Oregon coast?

Hello, I am heading to both Portland and Seattle areas next week and will have a few days for a small getaway by myself. I%26#39;d like to spend it on the coast of Oregon or Washington. I%26#39;ve traveled the Olympic Peninsula before and I fly out of Portland, so I%26#39;m leaning towards heading to the Oregon Coast and Cannon Beach.

One thing I%26#39;m wondering is how crowded should I expect things to be in early June? (My plan is for June 1-3 so weekdays not weekends). I%26#39;m less interested in sandy beaches, shopping, and galleries, but rather would love to spend my time looking at tidepools, doing some moderate hiking along coastal bluffs and craggy shorelines, seeing some wildflowers (if there are any to be seen this time of year) and watching the surf without tons of people around. I%26#39;m considering going to Ecola State Park. Are there other places I should consider that are away from the small towns and more secluded? I definitely want to see Haystack Rock, but are all the beaches along the coast in this area lined with hotels and other properties?

My budget is pretty low (would love to pay less than $100 a night to stay somewhere) and I%26#39;m considering the Ecola Creek Lodge, since I%26#39;ve read good things in the forums and reviews and right now it looks like there is availability. I don%26#39;t care about an oceanfront room and would much rather find a place a bit secluded from town. Any other places I%26#39;ve missed along the coast that might be good (from say Astoria to as far south as would still be a 3-4 hour drive back to Portland)?

One final question: Does any one know of any restaurants in these areas that have good vegetarian options? I see lots of seafood places listed but unfortunately I%26#39;m deathly allergic to most seafood.

Thanks for any thoughts

Oregon coast?

It is tourist season, but the crowds are not like, say, the east coast.

Ecola/Cannon Beach and that lodge are all good, but there do tend to be more folks in this area due to the proximity to Portland.

Given your ';likes';, I%26#39;ll suggest Yachats/Cape Perpetua/Waldport area.

Total Estimated Time to/from Portland: 3 hours 8 minutes

Total Estimated Distance: 159.83 miles

That time/distance based on MapQuest, using I-5 to Corvallis and SR 20.

Spectacular area:

Yachats/Cape Perpetua fs.fed.us/r6/鈥?/a>

Yachats, OR (La Di Da)

http://www.yachats.org/events.html

Others will have to speak to lodging costs and food.

Oregon coast?

BTW, I Googled Vegetarian restaurants, OR, and came up with this, as an example:

www.happycow.net/north_america/usa/oregon/

Perhaps you could load a cheap cooler with food, supplement as needed with many markets along the coast.

Also, the state of OR has excluded many miles from development; you will be amazed.

You said Vegan, not Vegetarian, so I Googled again. Slim pickings unless others know more.

http://www.vegguide.org/region/1088

Look in Manzanita for a place to eat .. pizza and seafood are the norm for the Coast ( imo) but there must be some sort of health food type places.

There is bread and ocean , a tiny place with home made soups and salads and breads made each day... wonderful place, you can eat there or take it with you.

Cannon Beach has a couple of good pizzarias ..

Many many restaurants on the coast have vegetarian choices on their menus.

%26gt;%26gt;...are all the beaches along the coast in this area lined with hotels and other properties?%26lt;%26lt;

Around Cannon Beach, pretty much yes. There is some empty land, but that will be in a State Park. Ecola SP is very nice and has some hiking trails, but nothing I would call challenging if that is what you like.

Cannon Beach is *always* quite busy since it is so close to huge Portland. The tourist season on the coast now runs from about spring break to late October. I think Ecola Creek Lodge has a nice location away from the congested center of town, but it%26#39;s not secluded.

I see voyaging has suggested Yachats. Take a look at it and see if that might suit.

http://www.el.com/to/yachats/

There is lodging available in your price range, but it will be in older, smaller places. The town itself is *far* less crowded than Cannon Beach. Is this anything like what you are looking for?

http://www.waysidelodge.com/index.htm

Wow. Thanks for the responses so far!! I checked out some of the links for Yachats/Cape Perpetua area and it does seem much more my style. Plus there are more affordable lodging options.

I%26#39;ll have to do some more research. I think a lot of it depends on whether I actually go up to the Seattle area or not. I%26#39;m only planning to go for one day to visit a friend and then I was going to head to the Oregon coast. I%26#39;ve read some forum posts suggesting routes for this that go through Astoria and now I%26#39;m wondering how much longer it would take to get from Tacoma area to Yachats through Astoria (or I suppose I could just take the 5 farther south and cut over).

Of course I%26#39;d rather spend less time in the car and more time on the coast. I%26#39;m still drawn to Ecola SP as well, and it is actually good if the trails aren%26#39;t too challenging--I%26#39;ve gotten way out of shape this year due to illness. I also need to factor in the trade-offs between my desires for seclusion and making sure I go to areas where it is safe to hike alone (I suppose one reason when it is not so bad if there are other folks around).

Thanks also for the veggie option links. It looks like lots of lodgings have kitchenettes so I should be fine. I can also survive easily on cheeseless pizza.

We have stayed in the small town of Wheeler, which is just down the road about 20 miles from Cannon Beach. It is a lot slower paced, but yet you have the proximity to visit Cannon Beach and Manzanita easily. The Wheeler Lodge is friendly and affordable. The Old Wheeler Hotel is also a neat place to stay. The bay there is beautiful, especially at sunset. Nehalem is just five minutes away and also has the state park which is nice.

Yachats, like Eugene, is sorta ';retro'; %26#39;50s, lots of fun, coffee shops, a few restaurants/tavern with music, scenery!!! Cape Perpetua trails - many are simply down from the parking areas to the rocky shores/bluffs, then laterally, well worth it. Other trails can be more vertical. The Visitor Center at Cape P. is quite nice and descriptive. You can drive a road (described on the web page provided in earlier reply) to lookouts, including a short trail to viewpoints. Some folks seem to be always around, but not many. Too bad, great views.

On the other hand, per your last post...

Cannon Beach is fine as a base.

Among Indian Beach and Ecola - same location - Cannon Beach itself -- and Arcadia Beach (one of my favorites for beach walking and tide change watching) south of Cannon Beach, you%26#39;ll probably find what you need w/o the drive to Perpetua.

www.cannon-beach.net/recreation/cbecola.html

Whooops,typo, %26#39;60s, not %26#39;50s.

You will love Ecola State Park in Cannon Beach, the drive back to Indian Beach is very scenic also. When you arrive Ecola, there are trails that you can walk along to get see some beautiful ocean scenery. There is also a trail that you can take from the parking lot that will end at Indian Beach.

We love the pizza at Pizza a Feta in downtown Cannon Beach, Newman%26#39;s @ 988 is also very good and Bistro makes some really yummy Greek Lemon soup. www.cannon-beach.net is a nice website for this area. Enjoy your trip! :)