Old railroad trestles carry the Banks-Vernonia Trail over the creeks at L.L. Stub Stewart State Park, pavement through second-growth Coast Range forest. The Dairy Creek camp loops open onto that grade, so a morning ride starts at the site and the van stays in the loop while you ride. Between trestles the fir stands close to the pavement, then the line opens over water again.
Past the park fence the same paved grade keeps running toward Vernonia on the 21-mile Banks-Vernonia State Trail. You can make Vernonia the far end of the day and come back on the same line, or turn around sooner. Banks is the town you roll through on the way in from the valley floor.
L.L. Stub Stewart State Park is the closest state-park camping on Portland's west side, and camping stays open year-round. Dairy Creek has full-hookup RV sites. On a summer weekend, lock a pad before you book the van.
If you need more sleeping space than a campervan, Hillsboro RV rentals cover the same parks. When Dairy Creek is full, the forest camps on OR-6 are the next night.
Tillamook State Forest on OR-6
Douglas-fir hangs over the creekside sites at Gales Creek and Jones Creek. OR-6 follows the Wilson River through reforested burn country, and the road tightens through the corridor. The pads sit on the creeks, and the highway still points at the coast. The north coast past this forest is a Cannon Beach trip.
From Hillsboro this is the weekend forest drive, a Coast Range night on the river instead of a night on the rail trail. Jones Creek takes reservations through the Oregon Department of Forestry, Gales Creek is first-come, and the developed campgrounds generally run mid-May through early October, as of September 2026. Outside that window, Stub Stewart is the pad that stays open.
Tualatin Valley wineries
Vineyard rows cover the valley floor below the Coast Range foothills, and tasting-room porches face west toward those hills. Forest Grove is the town in the middle of the vines. Tualatin Hills and Laurelwood District sit inside the Willamette Valley AVA.
A valley-floor day is the tasting rooms in the afternoon, then back to the loop before dark.
Henry Hagg Lake
Henry Hagg Lake's forested shoreline loop ties the boat ramps to picnic coves. Scoggins Valley Park is a swimming and fishing day, and a parking pass is required at the gate. Washington County keeps the park open sunrise to sunset and lists no camping. The Columbia River Gorge is a Portland trip.