We get asked for an Oregon weekend itinerary for the coast, Mt Hood and Eugene often enough that we finally wrote ours down. These aren't schedules; they're the way a weekend tends to go when we're the ones staying. Take the parts you like and leave the rest. The homes are set up so that doing nothing is also a fine plan.
The Weekender, Neskowin
Friday: leave Portland or Eugene after lunch and you're on the coast by late afternoon, in time to walk to the beach before the light goes. Light the wood stove, put something simple on the stove, and get in the hot tub while the fog rolls past the deck. This is a cabin built for two, so the plan doesn't need to be more than that.
Saturday: coffee, then the beach at low tide if the table cooperates, out to Proposal Rock and along the stumps of the ghost forest. Breakfast at Hawk Creek Cafe. Late morning, drive ten minutes south to Cascade Head and hike the lower trail to the meadow. Lunch back at the cabin, then a book in the loft, then the beach again around sunset. Dinner is either at home or fifteen minutes up the road at Pelican Brewing in Pacific City.
Sunday: one more walk, one more soak, and a late checkout feeling. Stop at the Lincoln City outlets only if you must. Full notes on the area are in our Neskowin guide.
Wildwood Basecamp, Mt. Hood Village
Friday: the drive from Portland is about an hour, so most groups arrive in the dark. Get the wood stove going, claim rooms, and let the group find the Bunkhouse Lounge on their own. Someone always finds the ping pong table first. Dinner is something big that was made ahead.
Saturday: in winter, Skibowl or Meadows for the day, or Trillium Lake on snowshoes if the group is mixed. In summer, Mirror Lake in the morning before the lot fills, then the Salmon River for a swim in the afternoon. Huckleberries in August along the roads above Government Camp. Late afternoon, hot tub. Evenings are on the screened porch at the big table with the fire table going and someone in a hammock chair pretending to read. We don't plan much after that.
Sunday: breakfast at the cabin, then a slow drive up to Timberline Lodge to walk around inside and have a drink by the fire in the Ram's Head. Back down the mountain by early afternoon. See the cabin for what's there.
Puffin Lane, Manzanita
Friday: arrive, go upstairs, and let the mountain out the windows do the introductions. Walk the ten minutes down to the beach for the last of the light, then back up for dinner on one of the covered porches. The cedar hot tub is where the first night ends.
Saturday: bakery run on Laneda before the good loaves go, then the Neahkahnie Mountain trail while legs are fresh, about three miles round trip and steep enough to earn the view. Afternoon at Short Sand Beach in Oswald West watching the surfers, or a flat bike ride at Nehalem Bay State Park if the group would rather roll than climb. The yoga studio gets used more than you'd think, usually in the late afternoon by whoever needs an hour alone. Dinner in town, then porches.
Sunday: a long beach walk north toward the mountain, a stop at the bookstore, and the drive home through Tillamook. Seven people total is the limit on the property, which keeps it the right size for the kind of trip it's good at.
The Eugene House
This one is about ease. Arrive whenever, and whoever needs the most privacy takes the downstairs king suite. Saturday morning is the trail out the door to the bakery, then Spencer Butte or Mt. Pisgah while it's cool. On a Ducks weekend, the afternoon is spoken for. Otherwise, Saturday Market downtown, a walk through the Whiteaker for a beer, or an hour south to the wineries along Territorial Highway. Dinner back at the house with the yard to yourselves. Sunday, the Ridgeline Trail and coffee, then home. See the house and the rest of our Eugene homes, including The Cedar Circle, which is coming soon.
What we skip
Trying to see two coast towns in one weekend. Driving to Cannon Beach on a summer Saturday. Ramona Falls without checking the river. Any plan that has us in the car after four in the afternoon. The good parts of these weekends are the slow parts, and every one of these homes was set up with that in mind.