Best Road Trip Routes in Oregon

Oregon's road trips range from the dramatic Columbia River Gorge to the volcanic Cascade Lakes Highway to the epic Oregon Coast Highway.

Oregon Coast Highway (US-101)
The 363-mile Oregon coast is entirely accessible and publicly owned — the Coast Highway passes through Astoria (the oldest American settlement west of the Rockies), Cannon Beach (Haystack Rock), Tillamook (cheese factory), Pacific City (Cape Kiwanda sand dune), Newport (Oregon Coast Aquarium, Rogue Ales brewery), Florence (Oregon Dunes), Coos Bay, and Brookings near the California border. Allow 3–5 days; the coastal communities, sea stack scenery, and state parks are evenly distributed. The Tillamook Coast and Bandon's sea stacks are particular highlights.

Mount Hood Loop (US-26 / OR-35)
A 170-mile loop from Portland east through the Sandy River valley, into the Mount Hood National Forest, around the south and east flanks of Mount Hood, through the Hood River Valley (world's largest pear-producing region), and back via the Columbia River Gorge on I-84. Timberline Lodge, the Fruit Loop (farm stands and wineries near Hood River), and the Rowena Crest Overlook are highlights. Best in July-August (wildflowers on Hood) and October (Hood River valley orchards in color).

Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway (Bend)
A 66-mile loop southwest of Bend — the Cascade Lakes Highway passes the Three Sisters, Broken Top, and Bachelor views, then a chain of alpine lakes: Todd Lake, Sparks Lake, Elk Lake, Hosmer Lake, Lava Lake, and Cultus Lake. The volcanic landscape (lava flows, cinder cones, obsidian fields) is remarkable. Bend has excellent craft brewing and restaurant scenes for base camp.

John Day Country (US-26 and US-395)
The John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in central Oregon — the Painted Hills (red, gold, and black layered formations of the John Day formation), the Sheep Rock Unit (Blue Basin — blue-green fossil-bearing rock), and the Clarno Unit (50-million-year-old tropical forest fossils). Combine with the ghost town of Antelope (Oregon's most notorious small town — taken over briefly by the Rajneeshees cult in the 1980s) and the Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site (Chinese immigrant trading post, 1870s).