SF - mendocino - Fort Bragg - Eureka - Redwood National Park - Portland - Crater Lake

[huanhuizhao]

We are planing a round trip from San Francisco to Portland, Oregon in 7 days (July 4th week ). We have two girls with us(5yrs, 2.5yrs). We plan to drive 3-5 hrs a day, and wish to stop by as many scenario places as possible(coast, mountain, lake). Wish to have your suggestions.

[AZBuck]

Welcome aboard the RoadTrip America Forums!

That section of coast has been written about often here in the past, so your best bet would be to have a look at those previous discussions and then see if you have any further questions.

AZBuck

[huanhuizhao]

We are a family of four with two girls (5 yrs, 2.5yrs), will visiting a friend in Portland, we plan to leave at
July 2nd from SF, driving by Mendocino/Fort Bragg, for about 2 hrs, spend night at Eureka;
July 3rd, in Redwood National park, spend the night at Cave Junction or Grants Pass or whereever, depends on how much time left for that day heading to Portland.
July 4th, driving to Portland, in the late afternoon, driving back on the way to Crater Lake, spend the night at a place as near as possible to the lake.
July 5th, at crater lake, spend night at a place on the way back to SF.
July 6th, back to SF.

Is it easy to find inn/lodging places for this route? Do I need booking in advance? Is my above plan practical? Any recommendations to the lodging?
In Crater Lake, is the road good to drive, is it safe?

Thanks in advance for any reply.

[cool]

I am doing half of your trip(Eureka & back) in 3 days(same long weekend). Mission Humbolt!
I've been to that area a couple times & so a definite "yes"(imo) for advance lodging reservations during a long weekend(unless you are ready to spend 3 figures).
Looks like the trails in Crater Lake are CLOSED due to snow/falling rocks. For more info, visit NPS website.

[W. Larrison]

I'm concerned about a couple of the days, as being very long.

First of all, SF to Eureka is about 2/3rds of a day's drive -- depending upon where you start in the Bay area. If you're heading over to the coast, it can take substantially more time. For example, this summer I did Fremont to Fort Ross, then up to Fort Bragg to Eureka (Arcata). That was a LONG day -- starting at about 8 am, and ending up at about 8 pm into Arcata.

The second day, could also be a longish day, depending upon where you stop in the Redwoods. If I had a pick a single place to visit, it would be the Lady Bird Grove near Orcutt (the Redwoods National Park visitors center is here). If you visit more places (and there are lots of places to visit), then you may get pressed with time.

However, from say Grants Pass to Portland is probably 4 hours of driving. If you're spending 2-3 hours in Portland (and there can be significant traffic in Portland area), then you would be hard pressed to cut back south across the state again, into near Crater Lake. I would be seriously concerned about driving time here.

You can make it through Eugene area to Crater Lake, and then back to somewhere around Redding the next day. (I did Mt. St Helens to Crater Lake to Salem in a day, without pushing tooo hard.) Depending upon your driving comfort, you could probably make it back to SF that night -- but its going to be roughly 3-4 hours from Redding to SF. Again, a long driving day.

[PNW Judy]

And I don't understand why you're driving all the way to Portland on the 4th. Are you going to catch the fireworks show? Gosh, do you have any idea how big the crowd will be and how congested the traffic will be to get back on the interstate and head south? Oy veh! If I was going to Portland for fireworks, I would be spending the night in a hotel in walking distance from where I plan on viewing them.

If that's not your intent, then why drive that far north. To get close to Crater Lake, you're going to have to just turn around and go back as soon as your cross the city limits. OK, slight exagerration, but you really won't have much time to enjoy the city.

If you're looking for fireworks, I'm sure that any city along I-5 will have them, even if you just stay near Grants Pass. Eugene will definitely have a display. I agree that this might make your best choice for your most nothern point.

Grants Pass to Portland to Crater Lake is 500 miles.

[huanhuizhao]

Thanks for your information.
Actually I drive far north to visit a friend, thinking after meeting our friends, driving back as far as I can to have more time on Crater lake. Maybe I need change the plan to stay at Portland for a night. And next day, drive back to Crater lake. Yeah, it is a long journey, maybe most of the time is on the road, I will not see much as I thought, especially with two kids.