Oregon Coast Recommendations

[mtnras]

Any recommendations on places to camp, spots not to miss, etc on the Oregon Coast? Will be driving across from Idaho in early August.

Ideally, we'd love to find somewhere we could camp... on the sand/beach!

m

 

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

M,the Oregon Dunes NRA south of Florence might be a spot to check out.That area has a lot of camping near the beach.If you wanted to travel down into Ca. to the Redwood NP there is a great beach campground there,but that might be farther than you might want to go.You head south on the way home than cut over 199 east from Crescent City.
That northern part of Ca. is nice.
Have fun planing the trip.
Frank

 

[Gormley Green]

We have stayed at the Cape Lookout State Park cg a couple of times now. The campground itself is pretty standard, though you have good privacy in the sites, but the beach it is on is unreal! Classic Oregon coast, and though you are separated by dunes at your campsite you'll hear the ocean all night. Its a really nice walk in evening or morning for as long as you want. Route 20 esp Corvallis to Newport is a very scenic drive. You can grab some fresh seafood in Newport to cook up at your campsite. Newport is also the home of Rogue Brewing...

Sea Lion Caves - touristy and annoying. But very cool! Just ignore the other people and enjoy the caves and the animals, the views from the cliffs there are awesome. Good photo ops abound.

Tillamook cheese, obviously!

Pelican Pub in Pacific City, good food, beer, and a crazy good view. Watch the surfers, or go surfing.

These are in no geographical order, just as they pop in my head. I'm sure there's a lot more knowledge on here than mine!

 

[Riverrunner]

What part of the coast are you headed too or do you have a preference? I don't recall anyplace that you can actually camp on the beach.

North of Seaside there are areas that are accessible to vehicles but watch the tides. The beach is pretty flat so the water can and will come up a long ways.

Pacific City is one of my favorite places to hang out. It's not like most of the touristy places along the coast. Just to the North there is beach access just before Terra Del Mar. The Pelican Brewery has great food and beer. If you're into hiking at all, Hiking out to the end of Cape lookout is a must do. It's 2.5 miles out to the end and the view is worth it. I make an annual hike out there early in the morning before everyone shows up then head to the Pelican for lunch.

Between Lincoln City and Newport is what I'd call "Touristy" since that is where a bulk of the people from the valley go. South of Newport it lightens up a bit. The section bewteen Waldport and Florance is nice and has good views.

Oregon is blessed with an abundance of state parks. The weekends you'll need reservations but you should find some empty spots in the middle of the week. They don't have a lot of privacy however. Some parks you're packed in like cord wood. You can check out the state parks online to get an idea. http://www.oregonstateparks.org/index.cfm?do=visit.dsp_find

One more thing... If it's hot in the valley, it's usually cool and foggy on the coast. I spend a lot of time on the coast but I'm there in the off season.

 

[ntsqd]

The blimp hangars at Tillamook airport house an aviation museum not to be missed.
The cheese factory tour is a touristy thing to do, but is worth the time. Be sure to sample some of their Marionberry Ice Cream!
The 'D' River in Lincoln City is billed as the shortest river to dump into the Pacific.
Some of the State Parks have yurts, book one for a night. They're pretty cool.
The OHV areas allowing camping on the sand (or used to), but absolutely no camp fires. They've also enacted other rules, so check into that first.

 

[DirtyDog]

You'll never get a yurt reservation now. They are booked out about a million years in advance.

 

[MarkBC]

We have stayed at the Cape Lookout State Park cg a couple of times now. The campground itself is pretty standard, though you have good privacy in the sites, but the beach it is on is unreal! Classic Oregon coast, and though you are separated by dunes at your campsite you'll hear the ocean all night. Its a really nice walk in evening or morning for as long as you want....

........Hiking out to the end of Cape lookout is a must do. It's 2.5 miles out to the end and the view is worth it. I make an annual hike out there early in the morning before everyone shows up then head to the Pelican for lunch.

Between Lincoln City and Newport is what I'd call "Touristy" since that is where a bulk of the people from the valley go. South of Newport it lightens up a bit. The section bewteen Waldport and Florance is nice and has good views.

Oregon is blessed with an abundance of state parks. The weekends you'll need reservations but you should find some empty spots in the middle of the week. They don't have a lot of privacy however. Some parks you're packed in like cord wood. You can check out the state parks online to get an idea. http://www.oregonstateparks.org/index.cfm?do=visit.dsp_find

One more thing... If it's hot in the valley, it's usually cool and foggy on the coast. I spend a lot of time on the coast but I'm there in the off season.

I spent a night at Cape Lookout S.P. just 2 days ago. It's fine...though kinda busy, of course.
We did the hike out to Cape Lookout, too -- very cool. Huge cliffs down to the sea far below.

Beverly Beach S.P., just north of Newport is VERY nice -- like camping in deep old growth (on the east side of the highway, but there's a tunnel under the highway for beach access). And mid-week in the no-hook-ups loops, not full and pretty quiet. See my trip report from last summer. Here are links to a couple of 360° panoramas I shot there: Beverly Beach Site D31 Beverly Beach Site E25 You can pan up to look up into the trees. (you need QuickTime player).

On the southern coast, north of Port Orford, Cape Blanco S.P. is really great. It's a few miles west of the highway (101) so gets fewer day-trippers, I think. It's the furthest-west point in Oregon, a little further than any place in California.

 

[ntsqd]

Absolutely can not go wrong with any of the Light Houses. Some are neater/nicer than others, but they're all interesting. I *think* it's the Cape Blanco house that allows you to go up in the tower to the lens. Very cool, just stay out of the light beam!

 

[MarkBC]

...On the southern coast, north of Port Orford, Cape Blanco S.P. is really great. It's a few miles west of the highway (101) so gets fewer day-trippers, I think. It's the furthest-west point in Oregon, a little further than any place in California.

Absolutely can not go wrong with any of the Light Houses. Some are neater/nicer than others, but they're all interesting. I *think* it's the Cape Blanco house that allows you to go up in the tower to the lens. Very cool, just stay out of the light beam!

Speaking of Cape Blanco S.P., here's a link to my trip report from 2 years ago: Cape Blanco -- southern Oregon Coast
It's a very nice area, IMHO...and unlike most Oregon S.P. campgrounds, it's first come first served (except for cabins/yurts) I gotta get down there again this summer -- or winter.

 

[mitebewildered]

Any recommendations on places to camp, spots not to miss, etc on the Oregon Coast? Will be driving across from Idaho in early August.

Ideally, we'd love to find somewhere we could camp... on the sand/beach!

m

This campground in Coos Bay is perfect. Great sites, their own beach, and they will lend you free crab traps.
http://www.oceansidervpark.net/

 

[Gormley Green]

Beverly Beach S.P., just north of Newport is VERY nice -- like camping in deep old growth (on the east side of the highway, but there's a tunnel under the highway for beach access). And mid-week in the no-hook-ups loops, not full and pretty quiet.

Good recommendation, we spent a night here a few years back and enjoyed it a lot. Great beach and the trees were very cool! Showers too.

 

[mtnras]

so we took the trip... great time. hit three campgrounds... Cape Lookout, Beverly Beach and Nehalem Bay State Park. Far and away the best was Cape Lookout. The other two had very small campspots... surrounded by big RV's. The tent camping spots at Cape Lookout are outstanding.

Thank you all for such helpful tips. Don't miss the Rogue Brewery tour in Newport. The town of Manzanita was super cool as well.

 

[Simpleman (shanz3n5)]

Good Evening my friends...
i hope this is the place for this if not...advise and ill move it....

I could use some assitance.... ive been reading about oregon coastal trips on here and still have areas of interst i'm looking for.....

im planning a trip this summer to the oregon coast from corona ca. i will be traveling with my 12yr old daughter. last kiddo at home. she is just now starting not to like the drives...but loves the destinations, haha.

this trip is tri-fold:
1. father daughter time before i become TOTALY the last person she wants to hang with, haha. but seriously wanting that growth time with her. its just the two of us and we need fun relaxing growth.

2. to have fun and explore and wonder the beauty of the oregon public coast.

3. scope out retirement place. i am a so cal firefighter and need to retire out of state to survive and have a nice quality of life. 8 years to go, seems long but it will be gone in a blink of an eye.
we r renting a home here. i was hoping to buy a home in a coastal / fishing / small town village, now. one that i could rent out in a nice vacation destination, until i retire.
any world or west coast travelers with insight?

I would love to hear from some older salty people, those wiser then me of coarse. should nt be hard to find. haha.. As well as anyone that has good solid info on areas to check out. i was thinking southern oregon, from newport south to brookings. but all reviews are welcomed.

though i didnt wanna watch this family flick, i enjoyed it because me little girl did.... and she kept saying "come on popa just watch it with me, youll like the town and wanna move there"....well she was right. i loved the small fishing village town. now that image is stuck in my head. the movie was "safe haven", set in a coastal community in north carolina. but i would like that setting on the west coast.

wish me luck on putting together a journey.

 

[Riverrunner]

Gold Beach is my favorite place on the southern coast. The Rogue is right there for great fishing, jetboating, and hunting. Brookings is nice as well and has a better ocean access out of Chetco. Florence is a bit bigger but the has a nice bay as does Bandon. I usually spend some time on the south coast a few times a year doing various things. I have family in Brookings who is from Cali and settled there for the same reasons. He's got a nice boat in the harbor and from what I hear, it's a pretty decent little community down there.

Good luck.

 

[Simpleman (shanz3n5)]

Gold Beach is my favorite place on the southern coast. The Rogue is right there for great fishing, jetboating, and hunting. Brookings is nice as well and has a better ocean access out of Chetco. Florence is a bit bigger but the has a nice bay as does Bandon. I usually spend some time on the south coast a few times a year doing various things. I have family in Brookings who is from Cali and settled there for the same reasons. He's got a nice boat in the harbor and from what I hear, it's a pretty decent little community down there.

Good luck.

perfect...thanx for the info. im going to look them up and plan a route. ill PM you as well.

 

[robbie]

W just did 10 days on the California coasy north to oregin coast, then Washington to Vancouver then Whistler.

The drive took us a lot longer than anticipated as so many places to stop. 250 miles took us 8/9 hours a day.. Stop where you want at the end of a day. We found doing a stop by stop planning did not work becuse of all the in betweenstops//

We were gone almost a month..

Robbie

 

[craig333]

Nice. Can't wait for the pics.