Washington/Oregon/Norcal Cool Places To Fly

J

Justin Springer

Filing Flight Plan
Joined
Mar 30, 2022
Messages
5
Display Name
Display name:
pepper4brunch
Planning a Trip next week. May22nd-June1st. Only looking to fly maybe 4-5 of those days. From Vancouver BC Canada. Plan is down the West Coast as far as Shelter Cove, California.

Piper Cherokee 140/160. Looking for suggestions on places to see! Original plan was much more ambitious hitting MT/UT/AZ/SOCAL and back up but plans have changed. No ADS-B so have to stay out of any Class C and 30NM away from SEA.

So far Shelter Cove for sure is on the list. Mammoth Lakes/Crater Lake also. Any suggestions on lunch stops or overnight stops would be awesome! Looking at a mix of camping/maybe a couple cheap hotels.
 
Oh man, so many great places along that route.

Copalis (S16) if conditions are right. Only place on the West Coast you can actually land on the beach.
Nehalem Bay (3S7) used to have great camping right on the water. Haven't been in years, but I'm sure it's still open. Awesome.
Tillamook (TMK) has an air museum and you can take the courtesy car to go tour the cheese factory (seriously - it's a thing).
Gold Beach (4S1) is great, too. Several food places in walking distance, and I've stayed at inexpensive hotels there, also.
Ward Field (0O9) is a personal fav if you're up for a little challenge. It's down in a valley next to the Smith river. Food is about 1/4 mile walk down the highway.

With regard to Shelter Cove - have a alternate in mind if you can't get in. I'd say I only make it 60% of the time I try due to low ceilings. But it is pretty spectacular when you do. Make dinner reservations if you plan to spend the night because food options are limited.

C.
 
Last edited:
Great aviation museum at McMinnville OR (MMV).

Smaller, often overlooked, but fascinating and well-run museum (Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum) at Hood River OR (4S2). It has an excellent collection of pre-WW2 general aviation airplanes, along with Curtiss Jenny s/n 1 (airworthy), plus you get the amazing scenery of flying in the Columbia Gorge. Fun excursion train ride at Hood River, also.

Lunch and/or overnight at Sunriver OR (S21). Not a cheap hotel, but a nice fly-in experience.
 
Friday Harbor is a nice stop. I'm not a fan of the restaurant on-field but there is a legit brewery about 1/3mi walk from the transient parking, and it has tasty snacks :)

Both Bend and Redmond have crew cars and nice FBOs. Lunch at Bend is worth doing, plenty of bougie trendy hippie places to get some fusion chow and a $6 iced tea.

I can't think of anything worth stopping for north of Santa Rosa in Norcal, but I'm sure there must be soooomething :D
 
Last edited:
You can apply for an ADSB waiver as a transient or one off visitor
 
pmanton said:
Museum of Flight at Boeing field.
Click to expand...

Good call! Clay Lacy at Boeing Field used to give out free tickets. Best museum in the country for civilian aviation, IMO.
 
Another tidbit on the Museum of Flight. This was perhaps as much as 20 years ago. I called ahead to arrange this.(easily done back then) As I called up the tower, I told them where I was going. The tower contacted the museum, and a chap was waiting for us with an open gate. He parked us and closed the gate behind us. When we were finished we went to the front desk and told them we needed to get our airplane out. The chap unlocked the gate and saw us on our way. My Grandson was pretty impressed. (me too)
 
Last edited:
As of four years ago, the Museum of Flight had their own parking area and a gate you just walked into the parking lot from the tiedown area. You just had to call museum security to come open it to let you back in. Number was on the gate.
 
Thank You for all your replies!! Currently in Aurora Oregon, stayed at Nehalem Bay last night after dinner in Pacific City. Quite a bit of low cloud on the coast last night and today but very thin layer. Cleared customs in FHR yesterday it was a cool little town. We'll make sure to stop at Bend on the way back for lunch. I've also heard the Salem airport has a good restaurant on site. We're going to try to make it to Shelter Cove for the night tonight. Maybe McMinville today for Air museum or maybe on the way back. Want to check out Crater Lake and Gold Beach area today as well.

Looking now to make it as far South as Oceano tomorrow night. Anyone know if you can camp there?
 
Justin Springer said:
Thank You for all your replies!! Currently in Aurora Oregon, stayed at Nehalem Bay last night after dinner in Pacific City. Quite a bit of low cloud on the coast last night and today but very thin layer. Cleared customs in FHR yesterday it was a cool little town. We'll make sure to stop at Bend on the way back for lunch. I've also heard the Salem airport has a good restaurant on site. We're going to try to make it to Shelter Cove for the night tonight. Maybe McMinville today for Air museum or maybe on the way back. Want to check out Crater Lake and Gold Beach area today as well.

Looking now to make it as far South as Oceano tomorrow night. Anyone know if you can camp there?
Click to expand...
Yes. Unless something has changed recently. Camping at the airport is a thang there.
 
Visited the Tillamook Museum a couple weeks ago. Flew a Mooney over there.

TillamookHanger.jpg
 
Made it to Shelter Cove tonight! Absolutely stunning evening. Stopped in Sisters, OR on the way also very nice. Got very windy right as we were arriving in Shelter Cove. Was told to expect IFR ceilings and sustained heavy winds all morning tomorrow, a little worried about getting out of here but we'll see what happens! Hoping to make it to Oceano or maybe Columbia, CA tomorrow night. Thanks all for your continued suggestions, it's very much appreciated!
 
Pics or it didn't happen.

Best food in Columbia is at the Columbia Kate's Teahouse on the east side of town. Oceano is great if you like the beach. They have bikes you can rent and several food options nearby.

C.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top