BC to Depoe Bay OR Route Help

[BC Boomers]

I have been searching for route information for a 32' MH & toad heading to the Oregon coast. (not a winter excursion so weather is not a factor)

We are heading south on the I5 & coming back on the 101. Reasoning is to help gauge sightseeing dawdle time as we are on a timetable.

Thought the I5 to the 20 to 101 using the 405, 205, & 34 bypasses .
Then saw the 18 & 22 & thought that may be the route to use heading west from the I5

No experience yet with narrow, hilly or really anything else other than highway travel in the MH & haven't even tried that with the toad yet!!
Your suggestions are appreciated.

[2015RV]

If you are looking for a decent place to stop for the night, check out the Little Creek Casino and resort in Shelton Washington just west of Olympia off the Highway 101. They have an RV park with full hookups, including about 60+ channels on their cable TV. The best part is for the $25 per night you get access to their Hotel amenities including indoor pool and Jacuzzi. The facilities her actually pretty swanky considering they're out in the middle of nowhere and the golf course is pretty impressive.

[cpaulsen]

Hwy 18 is a lot better road than 20. Come out @ Lincoln City and Depot Bay is about 20 miles south.

[1bigmess]

Highway 20 is safer. 18 is known for it's high number of fatality crashes, and in the interest of disclosure, a good number of those are single vehicle crashes.

I used to live in Walsport, south of Newport, where 20 stops at 101. Unless you really want the chance to begin sight-seeing soon after leaving the Portland area, knowing the roads as I do. if I was in a hurry to get to 101 and enjoy the scenery on the coast, I'd go 20, make sure I had everything I needed from the Newport Wal-Mart, and enjoy the rest of my trip.

And you'll get the chance to see Cape Foulweather (come on, you know you want to be able to say you drove over Cape Foulweather!)

[09 harley]

Originally Posted by cpaulsen

Hwy 18 is a lot better road than 20. Come out @ Lincoln City and Depot Bay is about 20 miles south.

I second this,18 is a much nicer road than 20. Head back up 101 when you return home and go through Astoria across the bridge to Long Beach. Nice little town and there is a great Chinese restaurant in town. East side on the main drag as I remember.

[frankdamp]

The choice really depends on how much of the coast you plan to cover and whether you'll go North to South or South to North. Highway 26 west from the north side of Portland then highway 6 to Tillamook is a good road - we came east on that with our 32-footer without any problems (other than traffic density around Portland at 16:30).

We used 18 quite a lot when our daughter was at Linfield College in McMinnville, but that was with a car. We used 205 to I-5 then went north on 5 to Tualatin, then 99W to McMinnville, where it connects to 18.

On our last trip to the Oregon Coast we went off I-5 at Longview and crossed the river to highway 30 and out to the coast at Astoria. We went all the way down to Brookings, then into CA as far as Crescent City and back across to I-5 at Grant's Pass on 199. The advantage of going south is that almost everything you want to go and see is a right turn off 101. Going northwards, you have to cross the traffic flow. It's particularly tough to get back on the northbound side after seeing the sights, even without a toad.

[Kennykent]

I live in Albany, Oregon and have used Hwy 20 many times to get to Newport. If I were making your trip and wanted an exciting trip by adding about 4 to 5 hours driving time would be to go to Eugene, take HWY 126 to Mapleton, then Florence then head north. Florence is about an hour from HWY 20, but you drive with spectatular views of the ocean around the cliffs of the Sealion Caves. Ocean views nearly every mile. But, the roads are winding and often appear narrow, but traffic is generally pretty slow in the summer. Lots of pull-overs, view-points, and tourist traps with great food and fudge.
Enjoy your trip.

[BC Boomers]

Looking at the maps & read the posts (thanks to all who answered)
So 18 or 20 for ease of driving???This is our first longer trip!!

We are definitely going south on I5 using 205 & 405 to bypass Seattle & Portland.
We have two campgrounds booked Depoe Bay & Nehalem Bay.
We will sightsee from these locations via car.

So it is the 18 which is scenic but has single vehicle fatalities...
The 20 which is less scenic but safer
Going home north on the 101 to Astoria.
Thanks for the Casino info!!

[cpaulsen]

I still would advise 18.....about halfway between I-5 and 101.....take a break at Grand Ronde/Spirit Winds Casino....it has the largest buffet in Oregon.

[1ciderdog]

Have you considered reversing the route and heading south on 101? Many view spots are on the ocean side of the highway and by going north on 101 you have to cross oncoming traffic to get in and out of some of the view areas. Not a major issue but worth a consideration. I think this was mentioned above.

[sirpurrcival]

My wife and I have done this trip a couple of time in the last little while and I this is where we go.
I5 south to Olympia
Hwy 8 (becomes 12) East to Aberdeen then follow 101 south all the way.
There are some nice parks and beaches on the Wash. coast. You will get to cross into Oregon into Astoria. If you are a "Goonies" fan or even remember that movie, that was where it was filmed.
Once in Oregon, you continue south on 101. There are the beaches, various state parks, Sea Lion Caves and so on.
Did this in our 37 with no toad but have seen plenty of rigs doing this with toads as well. Takes you through a lot of smaller communities, you get away from the Interstates which is always a much more peaceful drive from my point of view. Just meander.

Coming back, the choice is yours. Take one of what I call access hwy's back to I5 or reverse course. I agree with the suggestion that you might get more out of it heading south on 101 rather than North.

[Ted E]

Originally Posted by BC Boomers

Looking at the maps & read the posts (thanks to all who answered)
So 18 or 20 for ease of driving???This is our first longer trip!!

We are definitely going south on I5 using 205 & 405 to bypass Seattle & Portland.
We have two campgrounds booked Depoe Bay & Nehalem Bay.
We will sightsee from these locations via car.

So it is the 18 which is scenic but has single vehicle fatalities...
The 20 which is less scenic but safer
Going home north on the 101 to Astoria.
Thanks for the Casino info!!

Hi BC Boomers, we are leaving Mission BC to Depoe Bay on Tuesday the 26th till June 3rd and are taking the 18. Travelled this way a few times before. Maybe we will see you over that way. Have a great time
Ted

[RDunstan]

If you booked the Nehalem campground, you need to head west on either Hwy 30 (parallels the Columbia River) or Hwy 26 (Sunset Highway). Nehalem is about 20 miles south of the Hwy 26 / Hwy 101 junction off Hwy 101. It is about 50 miles south of the 30/101 junction in Astoria.

Personally I'd take 26, it's an easier drive.
BTW, if you walk to the jetty, wave, my cabin is south just across the river. ;-)

[BC Boomers]

Thanks to all who offered suggestions. We had a great, if too short week.
We did get off track several times which certainly sharpened the driver's skills and passenger's passaging!!

This being our first trip we had our first overnight stay at a rest stop. A+

We learned to use our brand new GPS. Started as a C- we worked up to a B+

We learned a map & GPS is a good combo. A+

We can drive on narrower, hillier roads than we thought. A+

The 405 & 205 are good routes to take around Seattle & Portland heading to Oregon A+, but even these get congested with construction on a Sunday late afternoon. C+

We took the 18 to the 101 after a considerable farm tour which made it a C+
Homeward bound the 30 from Astoria to Longview which was winding, hilly but really nice scenery. B+

Looking forward with much less trepidation to our next adventure.