It was time again to take the GT3 on a summer road trip and discover more of the great sights of the U.S. with an emphasis on areas around our National Parks. This trip would encompass the Northernmost part of California, Redwood National Park and it's associated State Parks, the Oregon Coast, the Washington coast and Olympic Peninsula, Olympic National Park, Mount Rainier National Park, and a return through central Oregon and the area around the Sunriver Resort. Forgive the long, picture-heavy post, but there is so much to see up here I feel like I just went on four vacations.
The route we planned covers roughly 2000 miles over 37 hours of driving. Shorter in distance than the amazing trip we took in 2024 to Moab and Telluride, and about half of what we drove on our epic 2023 trip to South Dakota. But these roads would be, on average, a bit slower. Fewer of these miles would be over wide open roads, as in the past. But the coast was calling, and I had to answer. It doesn’t hurt that we would be driving right into the heart of Dungeness Crab territory, which just happens to be one of our favorite foods. In prep for the trip, I tried to lose a few pounds because I was sure I’d be adding a couple pounds of butter into my system in very short order.
The car is a 2018 Porsche GT3 with a 6-speed manual and the 18-way "comfort" seats (thank goodness!). As before, the GT3 fits a full sized 28” expandable hard-cased luggage piece plus more in the front trunk and has tons of room on the shelf behind the seats to bring more soft duffles and even a cooler for snacks (gotta avoid "the hangries").
Day 1: We left Danville, California at 8 am on a perfect July Sunday morning, hoping for as little traffic as possible as we headed into some of the only familiar territory of our trip. The route would take us up highway 101 through Healdsburg, Ukiah, Willits, with our first planned stop for lunch in Miranda, CA. We needed to make Crescent City by dinner time, and leave ourselves time for a couple hikes in the area of Redwood National Park. So while there are many amazing places to stop along this route, we were powering on through to get to lunch in Miranda, CA. Total miles of driving for the day would be about 377, taking roughly 6.5 hours, but with stops, hikes, and lunch, we were planning on 10 hours total.
Once you get North of about Healdsburg, Highway 101 really becomes a very different highway. It’s open, relatively little traffic, and takes you through scenic dairy country and into those amazing Redwoods that make northern California so special. As a driving road the in the GT3, there are some tighter curvy sections that are fun at 60 MPH and a number of areas where you’ll want to open it up maybe just a tad more. But I didn’t tell you that.
Our first detour off 101 was onto Avenue of the Giants, also known as Highway 254, which parallels Highway 101 and goes through the towns of Phillipsville, Miranda, Myers Flat, and Burlington. Take your time on this road, really soak up the peaceful feel and enjoy the perfect curves through the alternating shadows and shafts of sunlight through the thick canopy.
One of my favorite spots for a short walk through amazing Redwoods is the 1-mile loop through Founders Grove. Even if you just have a day, go visit this spot.
Redwood national Park actually encompasses many other California State Parks within its boundaries, including Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park, Jedediah Smith State Park and Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park.
Driving North from Founders Grove, take a detour off Highway 101 the Newton B. Drury Scenic Byway. At the Southern end, you come to the visitor center for Prairie Creek State Park and the Prairie Creek Trail, aka the Karl Knapp Trail. This is a perfect 2-3 mile walk through some of the most beautiful fern-encrusted forest you'll find. Take a walk here and I dare you to try to feel stress. You can't!
After a hike here, you can continue North on the Newton B. Drury scenic byway, taking your time to enjoy this perfectly twisty and well-maintained road all the way up until it rejoins Hwy 101 below the Klamath River. Hwy 101 is a joy along here, a fun drive with very few cars (on a weekday) all the way back out to the coast and into Crescent City. Turn up the volume and put a little weight onto the right-side loud pedal.
The brewery parking lot caused what was almost a disaster. It had a hidden parking curb for a motorcycle parking spot and I turned the GT3 around it, not seeing it, and I got a little "high-sided" on it below the passenger door and I heard a nasty scrape. It sounded bad and I imagined losing my rocker panel. Getting out, though, it was just slightly underneath the right side and all I had to do was deploy the handy Porsche front-nose lift system to clear the curb and back out of the pickle I was in. No damage but a minor scuff on the underbelly panel. Thanks, nose-lift!
Day 2 The plan was to get to Newport, Oregon, just 235 miles North along the coast. Along the way, we’d be stopping at Stout Grove or Grove of the Titans to see more of the breathtaking California Redwoods, then go on to Brookings, Natural Bridges, Secret Beach, Bandon, Port Orford, Haceta Head Lighthouse, Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, and finish in Newport. The trip would be 231 miles and 5 hours of driving, plus 5 hours of stops for a 10-hour day from 8 am to 6 pm.
We started up Howland Hill Road to Stout Grove and Grove of the Titans but found that it turned into a dirt road after a few miles. Turn around! Maybe next time in the pickup truck. Pretty road, though.
Secret Beach was fogged in, and the overlook at Natural Bridges was very foggy, but we still enjoyed the trail and the views. Luckily, the fog dissipated as the day wore on. We were worried that the entire Coast might be like this. But we still felt quite welcome in Oregon!
Highway 101 here is an amazing road, with minimal traffic. So many great stops along this stretch, and you get the sense of just how immense the beaches are in this State. Brookings and Port Orford were full of sights, Myers Creek Beach was a good walk, and old town Bandon was cute. We had a great crab sando and crab cakes at Tony's Crab Shack in Bandon. Bonus: we found a taffy store (a Jill favorite in any coastal town) and visited with some people crabbing off the piers. At this point, the sun was fully out and we were officially in love with the Oregon Coast.
Day 3: We are headed from Newport to Astoria, but first we kicked around Newport a little more. Decided we need to come back for a longer stay. Great town. Nye Beach is very cool.
Here's the route for the day, with plenty of time for stops along the way at Yaquina Head Lighthouse, Otter Rock, Beverly Beach, Depoe Bay (whales!!), Lincoln, and Tillamook.
Yaquina Head Lighthouse
Day 4: Astoria to Olympic National Park. We started out with a drive through Astoria, deciding not to go visit everyone's favorite spot: the house made famous by the movie "The Goonies". Which was fortuitous, because instead we randomly found the Astoria Column, set atop the hill overlooking the Columbia River and the town. The column depicts the history of the area and the town and will make you dizzy walking around it and looking up in order to read it all ! It was still morning foggy at the top of the column, but worth the climb up the spiral stairs! ! The GT3 enjoyed having it's photo taken here.
The road through and into Olympic National park was less scenic than the coast. But we were spoiled at this point... yet the forest here is so verdant and lush, you just find yourself marveling at the thick hedgerows of giant trees, with undergrowth of ferns and wildflowers so dense that you know you'd never get out of you went in there. It's truly a rainforest up there. Meanwhile lots of Washington tax dollars fixing lots of road sections, so we had a number of single-lane control points. Still wasn't too slow. The southern portion was beautiful, but we didn't stop much as we cruised through the coastal towns on our way to our first stop for lunch.
That first stop was at Lake Quinalt lodge... it absolutely captured my heart. I felt like I was in a movie set, in a spot in maybe the wilds of Vermont maybe 50 years ago. An idyllic lake and a warm and welcoming lodge with great food. The smoked salmon sando and the smoked salmon caesar were top-drawer.
From there we went North and inland to follow the scenic Hoh River, into the area of the Hoh Rain Forest which includes the popular Hall of Mosses trail. We waited about 40 minutes to get into the parking for the Hall of Mosses, and while it was a nice little trail, I can't say that is was significantly different than the many other trails we had been hitting, and certainly not, in this one man's opinion, worth waiting a couple hours to get in to (which apparently is the summertime normal. Skip it and go walk the Marymere Falls trail instead (coming next day for us).
Continuing on through the town of Forks, we turned again inland on Hwy 101 toward Crescent Lake. Again, I was taken back in time, welcomed by the serene lake and the Crescent Lake Lodge, which reminded me of being in summer camp as a kid, with a lodge that was rustic and welcoming, similar to something you might find in Yosemite or Yellowstone. But the lake was the star here, and it did not disappoint. Highway 101 actually skirts right along the southern edge of the lake and gives you a good start to the feel-good vibes coming your way.
Day 5: Today would take us from Lake Crescent Lodge to Enumclaw, near the North-Eastern base of Mount Rainier. But before we left this picture perfect lake, we hiked around a bit and up to Marymere Falls. This hike through the "Moments in Time" trail, around the Lodge and up the Marymere Falls trail were definitely at least as picturesque as the Hall of Mosses, and more diverse. We came back and sat by the lake and marveled at the myriad of blues and greens that light and water can combine to create. We also met a family from Great Britain and as we chatted, we realized that my old friend Peter was this guy's first boss in the geology business back in England. Small World.
The drive from here was non-eventful. Stops in Port Angeles and lunch in Port Townsend. Fun seaport towns with good waterfront walks. I had a tasty fish sandwich in Port Townsend at the Silverwater cafe and stopped for a pic in front of their local courthouse, in case I needed any friends there later. Bremerton to Tacoma and on was nice but not much fun due to lots of traffic through Seattle. Enumclaw welcomed us nicely because the “mountain was out”, as the NW locals say. A Band was playing, and we beer-toured Enumclaw.
Day 6: The look at Mount Rainier the night before was a foreshadowing of the spectacular views the Mountain was going to give us. The skies started cloudy but then opened up to a sparkling blue as if Rainier was saying: "Just watch me now...!" And the Mountain wasn't just boasting. The road was so much fun. If you like fun roads and scenery: go drive Highway 410, Highway 123, Highway 12, and Stevens Creek Rd and all the other Highways and Scenic Byways around Rainier. They're twisty, gorgeous, and will surprise you around every bend. Like the herd of Roosevelt Elk we came across on our way to Chinook Cascades, Box Canyon, and Paradise. And the changing views of Rainier as we circumvented the mountain.
We headed out in the afternoon, headed for Portland, stopping for a bit in Ashford and having another tasty Salmon Sandwich (my theme for the trip). We stayed down in the Pearl District at the wonderful Ritz Carlton (only so many rustic lodges will do...) and enjoyed Jakes House of Crawfish, which has been there since 1892! I had amazing oysters and a delectable Idaho Trout with Burre Blanc. Great spot.
Day 7: Before we rolled out of Portland, we had to check out one of the local coffee houses (dozens within a few blocks... Portlandians love their coffee as much as their beer). I had a bacon-maple croissant which I'd absolutely drive back there for.
But instead of another pastry, we headed out to get to Sunriver, just south of Bend. But we took the route out of Portland due east out to Hood River, and boy are we glad we did! Highway 30, the "Historic Columbia River Highway" was the first planned scenic roadway in America, and it takes you some wonderful spots as you head East from Portland. Waterfalls and Columbia River views are the ticket here. Don't miss it by just staying on I-84 (which is also beautiful but a bit more rushed). The first stop we had was in Troutdale, so I at least had to try to catch a trout. I failed. But it was still a relaxing morning.
I met a bicyclist as I took this pic above, and he is a BMW 2002 driver and historic car racing fan and he was one his way out to the Portland Raceway to watch the historic races that I skipped this week. I have friends out there racing and it turned out he knew some of them, including my friend Steve Walker, a great historic BMW racer I've raced against many times. Small world, small world.
We arrived in Hood River and couldn't have more pleasantly surprised. I had no real expectations but I knew it was a kite-surfing and wind-surfing destination. I just wasn't ready for the number of people! It was gorgeous. We watched a bit if the wind-driven action and had some tasty grub n' beer at the Hood River Brewing Company. The river here is majestic and windy, exactly what it needs to be. The town of Hood river itself is also charming, and we enjoyed driving around a bit and seeing the views. including Mount Adams in the distance.
Day 8 We just enjoyed the Sunriver resort all day. Biking and fishing along the Deschutes River, cocktails by the pool, and we met some great people and made new friends! One family we met, the husband was 1 year behind Jill at her High School in Walnut Creek, and they of course had some mutual friends. Small world and getting smaller. This is a wonderfully peaceful resort: You can play golf, pickle ball, swim, rent bikes, kayak, climb, float the river, play tennis, or just hang out and have some good food.We loved it. Mount bachelor is the nearby ski mountain that people who know Bend know well. It's a great backdrop.
Day 9: Time to head home, Sunriver, OR to Danville, CA. Nothing too exciting on this day, just the itch to get on home. We left out of Sunriver Oregon on a beautiful day, but there wasn’t too much to see on Highway 97 southbound. The highway is as straight and unbending as a Pentecostal preacher. We hit a few small towns on the way, but it’s fairly unremarkable until you see the mountain off to your right hand side, upon which sits Crater Lake at the top. We went there last year on our way up to Bend, Oregon for a wedding (Cheater pic below: it was from last July). Crater Lake is absolutely worth the drive, and although we were not doing it on this trip, you absolutely should if you go this way!
As you go farther south on Hwy 97, you cross the California border and the skyline to your south is absolutely dominated by the stunning profile of Mount Shasta. At 14,179 feet, it is the second highest peak in the cascade range and the fifth highest peak in California. It’s also home to two glaciers, the Whitney and the Hotlum. You pass West of it through Weed, CA and then join the major Interstate Highway 5. This section is the best part of this Interstate in California, as it is a swoopy undulating drive through the Shasta-Trinity Forest, and then over scenic Lake Shasta. After that, it just flattened out in there isn’t much to see. In total, we spent about 6 1/2 hours driving home that day.
We arrived home at 3 PM. Here’s the total damage for the trip: roughly 48 hours of driving, 2189 miles at an average of 47 MPH and getting 21.1 MPG. Which means we used about 100 gallons of gas, or about $400 worth. Still one of the great travel bargains!
Good to be home. But I cannot recommend high enough that you take this trip, if you haven’t already done it. The northern California coast, the Oregon coast, the Olympic Peninsula of Washington and Mt. Rainier are truly special treasures.
