Oregon Coast for Family Vacation

We're thinking of driving down and spending five days on the Oregon Coast with a stopover in Portland. Can anyone suggest some must-see attractions and an area to stay on the coast? Both kids are older than 10.

Looking to mostly chill out on the beach, but I might bring my bike if there's a good climb to tackle.

Thanks.

Eating at Mo's and the official film site for the popular movie "The Goonies" and you can call it a trip.

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.

Head South in a hurry on the I-5. Spend a day at Crater Lake, a day riding in Ashland, then spend a few days working your way North on the Coast.

What tundra said, plus:

- The sand dunes at Umpqua Lighthouse State Park and the Dunes National Recreation area, both near Reedsport, make for a fun day and are a great place to watch a sunset.

- If you can get your kids into a Rogue Ales establishment, have a meal and enjoy some great beers. At the very least buy a few to enjoy back at your hotel or campsite.

Awesome suggestions everyone. Keep them coming. Is Cannon Beach the place to say or is there a quieter alternative? Is it a must to get lodgings right on the beach?

sand dunes, not sure where we went, super random place near this amazing Mexican restaurant near Eugene. Holy smokes that was alot of fun though!

popping into Portland for streetfood, and Voodoo donuts for a Bacon donuts is a must as well.

Hug point is awesome and well worth an hour or so of your time. Go at low tide so you can get around and see all the nooks and crannies.

I found Canon Beach to be an awesome little town. The town planner must have had a vision and made it happen. I highly recommend it, although I'm not sure how excited kids would be about it, which is a void that Seaside would likely fill.

Have an oyster burger at the Dairy Queen in Seaside. So good! There's a nice private campground in Yachats (pronounced Yuh-hats). Great place to stop for the night, take a walk to see the tidal pools [HTML_REMOVED] then watch the sunset. It's called Sea Perch RV park [HTML_REMOVED] it's right on the highway. Beachside [HTML_REMOVED] SouthBeach state parks have campgrounds that are steps away from the sandy beach. You won't believe the size of the sand dunes at JM Honeyman state park or Oregon Dunes park. Go see Ripley's Believe it or Not in Newport.

wish i could go down there this summer!
I suggest taking the coho from vic to port angeles and take the 101 all the way down the coast.

Go to Powells books in Portland. The ultimate bookstore. Check out Burnside skatepark as well. Some significant skate history there.
We camped about 5 mins south of Seaside and it was pretty central for checking out Portland/Cannon and the like.
If you take the seaside route down, check out Astoria. Super cool bridge over the inlet that is worth the drive.
CHEAP BEER! I was cranking 6 packs of Hamms tall boys from Safeway for $3. Its dirtbag but…its what I do.

crater lake is a must IMO

We're thinking of driving down and spending five days on the Oregon Coast with a stopover in Portland. Can anyone suggest some must-see attractions and an area to stay on the coast? Both kids are older than 10.

Looking to mostly chill out on the beach, but I might bring my bike if there's a good climb to tackle.

Thanks.

McMinnville has airplane and space museums, was there a month ago and saw some cool chit. Tillamook has a low-key air museum too. The PDX zoo ain't too shabbby either.

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.

The Spruce Goose is in the Evergreen space [HTML_REMOVED] air museum in McMinnville. Fort Stevens State park is just south of Astoria. It's the 2nd largest state campground in the USA. You can tour remnants of the old fort (Which was actually fired upon by the Japanese during WW2) [HTML_REMOVED] see the wreck of the Peter Iredale.