Good nature photo ops in NW Oregon

[Jeremy Stein]

I will be in the Portland, Oregon, area from August 7-3, and I am looking for advice as to the best places to get good photos near our present itinerary. We presently plan to drive from Portland along the Columbia Gorge to Hood River, down to Mt. Hood, then to the coast around Tillamook, up to Astoria, then spend a couple of days in Portland.

I am especially interested in scenics and also flowers. If there is a good zoo, butterfly, or hummingbird area, I would also like to know about it.

TIA, Jeremy Stein

[dan_smith]

Your travel itenerary, by its very naming of the locations you will be at, says you will be in tremendously rich photo country. You have given yourself the locations already, so just photograph.

[don_baccus]

We have one zoo in Portland, but why go to a zoo when you're going to be visiting such a beautiful corner of the US for a short time?

 

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As Dan says, your intinerary is such that you should have no trouble photograping. Some specifics:

 

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Gorge trails are a mixed bag at the moment, as the rainfall which triggered flooding in much of the PNW the past two winters also caused lots of slides along these trails. So don't be surprised to see "closed" signs in various places.

 

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There's also a $3/day charge for parking at ALL USFS trailheads in Oregon starting about 4 weeks ago. We're close to revolt out here, but for now just carry a lot of $1 bills.

 

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From Cannon Beach north to Astoria, the coast is mostly sandy beach, due to the Columbia River which enters the Pacific at Astoria. I personally find rocks more interesting than sand. Starting at Cannon Beach, with Ecola State Park and Haystack Rock (the subject of nearly as many cliche photos as Yosemite's Half Dome), things get interesting. Further south, Oswald West State Park and Twin Rocks are especially nice, IMO.

 

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You say you're heading as far south as Tillamook. I recommend you go a bit further, as a very beautiful stretch of scenic highway runs south from there. Known as "Three Capes Scenic Highway", it runs past Capes Meares, Lookout, and Kiwanda. Also quiet, pretty spots like Netarts Bay. If you like to hike at all, I recommend walking out to the end of Cape Lookout, about 2.5 miles. Cape Meares has a very nice lighthouse, only a short (100 yard) walk from the parking area.

 

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Since you're interested in flowers, be warned that by mid-August most of the easily-accessible wildflower meadows will be burned out. It's been a wet year with a latish spring, so if you want to hike to higher meadows on Mount Hood, like Paradise Park, you might have luck. I'd ask first, though, as it's a fairly long hike.

[don_baccus]

Oh, one more thing. Be VERY wary of leaving things in your car in the Gorge or along the coast. Car bashers from Portland are very efficient in the Gorge, particularly on weekends.

 

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The coast isn't as bad as it was until two years ago, when they caught the single individual estimated to be responsible for about 1/2 of all known thefts from cars from the Olympic Penninsula to northern California. This guy was a campground specialist who worked diligently nights during three day coast cruises. He owned a used CD business, and his entire stock was stolen from cars, so he needed to cruise pretty often. When busted, he had a rental storage unit with 3,000 cameras he hadn't gotten around to, or was unable to, fence, along with vast amounts of other stolen material.

 

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Still, others have been working to pick up the slack since his being busted, so PLEASE take care!

[wesley_ebisuzaki]

Visited Oregon a few years ago, and made similar loop as you are planning. If you have time, you should visit Crater Lake.

The Columbia Gorge is very scenic and you might spend some time trying to get some photos of wind surfers. At Mt. Hood you can drive up to the ski resorts to get closer to the mountain. When you cross the coastal range, you might want to choose a small road rather than a major highway. I went on a minor "highway" that became a one lane road whenever the terrain became too rugged. Of course you'll want to time your trip that you'll get at least one sunset on the Pacific coast.

Good luck,

Wesley Ebisuzaki

[donna_allgaier_lamberti]

Hope I'm not too late.... I just returned from a 9 day photo trip to Oregon. I flew into Portland and traveled south to Crater Lake. The trip down took me along winding rivers and past lovely waterfalls.

It was VERY picturesque and well worth photographing.

 

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I spent three days in Crater Lake (not nearly long enough!)aand found the area spectacular. I got there just at the end of fall and on the cust of winter. By Oct. 5 winter had arrived. They get 500 feet of snow inthe winter!! I shot sunrise to sunset. I spent three days hiking and exploring. I seriously recommend Annies Creek Canyon and Lost Lake. Like most National Parks you could easily spend two weeks there and only hit the surface.

 

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Traveled up the coast, shot lighthouses and shorelines, shorebirds. MET a very friendly juvenile seagull who posed for food. Great closeups! Ditto for Cannon Beach comments. I shoot a lot of infrared film, 4 1/2 by 6" square format black and white and of course Fugi velvia color slides.

 

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Back up to Portland. Visited Rose Garden, Japanease Gardens, (infrared and B&W of course. Spent two days along the Gorge...again not enough time!!

 

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Have written a travel piece for newspaper (aka Words and Pictures) if anyone is interested.

 

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Hope this help!!

 

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DJ

[keith_clark]

It rains 10 months out of the year in Oregon, and the coast has about 13 sunny days a year. So bring goretex and warm clothes, and a means to keep your cameras dry.

 

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Also you'll want to reat a local car if you're from California. Californians aren't very welcome in Oregon.