Ready to hit the open road for an epic road trip in the United States? If you're looking for a fun family trip, check out this itinerary from Portand, Oregon to Boise, Idaho.
This article was originally published on July 21, 2015. It was updated and republished on July 22, 2023.
The Pacific Northwest is one of the best places for road trips. With the diverse landscape, interesting list of cities, and scenic nature at every turn, road trips in the Pacific Northwest always have the potential to be so much fun!
And one popular route is the one from Portland, Oregon to Boise, Idaho.
Living in Portland, we find that it's the perfect place to start many amazing road trip adventures. We've done the Portland to Boise drive a few times over the years. It's a scenic drive that is mostly a straight Oregon route into Idaho.
🚗 Before you hit the open road, be sure you are road trip-ready with these pre-travel articles:
Portland, Oregon to Boise, Idaho
The city of Portland is in northwestern Oregon, between the Willamette River and the Columbia River.
The drive from Portland, Oregon to Boise, Idaho is approximately 430 miles, depending on your exact starting and ending points. It's a nice, mostly straight shot across Highway 84. This makes it an excellent option if you're looking for a summer road trip.
It takes approximately 6 hours, depending on how fast you're driving and how many stops you take. So while it's not a day trip from Portland exactly, it is a road trip that you could do in one day each way.
With two kids and a dog, we stopped about three times during the drive to Boise, Oregon.
The best road trip route is to follow the Columbia River Gorge, which divides Oregon and Washington, until you pass Boardman, Oregon. At that point you will follow I-84 south through the Eastern, Oregon towns of Pendleton, LaGrande, Baker City, and Ontario as you enter Idaho. Boise is just about 60 miles from the Oregon-Idaho border.
The max speed limit on I-84 is 65 MPH in Oregon. But once you hit the Idaho border, the speed limit increases to 80 MPH in rural stretches of I-84 (raised in 2014 from 75 MPH). Definitely helps put a little extra pep in your step as you're driving into the home stretch of this leg of the road trip!
You'll be driving along rivers, through mountain passes, and some desert. So road conditions can change quickly along this route. Along the Columbia Gorge, wind speeds are typically 10 to 25 miles per hour. However, it can get very windy along 1-84 along the Gorge, up to 25 to 35 miles per hour. During winter months, it's a good idea to carry chains or traction devices if you plan to drive through the snow, especially in the mountain passes and along the Columbia River Gorge.
Portland, Oregon is in Pacific Daylight Time and Boise, Idaho is in Mountain Daylight Time.
Rest areas along this route
Between downtown Portland and Boise, there are many rest areas along the way.
Rest stops on Highway I-84, starting from Portland:
- Mile Marker 65 – Hood River
- Mile Marker 73 – Mosier
- Mile Marker 160 – Boardman
- Mile Marker 187 – Stanfield
- Exit 228 – Pendleton
- Exit 252 – La Grande
- Mile Marker 269 – La Grande
- Mile Marker 295 – Baker City
- Exit 335 – Huntington
- Exit 374 – Ontario
- Mile Marker 377 – Ontario
✈️ Visiting Portland, Oregon? Be sure to check out our 35+ Day Trips from Portland.
Great road trip stops
Between Portland and Boise, these are some good rest stops, restaurants, scenic view points, and small towns where you can stretch your legs.
- Hood River - cute town with lots of great restaurants with good food, breweries and wineries, shops, and farms. There is also a great waterfront park with outdoor activities that's perfect for families.
- The Dalles - A cute town with some good restaurants and the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center & Museum.
- Mt. Hood - A great place to stretch your legs about 45 minutes to an hour outside of Portland.
- Pendelton - Home of the world famous Pendelton Round Up, this rodeo town
- Baker City, OR - Check out the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center here.
- Walla Walla, WA - This charming wine country town will take you about 30 minutes north of your route, but it's a worth a stop for wine lovers (just be sure you are not drinking and driving!). There are some amazing restaurants here, too!
Road trip photo tour
The drive from Portland to Boise is as picturesque as it gets. It's pretty amazing to watch the landscape go from city to suburbs to river towns to desert towns to city again.
I-84 is flanked by impressive high ridges that go from forest to dry desert to rock throughout the drive.
The barren landscape of Central Oregon and Eastern Oregon is a stark canvas on which rows and rows of towering power lines rise from the earth.
I love the iconic symbols of Americana peppered along I-84 in Eastern Oregon. American flags waving proudly. Huge silos. Weathered barns and large farms. Massive production plants in the middle of nowhere.
Visiting Portland, Oregon? Be sure to check out our Portland, Oregon Restaurant Guide and our 35+ Day Trips from Portland!
If you visit, please be sure to let them know that you read about it on Urban Bliss Life! And if you snap some pics, tag us @UrbanBlissLife and #UrbanBlissLife on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook.
Lanq says
Thanks for this post. I love it and gave me much ideas about our coming trip. God bless you
Renée ♥ The Good Hearted Woman says
We have made the trip to Boise and points east more times than I'd like to admit, but we never stay at anything as fancy as the Riverside, but I will have to keep it in mind for the future. I totally agree with your kids about the pool being of paramount importance.
Marlynn Jayme Schotland says
I wouldn't put The Riverside in the fancy category for hotels -- definitely low key, casual, family-friendly. I walked around with wet hair and flip flops, so no fanciness is necessary here! ;)
Lindsay says
What a beautiful trip! I'd love to head to Eastern OR and to ID some day
Dijana says
I love those photos! Drive I took to Montana few years back had those views and it's stunning.
Thanks for sharing!
Dijana says
Those photos are beautiful! I've been to Montana (Great Falls) and I remember having the same views and scenery that just took my breath away. It's stunning.
kelsey says
gorgeous drive! love these shots!
Aubrie LeGault says
Awesome. I was happy to see you're going to do a post on Glacier. To this day that is our favorite trip and favorite National Park- I have so many photos from that trip. Loved it. Looking forward to your travel posts.
Jen says
Love Eastern Oregon! And those shrimp rolls are reason enough to visit Boise and stay at this hotel. :) Looking forward to the rest of your posts!
Erin says
This is so timely! We just decided to plan a trip to visit some friends in Boise at the end of September! Definitely bookmarking this!
Meredith {MarthaChartreuse} says
I've been so excited for this series! This hotel looks awesome!
Melinda says
This post brings back memories! Last year (almost exactly) we left on a road trip and this was pretty much our first day. We didn't make it quite to Boise--we stayed in a suburb on the west side of town--but we drove the same route!
Sabina says
I'll be driving to Boise in a few weeks as part of a MUCH longer road trip (to NY), but I'm hoping that your "where to eat & drink" will be helpful to us!!
Create/Enjoy says
Nice! I've done that drive before, but never spent much time in nice spots in Idaho. Great photos!
Jenni says
I honestly never thought to vacation in Idaho... but, that hotel makes me want to! We are always looking for good vacation spots that aren't too far away or too expensive. This is awesome. I can't wait to read all your upcoming posts! Holy cow you're on fire!
Jenifer says
I haven't spent much time in Boise, but your post definitely makes it an appealing vacation spot, worthy of a stop! Thank you for the info and the beautiful pictures!