Trip down the Oregon coast in November

[PizzaJim]

Has anyone driven down the Oregon coast in November? Specifically around the Thanksgiving holiday?

It turns out I'm going to have a lot of free time in November. So I thought I might visit my parents in southern California for Thanksgiving.

I've never driven down the Oregon coast at that time of year but I figure it's got to be better than I-5. Even with the fog and the rain.

 

[HYCLE]

I was thinking of renting a house on the coast Thanksgiving week. Either northern California or southern Oregon. I am interested in information about the Oregon coast too.

Mike

 

[FJR_pig]

I lived and worked out of Newport/Lincoln City for almost five years. I would suggest watching the weather for the coast VERY carefully that time of year. You can count on rain and wind, but there are some higher points where you might see some snow flurries if it gets cold enough. Some stretches of 101 are not that far below the elevation of the Cascades and you don't want to get caught off guard.

Traffic will be bad up and down 101 starting the Wednesday before and won't really let up thru Sunday. I always noticed that Thanksgiving Day was slow, but then people were either headed back to the valley on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, leaving it as to anyone's guess which might be a better travel day.

Pre-scout the location of any bike shops on the coast, in case you need them. There are not too many and it might be handy to know that on the front end.

The good news is that the price of gas is falling quick in Oregon - cheaper trip than you would've had three months ago.

 

[blufjr]

Has anyone driven down the Oregon coast in November? I've never driven down the Oregon coast at that time of year.

Did you mean to Drive, as in a car, or Ride as on your bike? If car, don't worry about weather. Driving down the coast line in the rain and fog is no pleasure, I-5 may be better. I have found that the superslab is better then the twisties when it is flat out raining and especially when it is raining hard. Even the Siskiyou mtns. may be tough in either a car or on a bike if it is snowing.

Just have good gear and heated liners and get on the bike and just do it. Write up the ride and let us know what it was like.

 

[RenoJohn]

Best bet is to watch the weather pretty closely.

We spend a lot of time around Brookings -Partly because it is a banana belt with consistent temps through the year (clicky) -which makes it a joy in the winter. I say this as perhaps it makes sense to make that a overnight stop?

Depending on how much time you have, .....if you don't mind a few more miles and doing some zig-zagging, you've got more options than just the coast and I-5 for gong north and south. OR has lots of great riding!!! especially to the west, especially the SW part of the state.