, for a coffee stop at the Tillamook Creamery visitor centre. At Pacific City, Cape Kiwanda's sandstone headland and big dune rise beside a beach where fishing dories still launch through the surf. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Depoe Bay, a fishing town around a tiny harbour; gray whales often feed close to shore here in summer, and the state park whale watching centre is on the seawall. About 20 minutes on, just north of Newport, we turn out to Yaquina Head while the interpretive centre is open: Oregon's tallest lighthouse, lit in 1873, seen from the grounds (tours inside run only as staffing allows), and Cobble Beach's black stones rattling in the waves below. We spend the rest of the afternoon, after the school groups have left, at the Oregon Coast Aquarium, with its sea otters, tufted puffins and walk-through shark tunnel. The evening is free in Nye Beach or on the Bayfront.

   Compris

   • Tillamook Creamery visitor centre
   • Cape Kiwanda at Pacific City
   • Sit-down lunch in Depoe Bay
   • Yaquina Head Lighthouse grounds and Cobble Beach, day-use fee included (lighthouse tours as staffing allows)
   • Oregon Coast Aquarium entry (Newport)

   Option plus facile : Stay at the base of the Cape Kiwanda dune and view the Yaquina Head lighthouse from the paved path near the parking area.

   Option plus active : Climb the Cape Kiwanda dune, about 60 m of soft sand, for the view along the coast.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Newport

   Activité : About 4 km on foot in all. The stairs down to Cobble Beach are steep, and the rounded stones are uneven.

   

4. Jour 4 : Cape Perpetua, the Oregon Dunes and Bandon

   Newport to Yachats and Cape Perpetua, then Heceta Head, Florence, the Oregon Dunes Overlook and Bandon

   • Environ 3.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Bandon
   Détail du jour 4

   South of Newport the road climbs onto the cliffs. We stop at Cape Perpetua, about 40 minutes on, where the waves surge into Devil's Churn and Thor's Well at the right tide, and the overlook at the top of the cape looks far down the coast on a clear morning. A few minutes on, Heceta Head Lighthouse, first lit in 1894, stands on its headland above a cove, and the sea lion caves are close by. Lunch is a sit-down meal in Florence, in the old town on the Siuslaw River. Just south of town the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area begins, some 60 km of open sand between the forest and the sea; from the Oregon Dunes Overlook a path leads out onto the dunes. Then it is under two hours past Coos Bay to Bandon, where we arrive by about 4:30. The evening is free in Old Town Bandon, and Face Rock viewpoint is the place to watch the sun go down behind the sea stacks.

   Compris

   • Cape Perpetua, Devil's Churn and the cape overlook, day-use fee included
   • Heceta Head Lighthouse viewpoint
   • Sit-down lunch in Florence
   • Oregon Dunes Overlook and a walk onto the dunes
   • Face Rock viewpoint (Bandon)

   Activités en option

   • Sea Lion Caves near Heceta Head

   Option plus facile : View the dunes from the overlook platforms and skip the walk onto the sand.

   Option plus active : Walk out across the dunes from the overlook toward the ocean, about 3 km return on soft sand.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Bandon

   Activité : About 4 km on foot in all, on paved paths and soft sand. Keep well back from the edge at Devil's Churn and Thor's Well, where waves surge without warning.

5. Jour 5 : Bandon sea stacks to the redwoods

   Bandon to the Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor and Brookings, then Crescent City and Stout Grove

   • Environ 3.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   • Nuit : Crescent City
   Détail du jour 5

   We start on the beach at Bandon at about 8:30, at low tide where the tables allow, walking among the sea stacks below Coquille Point, part of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge, while the beach is still empty. Then US 101 runs south past Port Orford and the river mouth at Gold Beach to the Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor, about 19 km of forested cliffs with short paths to Arch Rock and the Natural Bridges viewpoint. Lunch is your choice in Brookings, the last town in Oregon. Half an hour later we cross into California and reach Crescent City. In the late afternoon, when the light slants through the trees, we drive into Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park on the Smith River, the only major undammed river in California, and walk the Stout Grove loop among coast redwoods many hundreds of years old. Redwood National and State Parks are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We stay two nights here, so there is no packing tomorrow.

   Compris

   • Bandon beach and Coquille Point at low tide with your guide
   • Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor: Arch Rock and the Natural Bridges viewpoint
   • Stout Grove in Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park

   Option plus facile : Stay at the Boardman viewpoints near the road and walk only the flat part of the Stout Grove loop.

   Option plus active : Walk down the steep path from the Natural Bridges viewpoint for a closer look, about 1 km return with about 60 m of climbing.

   Temps libre : Lunch in Brookings and the evening free in Crescent City

   Activité : About 4 km on foot in all. The road to Stout Grove is narrow and partly gravel; the loop itself is flat, about 1 km.

   

6. Jour 6 : Prairie Creek, Fern Canyon and the elk

   Crescent City to Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Fern Canyon and Lady Bird Johnson Grove, and back

   • Environ 3 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Crescent City
   Détail du jour 6

   No packing today. We drive south at about 8:30 on US 101, about 45 minutes, through Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park to the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway, which runs through old-growth forest in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park. Roosevelt elk often graze in the open meadow at Elk Prairie in the morning. From there a gravel road leads down to Gold Bluffs Beach and Fern Canyon, which we reach at about 10 am on the summer day-use permit: the creek runs between walls about 15 m high covered in five-finger ferns, a short walk with wet feet or seasonal footbridges. We picnic by the beach, then walk among the giants at Big Tree. In the afternoon we climb Bald Hills Road to Lady Bird Johnson Grove, a quiet loop in an upland redwood forest. Back in Crescent City by about 4:30, there is time to walk out to the Battery Point Lighthouse if the tide is low, before dinner together.

   Compris

   • Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway and the Elk Prairie meadow
   • Fern Canyon on Gold Bluffs Beach, with the seasonal day-use permit (May 15 to September 15) and the day-use fee covered
   • Picnic lunch in Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park
   • Big Tree Wayside
   • Lady Bird Johnson Grove in Redwood National Park
   • Dinner in Crescent City

   Option plus facile : Walk only the first part of Fern Canyon and the flat path at Big Tree, and sit out Lady Bird Johnson Grove.

   Option plus active : Walk up the James Irving Trail above Fern Canyon and back through the forest, about 3 km with about 60 m of climbing.

   Temps libre : Late afternoon free in Crescent City

   Activité : About 5 km on foot in all. Fern Canyon means walking on gravel and wading shallow water where the footbridges are not in: wear sandals or shoes that can get wet. Keep at least about 25 m from the elk.

   

7. Jour 7 : The Avenue of the Giants to Mendocino

   Crescent City to Trinidad and the Avenue of the Giants, then Highway 1 to Mendocino

   • Environ 5.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
   • Nuit : Mendocino
   Détail du jour 7

   This is the one long day, about five and a half hours on the road: no town between the redwoods and Mendocino lets us keep both the two nights at Crescent City and the night in Mendocino, so we break it into legs of under two hours. We leave at 8 am through the redwoods of Del Norte Coast and stop after about an hour and a half at Trinidad, a fishing harbour below a wooded headland, for coffee. Past Eureka, the Avenue of the Giants leaves US 101 to run through Humboldt Redwoods State Park, and we spend an hour and a half in Founders Grove, walking the flat loop past the fallen Dyerville Giant, with a picnic lunch among the trees. At Leggett, Highway 1 turns west over the hills to the sea, and we stop at a viewpoint near Westport before the cliffs lead south to Mendocino, a 19th-century lumber port of wooden houses and water towers above the sea, by about 5 pm. The evening is yours.

   Compris

   • Trinidad harbour and Trinidad Head
   • The Avenue of the Giants in Humboldt Redwoods State Park
   • Founders Grove loop with your guide
   • Picnic lunch in Founders Grove
   • Highway 1 along the Mendocino coast

   Option plus facile : Walk only the first part of the Founders Grove loop, about 0.5 km, and skip the Westport viewpoint stop for an earlier arrival in Mendocino.

   Option plus active : Walk the full Founders Grove loop and on along the Eel River on the Dyerville loop trail while the picnic is set up.

   Temps libre : Evening free in Mendocino

   Activité : About 3 km on foot in all, on flat forest paths. Highway 1 from Leggett to the coast is narrow and winding for about 45 minutes; tell your guide if you get carsick and we will seat you up front.

   

8. Jour 8 : Mendocino headlands and a Sonoma winery lunch

   Mendocino to Highway 128 and the Anderson Valley, then the Sonoma Valley and Sonoma

   • Environ 3.5 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
   • Nuit : Sonoma
   Détail du jour 8

   We walk the Mendocino Headlands at about 8:30, when the bluff paths are empty and the fog is lifting off the coves and sea arches around the village. At about 9:30 we leave on Highway 128, which follows the Navarro River through a corridor of second-growth redwoods before climbing into the Anderson Valley, a quiet valley of vineyards and apple orchards, where we stop for coffee in Boonville. From there it is US 101 south through Sonoma County to the Sonoma Valley, and a long, late lunch at a winery, with a tasting of its wines. In the late afternoon we walk around Sonoma Plaza, the town's old Mexican-era square, where the Bear Flag Revolt began in 1846, and visit Mission San Francisco Solano, founded in 1823 as the last of California's 21 missions. Your evening ends at a farewell dinner together, a short walk from the hotel.

   Compris

   • Mendocino Headlands walk with your guide
   • Highway 128 through the Navarro River redwoods and the Anderson Valley
   • Winery lunch with a tasting in the Sonoma Valley
   • Sonoma Plaza walk
   • Mission San Francisco Solano (Sonoma State Historic Park) entry
   • Farewell dinner in Sonoma

   Option plus facile : Walk the flat headland path closest to the village, about 1 km.

   Option plus active : Walk the full Mendocino Headlands bluff trail around the village, about 4 km.

   Temps libre : Late afternoon free in Sonoma

   Activité : About 3 to 5 km on foot in all, on flat bluff paths and town streets. The tasting is optional; non-alcoholic drinks are served at lunch.

9. Jour 9 : Across the Golden Gate to San Francisco

   Sonoma to the Golden Gate Bridge, then San Francisco International Airport (SFO) or central San Francisco

   • Environ 2 h de route
   • Petit-déjeuner
   Détail du jour 9

   We leave Sonoma at about 9 am, through the marshes at the north end of San Francisco Bay and the hills of Marin County, about an hour and a quarter, to the vista point at the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge. From there we walk across the bridge on its east sidewalk, about 2.7 km, with Alcatraz, the city skyline and the bay on one side and the open Pacific on the other; on a foggy morning the towers disappear above you. The van meets us at the Golden Gate Bridge Welcome Center at the south end, in the Presidio. Then it is about 30 minutes to San Francisco International Airport (SFO), where we drop the group at about 1 pm, and your guide checks your flight before saying goodbye. Book a flight leaving after about 3:30 pm. If you are staying on in San Francisco, we can leave you at a central hotel instead; our California Highway 1 trip starts here.

   Compris

   • Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge with your guide
   • Drop-off at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) or a central San Francisco hotel

   Option plus facile : View the bridge from the north vista point and ride in the van to the south end.

   Activité : About 3 km on foot, flat but often cold and windy on the bridge; bring a warm layer. Book a flight leaving after about 3:30 pm.

Faune et météo : May to October is the dry season on this coast. Expect 12 to 18 C and morning fog on the beaches, warmer and sunnier days in Portland and the Sonoma Valley, often in the high 20s C, and cool, breezy afternoons on the Golden Gate Bridge. Look for tufted puffins on Haystack Rock from about April to August, gray whales feeding off Depoe Bay through the summer, harbour seals and sea lions on the offshore rocks, and Roosevelt elk in the meadows of Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park.

• Portland1 nuit
• Cannon Beach1 nuit
• Newport1 nuit
• Bandon1 nuit
• Crescent City2 nuits
• Mendocino1 nuit
• Sonoma1 nuit