Harris Beach State Park, Oregon Coast. All photography is ours.
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Oregon with Kids
If Crater Lake is on your list, Oregon with kids is an easy yes. We drove up from California in late July, based ourselves in Medford, and gave the lake a full day. The water really is that blue.
Oregon Caves was another fun stop on this trip. We took a ranger-led tour through the cave, and got to see River Styx – the only US Wild and Scenic River fully underground. We also got a taste of the coast, a few hours at Harris Beach near Brookings, and that was enough to know we’ll be back for more. We loved getting our toes in the sand with a cool breeze in our face. It was a perfect lazy afternoon in July.
Destination guide · Updated November 2026 · Last visited July 2026
Best months
July–September
National parks
1 + 5 NPS sites
Fly into
PDX · MFR · EUG · RDM
How long
4 days for Crater Lake, 10 with the coast
Book ahead
Crater Lake Lodge · Oregon Caves tours · Timberline Lodge
Our Oregon trip was the northern half of a road trip that started in Sacramento. We based ourselves in Medford for three nights and spent one long day on the redwoods, the coast at Brookings, and Oregon Caves. The next day we drove the rim at Crater Lake and stayed for sunset, and then we drove north to Portland for the flight home.
Crater Lake, Oregon Caves, and that first stretch of coast are what we’ve done. Everything else below is the Oregon we’re planning for next time, with notes on what we’d do first.
Your Oregon guide
Enjoy exploring Oregon with kids!
Keep scrolling for the essentials, three road trips, and where to stay.
Essential Oregon
Why we love Oregon
We think you’ll love it too.
Oregon is where we’d send a family that wants the deepest lake in America and a blue you have to see to believe. Crater Lake is the kind of place where you get out of the car at the first overlook and everyone stops talking. You can visit in a day, and it’s one you’ll talk about for a long time. The lake is just a gorgeous place to visit. Be sure to stick around for sunset if you can. We chose to hike up to Watchman’s Tower, but nearly any overlook will do.
Oregon Caves is another spectacular spot. It takes a while to get to (and the road is not straight, so pack Dramamine or ginger drops if you need it), but we really enjoyed the cave tour. Scroll down for more essential Oregon, from the lake to the coast.
Crater Lake National Park AftT Visit
It’s the deepest lake in the country, and it sits in a collapsed volcano high in the Cascades. One full day covers Rim Drive and the overlooks. Snow can keep parts of the road closed into July.
Rim Drive and Watchman Overlook AftT Visit
Rim Drive runs 33 miles around the lake, with pullouts every few minutes. We ended the day at Watchman Overlook for sunset, and the light on the lake at the end of the day is the reason to stay late.
Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve AftT Visit
The ranger-led tour goes through a marble cave and takes about 90 minutes, with stairs and tight spots. Kids need to be 42 inches tall. Book the tour before you drive up the mountain.
Medford as a base AftT Visit
Medford isn’t a destination on its own, but it’s the right place to make home base. Crater Lake, Oregon Caves, and the redwoods at Crescent City are all day trips from here, and there are plenty of places to stay using points.
And the rest we’d cross the state for
The Oregon Coast AftT Visit
We drove the first few miles of it, Crescent City up to Brookings, and spent a few hours walking Harris Beach State Park. There are sea stacks, tide pools, and a beach that goes on forever. It was pretty enough that driving the rest of the coast is now the plan for next time. Pack layers. It’s cool and windy even in summer.
Columbia River Gorge
Multnomah Falls is thirty minutes from Portland and needs a timed-entry permit in summer. The Historic Columbia River Highway strings a half dozen more waterfalls together. We haven’t been yet.
Portland
Portland has Powell’s Books, the Oregon Zoo, OMSI, and food carts on every other block. The city is flat, walkable, and easy to get around on a light rail pass. We’ve only seen the airport so far, but we plan on getting back soon.
Mount Hood and Timberline
Mount Hood has skiing almost year-round and a 1930s lodge the kids may recognize from the movies. It’s an hour and a half from Portland.
Bend and Newberry Volcanic Monument
Bend has lava tubes you can walk into, an obsidian flow, and a river you can float right through town. Smith Rock and Mt. Bachelor are close by.
John Day Fossil Beds National Monument
The Painted Hills are the photo everyone takes. The Thomas Condon Paleontology Center has a working fossil lab with a window kids can watch through. This one’s remote, so plan a full day.
Lewis and Clark National Historical Park
Fort Clatsop, where the expedition spent the winter of 1805, has been rebuilt near Astoria. Pair it with the Astoria Column and the Columbia River Maritime Museum.
Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
Just across the river in Washington, this rebuilt Hudson’s Bay Company fort has blacksmiths and a bakery. It was on our last-day plan and we ran out of time.
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Find your next adventure in Oregon
Tell us what you’re planning and we’ll match it up with some great trip ideas.
No AftT guides yet, but stay tuned for great content from Oregon.
Routes
Three Oregon road trip itineraries
Oregon makes three very different trips. You can drive the volcano country like we did, spend a long weekend in Portland and the Gorge, or follow the coast from top to bottom. See all the best stops on a map.
Home base
Medford
Fly into MFR, or drive up from Northern California like we did. Three nights here covers everything below without changing hotels.
Then head to
The redwoods, Harris Beach, and Oregon Caves
Drive ninety minutes southwest to Crescent City for Jedediah Smith Redwoods and Howland Hill Road. Then head north on 101 to Brookings for a few hours on the sand at Harris Beach State Park, and stop at Oregon Caves on the way back to Medford. Book the cave tour ahead and allow for the slow mountain road up to it. It’s a long day, and a good one.
Finish
Crater Lake
Crater Lake is ninety minutes northeast. Drive Rim Drive clockwise, stop everywhere, and stay for sunset at Watchman Overlook. Bring jackets. It was chilly up there even in late July.
Home base
Portland
Fly into PDX. Spend a day on Powell’s, the food carts, and OMSI, and let the light rail do the driving.
Then head to
Columbia River Gorge
See Multnomah Falls first thing with a timed-entry permit, then take the Historic Highway to Hood River for lunch.
Add on
Mount Hood
Loop back over the mountain on Highway 26. Stop at Timberline Lodge for a look around, with summer skiing or snow play if the kids want it.
Start
Astoria
Visit Fort Clatsop, the Astoria Column, and the Maritime Museum. Astoria is two hours from Portland.
Then head to
Cannon Beach and Newport
See Haystack Rock at low tide, then drive down Highway 101 to the Oregon Coast Aquarium and the Yaquina Head lighthouse.
Finish
Bandon, Brookings, and the south coast
The south coast has sea stacks, the Coquille River lighthouse, and the quietest beaches in the state. End at Harris Beach State Park in Brookings, the one stretch we’ve walked, and fly home from Medford.
When to go
Time your visits with the weather and the region
We did Oregon in late July, and for Crater Lake that’s the window. Rim Drive usually isn’t fully open until early or mid July, and snow closes it again in October. The coast and Portland work most of the year if you pack a rain jacket, and the east side of the state is high desert with hot summers and real winters.
Swipe the chart sideways to see the full year.
July – September
Rim Drive is open end to end, the cave tours run all day, and the coast is as warm as it gets. This is when we went. Wildfire smoke can roll in during August, so check air quality before a Crater Lake day.
October – November
Rim Drive closes with the first big snow, usually in October. The Gorge waterfalls are running again and the coast starts storm-watching season.
December – March
Crater Lake gets 40 feet of snow a year. The south entrance and Rim Village stay open for snowshoe walks. Mt. Hood and Mt. Bachelor are the ski trips.
April – June
Spring is waterfall season in the Gorge and whale watching season on the coast. Crater Lake is still mostly snowed in, so save it for later in the summer.
Where to stay
Pick a good base to start your Oregon adventure
Oregon is easier when you pick one region. Here’s where we stayed and where we’d stay next.
Crater Lake trips
Medford
We stayed here on IHG free nights. Every chain is here, the airport is small and easy, and Crater Lake, Oregon Caves, and the redwoods are all about ninety minutes away in different directions.
- Points hotels near the airport and I-5
- Grocery stop for cooler lunches at the lake
- Ashland for a nicer dinner, 20 minutes south
In the park
Crater Lake Lodge and Mazama Village
The 1915 lodge sits right on the rim, and the cabins at Mazama Village are the budget option seven miles below it. Both book out months ahead for July and August.
- Crater Lake Lodge for the rim view
- Mazama Village cabins and campground
- Book the day reservations open
City trips
Portland
Downtown and the Pearl District put you on the light rail with the food carts and Powell’s a few blocks away. Points work well here, and you can skip the rental car until the Gorge day.
- Downtown or the Pearl for walking
- Hilton and Marriott properties on points
- Rent the car only for the Gorge and Mount Hood
Good to know
Questions families ask us about Oregon
Yes, it is. It’s a drive-and-look park, which is exactly right for a long day with kids. Rim Drive has pullouts every few minutes, the color of the water does the work, and there’s no hard hiking required. We did the full loop, stopped at every overlook we liked, and stayed for sunset at Watchman Overlook. Bring real jackets. It was cold on the rim in late July.
One full day from Medford or Klamath Falls covers Rim Drive, the visitor center, and a short walk or two. Stay in the park if you want sunrise and sunset without the drive. Two days is plenty unless you’re adding the boat tour.
The south entrance and Rim Village stay open all year, but the full loop usually isn’t clear of snow until early or mid July. It closes again with the first big storms in October. Check the park’s road status before you go, even in summer.
Kids need to be at least 42 inches tall and able to handle about 500 stairs over 90 minutes. Ours did fine. The tour sells out in summer, so book it in advance, and allow extra time for the slow, narrow road up to the monument.
Fly into PDX for Portland, the Gorge, and the north coast. Medford (MFR) is the closest to Crater Lake and Oregon Caves and is where we’d fly for the southern loop. Eugene and Redmond/Bend work for the middle of the state. We drove in from California and flew home from Portland, which split the driving nicely.
You will for everything outside Portland. Crater Lake, the caves, the coast, and the Gorge all need one. In Portland itself you can get by on the light rail for a couple of days.
Map
Essential Oregon, mapped
Keep exploring
Where to go next
California with Kids
The redwoods and Lassen are right across the line. This is where our Oregon trip started.
