7 Day Oregon & California Road Trip Itinerary – 2022 Camping Edition

May 13, 2022

Road Trip to Oregon & California

I’ve got a fun and personal blog post for y’all this week! My sweet husband, Michael, and I took a 7-day road trip to Oregon and California this past week. I thought it would be fun to share some photos, locations, and stories from our trip.

Our Oregon Road Trip Itinerary

The main goal of this trip was to return my best friend’s travel trailer that I’ve been borrowing. She graciously let me use her trailer the last two winters for ski season. In the past, I’ve made the drive to San Francisco by myself, so it was a real treat to have my husband along this time. We made it a 7-day scenic road trip instead of my usual 2-day trip and we camped in the trailer on the way down!

If you know me, you know I’m a planner. But I’m also a major procrastinator haha. So 2 days before our trip, I was up until 2am making an itinerary and booking campgrounds for us. I’m pleased to say that we only had a few hiccups and it was mostly a smooth enjoyable trip.

Here was our original itinerary. ↓

Where to Stay on Oregon Coast Road Trip

I had a lot of fun researching where to stay on the Oregon Coast. There are SO many awesome campgrounds and RV parks that it was hard to choose. I could have easily spent 2 weeks on just the Oregon Coast part of this trip. But alas, we only had 3 days to spend in this area.

So I narrowed it down to a few requirements we had:

  1. We needed a 12v plugin to run our space heater.
  2. We preferred a bathroom at the campground.
  3. We didn’t want to drive more than 5 hours.
  4. We wanted to be super close to the coast/beach.
  5. The campground needed to be open year-round.

So on our 1st night, we settled on Nehalem Bay Campground. This campground met all of our requirements AND it was super close to Elk Flats, an area I’ve been wanting to see for years.

I highly recommend Nehalem Bay Campground. It was easy to book online and reasonably priced. Upon arrival, we were greeted by the sweetest and most helpful camp hosts. The sites were level, clean, and quite nice.

Our 2nd night was spent at the park my grandparents live in Sutherlin, Oregon. I always stop to visit them on my trips to California. I get special camping privileges at their park because they’re members.

Our 3rd night was a bit of a whirlwind haha! I had some wrong information about a walking bridge and ended up in the wrong area, with our trailer that was not allowed up the forest road. So we made a last-minute decision and stayed at Redwood Meadows RV Resort.

I think in the summertime this RV park would have been awesome! But we caught them in the off-season without anyone working in the office and found ourselves locked out of the bathrooms and facilities with no cell service. It also rained allllll night haha this was probably our least favorite evening of our trip. But I would still recommend this park if you plan in advance better than we did.

Our 4th and last night spent in the trailer was at Kamp Klamath. We chose this park for its proximity to Lady Bird Johnson Grove and Fern Canyon. It was a lovely campground and we really enjoyed our stay here! The staff was super nice, check-in and setup were simple, and they even had Wi-Fi. The only thing we didn’t realize is that there is almost nothing nearby food-wise. For dinner, we ended up eating some risky clam chowder at a very small rural casino.

Our 5th, 6th, and 7th nights were spent with friends in San Francisco and with my grandparents back in Sutherlin on our way home.

Oregon Coast Road Trip Must See

I had a longgg list of places I wanted to see on this trip. I’m stoked to report Michael and I made it to all of them but one! I’d be lying if I didn’t add this: a lot of these places I was scouting for engagement sessions and elopements. Putting out into the universe that I would die happy if I could photograph some folks at these locations haha! 

Okay, here are the must-see locations. ↓

  1. Elk Flats
  2. Stout Grove
  3. Secret Beach
  4. Lady Bird Johnson Grove
  5. Fern Canyon

Once we got to San Francisco, we also visited these places and I highly recommend them!

  1. Thornton State Beach
  2. Alcatraz Island
  3. Golden Gate Bridge

Oregon Coast and California Road Trip Map

Here’s a map with all of our stops for my visual folks. 

Road Trip to Oregon Coast – VHS Video

Michael and I (mostly I, let’s be honest haha) decided to download a fun VHS app to record this trip. We wanted it to look like an old school home video and I think we definitely accomplished that. Check it out below.

Oregon and California Road Trip

I’m really thankful that Michael and I were able to take this Oregon and California road trip together. We saw some incredible sights, created lifelong memories, and only fought about my driving a couple of times haha! Thanks for following along and as always, reach out if you have any questions!

Check out some of my favorite photos from our trip below!

Looking for elopement tips & inspiration?

Check the below blogs out for more inspiration & Washington State elopement planning tips

How to Elope in Washington State: 10 Steps to Follow

How Much Does It Cost to Elope? 

Mt Rainier Elopement Timeline

Cara + Zach’s Mount Rainier Adventure Elopement

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Oregon & California Road Trip

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