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Waterfalls, scenic drives through orchards, or cute mountain towns. This guide has it all. Tweak our guide to craft your perfect trip.
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Hey, We’re Matt and Cheryl and we are on a mission to help people have amazing vacations. Not only do we write easy-to-follow itineraries, but we love to share interesting stories in our audio guides about all of our favorite places!
We live in Utah, just four hours away from awesome national parks like Zion and Yellowstone, and have spent our lives exploring the West and the Rocky Mountains. We often travel with both sets of our retired parents (they like each other!) and our four teenagers (who like to travel…sometimes).
We met in a history of Utah class at Weber State University and tied the knot in 2002. Matt worked for Social Security and taught adjunct history classes at our alma mater. Cheryl taught special education for 28 years and continues to volunteer by teaching a weekly dance fitness class.
We took a shot at our dream in 2020 and started making YouTube videos about the national parks we know so well. We now have over 20 million views and have sold over 24,000 guides. We are delighted to help travelers fulfill dreams of their own!
We love trying out all the activities and working with local experts to give the best, most up-to-date travel advice out there.
At We're in the Rockies, we believe in education and donate 5% of the proceeds of your purchase to the Gene Sessions History Scholarship to make education affordable to future park rangers and history teachers.
Watch Cheryl show you how to plan out your travel day in minutes.
We think 1-2 days is ideal, but you can see this area in one day.
If you have more time, we recommend the Oregon Coast, Olympic National Park, and Mount Rainier National Park.
We give you the best sites to see in each area. You can rearrange the days or even do the activities in reverse order if it works better for where you are coming from and going to.
We recommend staying in Troutdale, Hood River, or Cascade Locks to decrease driving time.
Late May through early September.
We recommend sites and activities based on our personal experiences and the experiences of other travelers. We also regularly consult with area experts who visit the area often.
We travel with our 4 kids (who are now teens) and our retired parents, so we get a lot of perspectives.
We try to add lots of variety, including hikes, drives, good places to eat, and activities. We usually give backup options for longer hikes and activities that cost.
We are of the mindset that you have a plan, so you can be flexible.
We lay out what we believe are the best activities for your time and money, but we all have different preferences.
Because each activity listed has a star rating, approximate time frame, and cost, you’ll easily be able to adjust to best suit your group’s interests.
We surveyed our customers and they reported that our guides saved them 10-20 hours of trip planning research, on average.
Although much of the information included in this guide can be found with significant research, this guide combines what you need to know into one place and it is from a source committed to giving you the best information.
This guide cost us over $2,500 to create when you combine travel expenses, map creation, and formatting. In addition, we have spent hundreds of hours visiting this area and doing additional research at home.
Many of our travelers enjoy the confirmation that they have already created a good plan and may even find a thing or two to add to it.
Other travelers may find that our plan is similar to what they had already pieced together on their own.
If you’ve already spent hours planning, you may not find maximum value in this guide.
Yes! We travel with our 4 children and both sets of our retired parents. Although not every activity is for everyone, there are always backup suggestions.
We write these guides so all the work you should need to do is obtain your lodging, transportation, food, and reservations. We include maps, the time needed to complete drives and activities, and lodging recommendations. We put boxes throughout the guide indicating it’s an item that you will need to take care of before you leave. We also give links to websites we think you should check before you leave (Ex: Columbia River Gorge website).
You will need a car to visit Mount Hood and drive the Fruit Loop. There are paid shuttle services that will take you through the gorge, but you can also drive your own car.
Yes. We give approximate time frames that are needed to complete an activity. The schedule is generally not so packed that you have to be a quick traveler. But, if you know you generally need more time, you can make adjustments. If you are quick, there are suggestions for additional activities
This is a digital download, so it will be EMAILED to you. That way, you can have access immediately and have the option to download it to any device you want.
Many travelers, including us, prefer to print the itinerary and take it with us as we travel.
The itinerary is available immediately upon purchase, right on this webpage. You will also receive an email within 30 minutes with download links in case you need to revisit the links and download the items later. If you don’t receive your email, check your junk mail folder. If it’s not there, contact mattandcheryl@wereintherockies.com and we’ll be in touch with you within 1 business day. Also, the guides will be available in your account if you choose to establish one (we highly encourage it).
If you aren’t sure which guides to get, email us at mattandcheryl@wereintherockies.com, and tell us where you want to go. A real human will get back to you within one business day.
Yes! Olympic National Park, Mount Rainier National Park, and the Oregon Coast are amazing stops to add to your trip.
Experience the Pacific Northwest like never before with our ultimate bundle! Get itineraries for Olympic National Park, Mount Rainier National Park, the Oregon Coast, and the Columbia River Gorge—plus an exclusive bonus: a comprehensive Pacific Northwest Overview Guide that will show you how to loop around all 3 for an ultimate 10-11 day road trip.
National parks constantly change, including timed-entry requirements, construction, fires, and closures. To keep you updated on the most current things going on, we have a Parks Updates page that we update every week with important information. We recommend you look at this as soon as you begin planning your trip, as well as a few days before you leave.
Guides are automatically updated to the latest version when you create an account.
In addition to that, we also send an email notification out when a guide is updated. Just make sure to stay subscribed to our email list so we can reach you.
Because the download is a PDF file, you can do it on any device: computer, iPhone, Android, tablet, etc.
Stuff like this happens. We get it.
If you created an account, just log in again and download your guides.
If you didn’t create an account or forgot your password, just email us, and we can resend your links.
For step-by-step instructions (including pictures), check out our Help With Downloads page.
If you still need help, reach out to us at mattandcheryl@wereintherockies.com. We’ll get back to you as soon as possible to help. We’re even happy to jump on a phone call with you if needed.
This guide is meant to be used late May through early September. The orchards will not be in bloom in the winter and some of the roads may be impassible.
Yes!! We update our guides as needed, but write the concepts to intentionally be as timeless as possible. We encourage you to purchase the guide as soon as you know you will be traveling. It will help you determine which areas to stay and how many days to obtain lodging. Upon purchase, you’ll be guided to create an account on our website. If we update the guide, it will automatically show in your account. Your purchase includes free updates for life.
It is not required but is HIGHLY recommended. We encourage you to create an account when purchasing the guides because you’ll have access to the links at any time.
You will have access to the updated guide through your account (another reason to create an account) for life. We generally send an email announcement when we do an update as well.
We believe that once you buy a guide from us, you should be able to use it to visit a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th time.
If you created an account, just log in and download your guide again.
If you didn’t create an account, just email mattandcheryl@wereintherockies.com and let us know you want us to resend your guide links.
We put approximate price ranges on all our activities so you know what to expect.
If you are looking to save money, enjoy the waterfalls, drives, and viewpoints.
Although we do suggest some hikes, we offer plenty of alternatives if hiking is not desirable, including viewpoints and drives.
Yes. It would be very easy to download this itinerary and head out the door. Multnomah Falls does require reservations, but we recommend visiting before or after the reservation windows.
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I haven’t used any of the guides before, I watched a lot of their YouTube videos tho. Those were already super helpful but the guide goes into even more detail, which is awesome. I love that i have everything i need to know all in one place already written down for me. Even little details like how much certain stuff costs is included, which is super helpful for planning. Excited to use it next year !
We have travelled to Oregon regularly for many years to visit my husband’s family – and yet I have never seen Multomah Falls! I have lately been bugging my husband to take me there, which he has promised to do. But I had no idea how many other things there are to see and do in the area. Even our family did not know that parking reservations are (mostly) required at Multnomah Falls – and that’s critical information! I appreciated the information provided about the best places to view waterfalls (which are not always the most crowded spots), the entire Fruit Loop area (an uncommon experience) and the self-guided tour of Timberline Lodge (which sounds really interesting and cool). We are hoping to visit Mount Rainier and Olympic National Park soon, and now I know we MUST spend a couple of days along the Columbia River Gorge as well.
This is another well written and informative guide by Matt & We’re in the Rockies. We have purchased their Yellowstone & Grand Teton guides that are filled with invaluable resources for our upcoming trips. Before reading this guide I was confused as to where to start, what there is to do when you get there, where to eat and days needed to visit. His outline for one or two days were very helpful in choosing where to spend our time. The in length descriptions and clearly marked maps of the gorge, Hood River and Mount Hood with the stops and hiking will make our visit much easier. We can’t wait to visit the “dungeonous” entry floor of the Timberline Lodge! The description of the walk to the chair lift and pricing and other activities have made us very informed travelers when we visit Colombia River George in 2025.
I just got back from a trip to the Black Hills with my husband and adult son and would like to give you some feedback as this was the first guide of yours that I used. In a nutshell, the guide was fantastic!
I love to research my trips, but have found that most of the published guidebooks on national park areas don’t provide enough of the right kind of details to have a clear itinerary. AI resources such as Chat GPT don’t offer the level of reliable details that I need. Using your guide, here are some of the details that made the trip go so smoothly: 1. Based on your itinerary, we had a good idea of the proximity of the attractions, which helped us rearrange things to accommodate two unexpected events – free Custer Park entry for 3 days, and SNOW! (the snow was light so didn’t deter us too much – actually a delight for us southern Californians)
2. We knew when and where to pull off on the scenic Needles Hwy and Iron Mountain roads.
3. We knew about where the wildlife would be on Custer wildlife loop and knew to bring carrots and apples for the burros!
4. We knew to get the Thomas Jefferson ice cream at Mt. Rushmore 🙂
5. We knew to take the optional bus tour at Crazy Horse.
6. We knew to get to Devil’s Tower early. Even on an off season Tuesday morning, there was a line when we were on our way out.
7. We knew to stop at Minute Man NHS visitor center and silo. This was a great stop and not mentioned in any resource I had previously consulted.
8. We knew where and how to find the Spearfish Canyon waterfalls.
9. Even though Deadwood was not our favorite, we knew how to find the highlights of what to see.
10. We knew to eat at the Alpine Inn! (we ate there both for a lunch and a dinner)
11. We knew to stop at Wall Drug and what to see there (we all liked the doughnuts)
12. We knew to visit Dahl’s Chainsaw Art – we saw all except the one in Rapids City. I know this was a long message, but I want you to know how much I appreciate your guide. We pretty much did everything, including both caves in one week and had a great time. I have full confidence in using your guides for other places we will visit.
PS – Although my husband and son aren’t big into listening to information, I listened to all the audio guides before I left. I found them both interesting and entertaining, and was able to mention little tidbits I learned to my family at the sites. Well done!
We love the We’re in the Rockies travel guides! We recently completed a Pacific Northwest two-week trip to Columbia River Gorge, Mt Hood, Williamette Valley Vineyards, Oregon Coast, Mt Rainier NP, Seattle, Olympic NP, Victoria, BC and Vancouver BC. The guides provide excellent suggestions on what to see with starred (*) items and very practical tips on navigation, options for itinerary timeframes (1-2-3 days etc…), easy to follow maps, places to eat and stay!
We use them to simplify pre trip planning and during the trip – “game day” – trip execution. Two specific examples we loved from this guide: 1) Parking at Wakeena Falls and hiking over to Multnomah Falls – we read this tip in the guide, we did this on our trip, and it worked out perfectly! 2) We read about the Timberline Lodge in the guide, we did a chilly morning hike at Mount Hood on the Timberline Trail followed by an awesome lunch of hot seafood chowder at the 2nd floor restaurant of the beautiful / historic Timberline Lodge. These are couple of examples – the guides are loaded with useful tips like this.
The travel guides allow us to start “Anticipating our Trip” during a streamlined planning stage and then relax with confidence as we navigate during our trip ! The travel guides allow us to maximize enjoyment / value / lifetime memories with our trips to different National Parks or regions of the USA/ Canada.
You won’t need another guide for Columbia River Gorge if you purchase We’re in the Rockies Columbia River Gorge Itinerary. This is We’re in the Rockies travel guide number six for me, and each one has been as good, if not better, than the last! Before I discovered wereintherockies.com, I was overwhelmed as to where to start when planning a vacation. Not anymore! The Columbia River Gorge Itinerary contains flexible itineraries that can easily be modified to fit our time schedule and our abilities; it recommends must-see places and provides wonderfully detailed maps; it suggests budget friendly, well-reviewed places to dine and to stay; as well as much needed general information, such as cell service availability and parking tips for Multnomah Falls. Matt and Cheryl of We’re in the Rockies have done the hard work by being to Columbia River Gorge in person so that they could put a viable, budget-friendly itinerary together for travelers like me. In the past I have invested a lot of time and money in guide books that didn’t come close to the contents of wereintherockies.com itineraries. We’re in the Rockies Columbia River Gorge Itinerary is the only one you will need!
I love this guide. We went to the Columbia River Gorge a few months ago before this guide was available. I wish I had it with us with all of the detailed hikes. I now have more information for the places we didn’t visit like the Hood River and Fruit Loop and look forward to using it when we go back again next year. Like all of Matt and Cheryl’s guides, it is very detailed, organized and helpful.
I have used 9 travel guides from We’re in the Rockies. This one has the same quality and attention to detail as every other one that I used. We are traveling out of North Carolina. When we travel, we have a big destination in mind with several days to multiple weeks on the road. While this guide is not a destination, it is a pleasant detour on our road trip between big National Park sites. Without this map, we would have used this area as a pass through between the Oregon coast and Mount Rainier. I would imagine, if you lived in Portland, this could be used as a weekend getaway guide. Another fine product produced by We’re in the Rockies.