Oregon Coast for Family Vacation

Netarts is a nice little quiet place…emphasis on quiet. Manzanita is another quiet place, not such a tourist town like the bigger names on the map. Seaside, Cannon, Lincoln City, etc are tourista-ville and appeal to the crowd-seekers. I dunno about you Kenji but I hate wading through crowds of oompa-loompa velcro shoe WalMart people on my off time.

You read my mind. Basically we'd like all the beaches/tidal pools/exploring without the crowds and gift shops. If we feel the need, we can drive to Cannon Beach as an afternoon trip.

Any lodging recommendations in Netarts or Manzanita?

We just did this last week. I'll come back with a more detailed report. Oregon state parks are rad.

So bring the bike then?

Gotta go to Seaside - Oregon. They have a little carnival downtown (bumper cars/arcade etc) and a nice beach steps away then right after that is a decent outlet mall (no tax!). After Seaside you should head 20 minutes or so down the highway to Cannon Beach, home of the second (I think so after the Chief) largest standing rock. Cannon beach has a good vibe and is a nice spot to stay.

yes and get yourself a vacation home. they're really inexpensive and super nice.
http://www.seasidevacationhomes.com/

You read my mind. Basically we'd like all the beaches/tidal pools/exploring without the crowds and gift shops. If we feel the need, we can drive to Cannon Beach as an afternoon trip.

Any lodging recommendations in Netarts or Manzanita?

I rented this place a couple years ago (http://oregoncoastmotels.com/Cottage-F.html). Nothing fancy but they took my dogs and kids with no questions asked. Right above the beach too.

Didn't stay in Manzanita but it's my next place I will go try. A little more lively than Netarts but not a total zoo.

Have a good trip :-)

So bring the bike then?

In my mind this is road bike territory. I spoke with a certain Wayne Simpson who was down the week before me and he said sanctioned trail riding was somewhat limited. We chose not to bring the bikes to keep things more simple.

Near Manzanita (on the same beach, but miles away) is Nehalem Bay state park. They have yurts, $38 a night for your own cabin with 3 separate beds, a heater, a table and chairs, and a covered deck. And, free hot showers. This in contrast to $35 a night tent spots in the redwoods with pay showers.

Check online reservations, we were limited to a dog-friendly option which were limited and booked up, so we booked a couple weekdays at Nehalem on our first nights away from home and found another park (Bullards) on the way back from California that had an open yurt.

Apparently the camping season down there really gets going after Memorial Day weekend, but last week we had no problems finding long empty stretches of sand and so on.

If you do happen to get down to California, there is an amazing dirt road drive through the old growth redwood forest in Jedediah Smith state park - it's the first redwood park south of the border.

I used to live in Florence Oregon its right in the middle of the oregon coast its where the majority of the dunes are you can rent quads and dune buggies they do a tour on a huge dune buggy bus its pretty fun and if you want more or to go where ever you want you can rent one. Old town is the original part of the town and it is a nice place to go shopping or have lunch (My mom owns an art gallery there). Camping is awesome at honeymen state park you can walk to the dunes right from the campsite there is a lake to go swimming,rent pedal boats, and even try sandboarding. ( the slower version of snowboarding on the dunes) there is alot to do, if you go a few miles up the road there is a pretty fun mountain bike trail or "hiking" trail that i popped my mountain biking cherry on lol. and the beach is only 5 miles max from where ever you are in town. driving up the coast is always fun too. Ill be making a trip to go visit my mom in a few weeks. I would defiantly recommend Florence. lol as you can see.

Go to Beaverton and get some Nike shoes and boots for the kids. ;)

http://www.familydaysout.com/kids-things-to-do-usa/oregon

Take the bike and ride Mt. Hood.

I went last year (Portland -[HTML_REMOVED] Bend -[HTML_REMOVED] Seaside [HTML_REMOVED] back up the coast), and this thread is not making me want to do it again any less.

Seriously, I want to be the same country as Oregon a lot more than the same country as Ontario.

I went last year (Portland -[HTML_REMOVED] Bend -[HTML_REMOVED] Seaside [HTML_REMOVED] back up the coast), and this thread is not making me want to do it again any less.

Seriously, I want to be the same country as Oregon a lot more than the same country as Ontario.

america and canada should be split east west, not north south.
america can have the east coast canada the west.

everything that has been said is correct .. amazing place to go and cruise down the Coast highway.

Near Manzanita (on the same beach, but miles away) is Nehalem Bay state park. They have yurts, $38 a night for your own cabin with 3 separate beds, a heater, a table and chairs, and a covered deck. And, free hot showers. This in contrast to $35 a night tent spots in the redwoods with pay showers.

My wife and I camped at Nehalem years ago. It was a good spot, the beach is very nice but watch out for the horse poop! ;) The Tillamook Air Museum is very cool: http://www.tillamookair.com/ I really enjoyed checking that out. Cape Lookout is another great place we camped. The beach there is really nice too. The hike out to the end of the cape is really cool.

the coast down there is more often than not wet and/or cold so dress appropriately, the ex-wife looked at the map and figured since California [HTML_REMOVED] Hawaii where at the same latitude it was gona be warm right?

america and canada should be split east west, not north south.
america can have the east coast canada the west.

as long as we can lose Alberta and Celine Dion in that deal

the coast down there is more often than not wet and/or cold so dress appropriately, the ex-wife looked at the map and figured since California [HTML_REMOVED] Hawaii where at the same latitude it was gona be warm right?

as long as we can lose Alberta and Celine Dion in that deal

Actually, I propose keeping Alberta up to and including Bragg Creek. East of that can go.

Celine Dion?