Down the Oregon Coast

Sept. 2021

Samuel Boardman Scenic Corridor, Oregon

I haven’t posted in awhile, so I have some catching up to do, first. Toward the end of August, before visiting family, we spent a few last days in Washington state. We stayed at a great campground in a site that overlooked the Columbia River. We watched a lot of ships sail by.

We went to Deception Pass State Park, WA by way of Astoria, OR. We ate lunch at Mo’s, overlooking the wide Columbia River, before crossing over the scary-looking bridge back into Washington.

View of Astoria through the window at Mo’s

At Cape Disappointment State Park, we walked along the very long North Jetty to Benson Beach, and then walked a little way up the practically deserted beach. We also stopped at Waikiki Beach (not THAT Waikiki beach!) to see the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse, which lights the way for ships passing through a dangerous passage through the shifting sands of the Columbia River Bar.

We also revisited Multnomah Falls. Then, after spending about 3 weeks in the Portland area having a fantastic visit with our daughter, son-in-law, our awesome grandson, and precious newborn granddaughter, we started on the road again, going down the Oregon coast.

Since we’ve been to Cannon Beach several times, we skipped it this trip, and headed to Tillamook. We stopped at Tillamook Creamery and had some ice cream. We stayed at Bar View Jetty Park, where it rained and rained. (Much needed this year, but it was pretty soggy!) The rain stopped long enough for us to visit Cape Meares lighthouse.

On the drive from Tillamook to Florence, we stopped at a viewpoint right off Hwy 101 called Boiler Bay, just north of the town of Depoe Bay. We enjoyed watching the surf crashing against the rocks.

We also stopped at Yaquina Head Lighthouse in Newport.

Craig got a new phone—a Samsung Galaxy S10+, which has a camera with a wide-angle option that really gives a different perspective, although distorted!

Then we continued our drive to stay at Jessie M. Honeyman Memorial State Park in Florence. The Oregon Dunes stretch about 40 miles along the coast in this area. We walked a trail in the park to get to a few dunes, but they weren’t easy to climb, so we didn’t get far! We spent the next morning at Cape Perpetua, to see Thor’s Well and Spouting Horn during high tide. There was a parking lot right on the side of the highway, and it was a short, easy walk down to a viewing platform. It was mesmerizing to watch the waves go down the hole in the rocks like a waterfall at Thor’s Well, and then watch the water come gushing back up and out again.

Heading back south, we stopped at Heceta Head Lighthouse and walked the trail to it, passing by the keeper’s house, which we were not allowed to go into. However, we were allowed to go inside the lowest level of the lighthouse. There was a beach next to the parking lot, as well.

Heceta Head Light, from a viewpoint along Hwy 101 S.

After Florence, we continued south to our next stop in Brookings. On the way, we stopped in Bandon for a long walk on the beach. We really liked this beach. There were a lot of interesting rock formations, including Face Rock, which looks like the profile of a face. The beach was uncrowded, too. The beaches we’ve visited in Oregon are just as beautiful as those we saw in Washington, but the Washington beaches were more difficult to walk on, because they were covered in rocks, whereas the Oregon beaches we’ve been on are sandy.

We were at this beach in the middle of the day when the sunlight was harsh, plus there was a lot of mist coming ashore, so photography conditions were not ideal.

The beach at Bandon, OR

While we stayed in Brookings, we visited several overlooks along the Samuel Boardman Scenic Corridor along Hwy 101. The northernmost point of this area is called Arch Rock.

There were great views at this spot, and it was an easy walk.

We also went to the Natural Bridges viewpoint, but not at the right time of day for good photos, as the spot was half in bright sun and half in shade.

We watched a beautiful sunset at Harris Beach State Park in Brookings.

Craig climbed over some rocks to stake out a slightly different spot, as seen in the pictures below.

The colors in the sky lasted quite a long time, while we walked back a distance up the beach to the parking lot.

It was quite a lovely, memorable end to our time along the coast. I hope we can come back.