Portland,OR to Billings,MT

[Brent04]

I have the first part planned. Things we'd like to see are the coast, columbia river gourge, grand tetons, yellowstone. So far I want to go from Portland west to Astoria, then staying the night in Newport. From there travel northeast and stay the night somewhere along the columbia river. Between that and wyoming I don't know what is worth seeing, we'll be mainly taking I-84 but I'd like to know if there is any good scenic attractions fairly close to that.

I'm from Michigan, I've been east and south, but never west. So I want to make the best of it, I'm open to suggestions, thanks. The trip is in mid June.

[PNW Judy]

You're really not allowing yourself much time for exploring the coast. It's over 200 miles from Portland to Newport via Astoria and Hwy 101 on the coast. But speeds are likely to rarely be about 50mph due to it being a windy 2-lane road. RVs are frequent here. So I would plan for a good 5 hours to make the drive to Newport. That isn't going to leave much time for exploring. And there is a LOT to see here. You could easily stop every 5 miles to enjoy something new. I would suggest 2 days for this leg. A good stop for the first night would be Tillamook. And then Newport for the second night.

Newport to Hood River (a very nice place to spend the night) is a relatively nice day drive and should only take you about 3-4 hours. Be sure and take the scenic route along the old Columbia River Gorge Highway where you can see some waterfalls and Vista House....the most amazing information booth I've ever seen with fantastic views of the Columbia River. Check it out!

Gosh, there's tons to see and do between the Columbia River Gorge and Wyoming. Why don't you give us some ideas of the types of things you like to see and do so we can advise you better?