Oregon Coast Camping

Last winter we were planning our camping adventures for the year; you need to plan in advance because the reservations fill up for many state park campgrounds quickly. We like to camp in Southern Utah, but it is too hot there in the summer. So I asked Susan where would you like to camp this summer? I was suggesting Montana and Glacier National Park (cool in the summer!), and Susan said she wanted to go the Oregon Coast (also cool in the summer!).

We first camped on the Oregon Coast on our honeymoon trip in 1973, and we really liked the area. Yes, we have been married 45 years; does that make us old? Some time in the late 1980s Susan’s father retired and moved to Florence, OR, on the coast, and so we have visited the area many times. Susan’s father left Oregon in 2004, so it has been a while for the two of us.

I was last in Oregon in 2006 when I bicycled the length of the Oregon Coast; you go from north to south, both for the favorable tail winds and the ocean views from the right side of the road. Every summer from 2004 to 2012 I went on week long supported bike tours with friends from graduate school. Right now I can’t believe I was able to ride 70 miles a day with 3-4000 feet in daily elevation gains. Currently Susan and I bring bikes when we go camping, but we go on shorter rides!

So last January I set up a spreadsheet and planned our trip, researching parks with good campgrounds, and making reservations. Unfortunately, I was a little slow off the mark. Whereas most parks have a 4 or 6 month reservation window, Oregon State Parks have a 9 month reservation window. The park I wanted to stay in most, Beverly Beach State Park near Newport, was completely booked up, as was the nearby South Beach State Park. We were able to get campsites reservations at two of the parks I wanted, Fort Stevens State Park, near Astoria, and Jessie Honeyman State Park, near Florence. We were able to reserve a site at a commercial campground near Beverly Beach; the place had good reviews and was right on the beach.

In July 2017 we went on a two week camping trip to Olympic National Park in Washington, and we went with my sister Margie and her husband George. This trip took place before I started this blog… Margie and George live in Redmond, OR, and they have a Casita trailer. It was their Casita that turned us on to fiberglass travel trailers, and eventually led us to our Oliver fiberglass trailer. We had a lot of fun on that trip, so we asked if they were interested in camping on the Oregon Coast. They said yes, but only for part of the trip.

When our kids were still living at home (i.e. a while ago), we went camping with my sister’s families on multiple occasions. My other sister Michele and her husband Michael live in Boulder Creek, CA. Multiple summers we met at Donner State Park near Lake Tahoe, as roughly equidistant for CA, OR, and UT, and reserved three adjacent campsites. We had a great time, and our kids all developed important relationships with their cousins. Great memories.

This was before any of us had trailers, when we all had tents and we slept on the ground. I think I can speak for all of us that we are done sleeping on the ground. I turn 66 in October, and I will only say that I am the youngest among the adult group. We asked Michele and Michael if they wanted to join us in Oregon. They don’t have an RV, and I think they gave away their camping equipment. They said yes, they would join us in Florence, and would get a motel and come join us at the campground. A plan!

Our first destination on the coast was Fort Stevens State Park, at the northwest most tip of Oregon. That is a 13.5 hour drive from Salt Lake City, and that travel estimate is without pulling a trailer. So we broke that drive in half, stopping for a night at a commercial RV. That is two full days of driving, but we had a really good audio book to pass the time.

Our first night was in Mountain View RV Park in Baker City, OR. The place had good reviews, and it was fine for a one night stand. The place had a western theme, but what we appreciated most was the quick dip in the swimming pool!

An unusual Stop sign upon departing the campground.

The next day we stopped for gas in Boardman, OR, and saw another Oliver trailer getting gas! That was surprising because they have made less than 300 of these trailers. We met Mary and David from Walla Walla, WA, who were on their way to the Willamette Valley for some kayaking.

Our next stop was Fort Stevens State Park, which is an old military base. The campground was delightful, and we had a really nice campsite. When we checked in they told us that, due to the fire danger, open fires were prohibited, but propane fires were okay. Not a problem for us, since we had a propane fire pit. It is very slick, hooking up to the trailer’s propane line. On our first night we were sitting next to our fire, and then the camp host came by and chastised us for an open fire. “But it is a propane fire – I thought they are legal.” She said it looked like a real fire. We spent an hour talking to her. Learned that they live in Idaho but come to Fort Stevens SP every summer to work as a camp host, and how lots of people come to this same park every summer. When we walked through the campground the next day we saw dozens of campsites occupied by people from the same church group; we could tell because they add signs with their names. Sounds like a fun thing to do.

The best thing about Fort Stevens State Park was the bike trails. We went all over the park, including to lakes and the beach.

Sandcastle on the beach.

There is an old shipwreck from 1906, still on the beach.

The park is an old army base designed to guard the mouth of the Columbia River, and there were gun batteries and a military history museum. I learned that in 1942 a Japanese submarine surfaced and fired on Fort Stevens. An Army Air Corps bomber flew in and dropped bombs, but the submarine submerged and escaped. The Fort Stevens shelling was the only time that a continental United States military installation was attacked during World War II. Learn new stuff every day.

The Army Corps of Engineers maintains the jetty at the mouth of the Columbia River, and they built this nice platform overlooking the ocean and the jetty.

One day we drove into Hammond, OR, and got wonderful ling cod at the boat docks. Really good fresh fish.

In this era of parks suffering from budget cuts, it was good to see that this park still had park rangers leading hikes and putting on campfire shows. On our last morning we joined a ranger-led bird watching walk in a wetlands area. It was fun, we met interesting people, and we learned a lot. We probably learned a lot because we know so little!

We started the trip with two long driving days, but then for the next ten days we have either no drive or only short drives with the trailer. Our drive from Fort Stevens SP to the Sand and Sea RV Park was only a hundred miles, allowing for a leisurely pace and stops at viewpoints over the ocean.

*The overlook at Oswald West State Park*

Sand and Sea RV Park was right on the ocean. We enjoyed walking on the beach, and enjoying the cool weather. I don’t think it every got above 70°F during our time on the coast – very different from summer weather in Utah.

And we ate well!

Our next campground was at Jessie M. Honeyman Memorial State Park, near Florence. We had first camped at Honeyman on our Honeymoon. (Honeyman – Honeymoon – get it?) In addition to lakes and forest, the park is known for its sand dunes. On previous trips I had climbed up the dunes and slid down; now I am either too old or too smart for such activities. Margie and George and their Casita were in the adjacent campsite, and Michele and Michael drove in from their motel in Florence for meals at the campsite. When my family gets together we always eat well and drink good wine. Earlier in the day Michele and Michael stopped in Coos Bay and caught crabs which we cooked.

Susan cooked paella on our outdoor stove, and it was wonderful.

We eat well when we go camping!

One day we did a day trip along the coast. We stopped at Yachats for their farmers market / crafts fair, and left with our wallets a little lighter.

We found a park nearby where we had a picnic lunch, and visited the tide pools.

Is Margie taking a picture of me?

We stopped at the Darlingtonia Wayside , where carnivorous plants grow. These plants, known as Cobra Lilies or Pitcher Plants, lure insects with sweet scents, but then the insects get trapped and eaten. They are simply gorgeous.

We remembered this place from the first time we brought our toddler children to visit Susan’s father in Florence, and he delighted in taking them to see “The plants that eat bugs.”

We also stopped at the Heceta Head Lighthouse.

Michele and Susan at the lighthouse.

Wildlife foraging for local foods.

The bridges along the Oregon coast are fantastic. They are treasures, aesthetically, architecturally, and from an engineering standpoint. Most were built in the 1930s, and include Art-Deco features. We visited a nice free museum called the Historic Alsea Bay Bridge Interpretive Center, in Waldport, OR. We really enjoyed the museum and learned a lot about the bridges.

Yaquina Bay Bridge at Newport.

Suislaw River Bridge at Florence

Suislaw River Bridge, different light.

Cape Creek Bridge, from the Haceta Head Lighthouse

We went out to dinner on our last night in Florence. Our TripAdvisor guru Susan picked a great restaurant and we had a great time.

Michael, Michele, and Susan

Margie and George

Susan and David

After three nights in Florence, Michele and Michael started back to California, and Margie, George, Susan and I headed east into the Cascade mountains in a caravan of our two trailers. We camped in the Paradise Campground, run by the National Forest Service. The campground name is apt; it is on the McKenzie River and was really lovely.