On our trip to Oregon, we stopped at the Oregon caves too and to see the Dunes... and of course the Columbia River Gorge. We enjoyed the rose gardens in Portland too. Have fun. It's a beautiful state.

Something to be aware of when I went to Oregon every year I went for the plants as it had many nurseries but if you are going to California afterward any plants you may collect will be inspected. At the time I went very few passed inspection even with the plant inspections tags.

Look at a road map of Oregon and northern California. While there are cut through highways to the coast they are very limited. Having been there if you want to actually stop and see things given the time allowed, I would suggest reducing the agenda. For scenery you want to go the coastal route not I5.

Be aware that Portland where you will probably land is just across the river from Washington. A quick over the bridge and turn around may be in your future. I took a wrong turn and ended up over there.

We spent a week driving from Portland, up to Astoria which is at the mouth of the Columbia River where it flows into the Pacific. A neat town and the Lewis & Clark national historical park is nearby plus the Maritime Museum there is worth seeing. Then we started our drive down the coast, stayed overnight somewhere, and headed inland to Crater Lake (we spent 2 nights there), then back up to Portland where we drove the Columbia River Gorge one day and took in some other sights before heading home. Your agenda would be different heading to California.

Maifleur is correct. You need to pick out several pull-off points along the coast where there is scenery, a small town to visit for lunch, or a night stop. A good tourist map will help you there.

We took a trip north about 4 years ago. Crater Lake, the city of Portland and an afternoon spent at the near to Portland parts of the Columbia River Gorge were what we enjoyed most. We had intended to return south spending several days driving down the coast starting at Astoria but we found it less interesting than expected. We headed inland back to Hwy 5 and made a beeline to the Napa Valley, spending several days there we hadn't planned in advance to do. Everyone likes different things so your experiences and preferences could well be quite different.

Since you mention Medford, just a few minutes down the road is Ashland, which has an active theater season through the summer months. If you like theater, you may want to look to see what productions may be seen during your visit. I suspect it best to plan dates and get tickets in advance. No matter what your itinerary in Oregon, if you enter California down Hwy 5, you'll see the striking vistas of Mt Shasta. It's perhaps slightly less dramatic than Mt Ranier in Washington but beautiful to see even if just passing by.

The California and Oregon coasts can be cool and foggy early- to mid-summer but later on as you're planning should be better. A bit later, even better. Have a great trip.

Outside, it sounds like the trip you took was very similar to ours...

My guess is that yes, 6 days is enough to wander the beaches and coast of Oregon. But if you try to do the interior sites as well, you could spend ages and never see it all!

I love Crater Lake and would spend at least two full days there staying on site or nearby so you can enjoy the sunrise/sunsets. Food and hotel options are surprisingly few and far between in that general area -- so google before you set out! (Well, it was a surprise to me, being from the east coast where you can't drive an hour without passing three towns and five breweries.)

Since visiting Washington interests you, think about adding Mt St Helens to your agenda. It's been 43 years since the eruption but the scars are still there, telling the story.

Now you've got me wanting to go back ... :-)

It's all wonderful and you're definitely planning on hitting some high points. I will warn you though that the end of August and Sept are HIGH tourist times and the possibility exists of not finding lodging some places is real. I would nail down your itinerary and get reservations asap. Many places during those times have minimum stays (long gone are the days of pulling into a resort or motel and finding a room for the night in many places). Distances are very long between many small towns with limited lodging options.
I agree with Elmer about Ashland, but you need to get tix to the prime productions right away as well as lodging. They sell out fast even in slower tourist times.
My favorite town on the central Oregon coast is Manzanita. A charming little town with a beautiful beach. Prime windsailing area, so very fun to watch.

I did the Oregon coast some years ago. I think I did 5 days of beach and 3 of Portland that year. As a Californian I just didn't fine the beaches all that impressive. I do love Astoria and the Columbia River Gorge. Seaside is the most touristy but it offers a wider expanse of beach that resembles California. Cannon beach is a good beach for hiking and walking. I had a blast in Portland one year. I happened to get on a Maritime Museum cruise. Met many of the guys who restored it and got the grand tour of all the inner workings below, while the group that booked the tour stayed up on deck doing their wine and cheese thing. One of the crew even took to a lower deck where I was stood mere feet away from the giant paddle wheel and felt the spray on my face. If you stay in Portland I recommend the Crystal Hotel. Just down the street from Powell's Books. A great little quirky boutique hotel. It has it's own restaurant, a bar with entertainment and an indoor salt water soaking pool. One of my favorite getaways northbound was to take the train up to Portland, book a couple of nights at the Crystal, live mostly off the food trucks and wander about. Spent hours at Powell's and ended up each night with a soak in the pool. . Then if I had time for a few extra days I would rent a car and visit a beach or the gorge.

The Columbia River Gorge is my favorite part of Oregon, and I've been up and down the coast several times - always in late July or in August or September. It rained most of the time I was on the coast, but the Gorge was warm and sunny. I especially liked hiking at the waterfalls, and there are lots of them.

Accommodations do get booked up in August, which is the best time to go.

Powell's!!! Sure you can shop on line for just about anything now, but there's nothing like walking into a huge store of b o o k s , all there for hands' on browsing!

The bookstore is an interesting, retro experience. Browsing in them and in record stores was never something my wife shared my interest in doing. so we had a short visit. Some blocks down the street is Voodoo Doughnuts, where we had been strongly encouraged to go to try their bacon maple concoction. To keep it short and sweet, there was a line and a half hour wait. Many things are worth waiting 30 minutes for, I wouldn't put their doughnuts on that list. Much more interesting in that neighborhood was the Deschutes Brew Pub, our next stop and one that we both found agreeable.

Ditto what olychick said. If you're planning on end of Aug/Sept, it really is HIGH tourist season. Especially being around that time is Labor Day and kids going back to school and the last vacation of the summer. If you can wait until after Labor Day and kids returning to school, it will be considerably less crowded.

If you want to take the coast route you'd be taking Hwy 101. It's a beautiful drive along the coast.

Several years I took a bike trip with friends down the Oregon coast. We cycled down Hwy. 101. Oregon is an amazing place for cyclists. The roads are kept up, camp sites are great. Ironically when we crossed the border into CA, road conditions were markedly different, as in poor. We ended up in Crescent City and took a Greyhound bus back to Seattle.

The Perfect 5-Day Road Trip on Oregon Coast Highway 101

Thank you all for all the suggestions. I'm so excited! This is a trip I've wanted to do since I was a teenager.

I've lived in the Portland area since 2001. I haven't taken too many trips down the coast, though I have driven 101 from Newport through Humboldt County. I usually stop at beaches that have tide pools.

I would wait until right after Labor Day. We have been getting forest fires in August the last few years. By the third week of September you might see some rain, but early September is still summer here.

https://thatoregonlife.com/2022/01/the-best-tide-pools-on-the-oregon-coast-where-to-find-them/