Road Trip! Cool places to visit on Oregon's coast?

[Gold Metal Flake]

I'm planning an epic road trip up the coast all the way into Canada. I plan to stay as close to the coast as possible. Small windey roads? Perfect! Which ones? I love driving the canyons and twisties. The 1 and the 101 will be used but again I want to stay as close to the coast as possible and am looking for ways to make my way north coast rods when the 1 and 101 move inland. Natural beauty? Gimme! I want to be stunned. What antique shops are cool? What small towns are cool? What road is epic? Swap meets? Cool junk yards? (I need some parts) I am looking for the unusual, the unique, the inspiring, the joyful. Historic buildings? I want to see them!

I'll be traveling alone so I don't have to keep anyone else amused. I, however, am easily amused, easily enthralled so if you think a thing is cool but not sure if someone else might, don't hold back. Post about it. One of my best memories about Morro Bay was a lunch at a local-owned restaurant on the bay. There was a light rain. As I ate an otter was outside just below me having a meal of clams. It was magic.

I will stay in motels and maybe campgrounds like KOA or similar (I'll bring a tent). Suggestions?

So show me the magic. Let this thread be helpful to all who may make a similar trek. I should have done this years ago but now it's finally gonna happen!

[Bluenorthwest]

1. Oh you are going to be in senic bliss

The Pacific Coast from Mendocino County northward is just amazing. The Oregon Coast is worth taking slow. The Oregon Dunes, not to be missed.
You really should check out the Oregon State Parks which take up much of the coast and have great camping and in some places well priced cabins, some rustic, some with full bathroom and all. But what you really want to grab is a Yurt.
My favorite place to go for a day or two is Umpqua Lighthouse State Park, just South of Winchester Bay Oregon, which is itself worth a visit, very sweet, some good food. The camping and the Yurts at the park are on the shores of a small lake, yet just over the hill is the dunes and the sea. The Lighthouse itself has a two colored beam, red and white, and the light plays in the trees of the campground. The camping is very nice, the yurts even nicer, although they can be hard to book. I am nuts about the whole area. Great camping all over the coast, much great access, tide pools, views, seafood, which is not my fav, but others rave...
www.oregonstateparks.org/park_121.php

[jotsy]

2. That's a tall order, there's lots to see.

Don't know how long you've got, but I'll take this from the southern end and go north.

Brookings is a great little harbor town, good for a low key lay over. About an hour north is the Gold Beach area, which is also referred to as the 'Emerald Coast' cuz it's a gem. Between the two you can take a jet boat tour ride on the Rogue. Pretty quiet from there until Bandon, where there's a snazzy new golf course. This begins dunes country which becomes the focal point of the entertainment options. Dune buggies, ATV's, and sand rails will be available to rent just about everywhere you look.

The lake at the Umpqua Lighthouse campground is indeed splendid! The picnic tables surrounding the lake aren't what you might imagine, they're carved out rock and stone, designed to look like it just kind of happened that way. Landed there by accident one summer, and it was one of the neatest places we've ever been.

Reedsport and Winchester Bay are quaint little old fashioned kinds of places, but a new sardine sized site RV campground has it a little more crowded than the off beat path it used to be. If you can meet up with an RVer in this area, there is a wood barrel sauna at the park at the north end of town, they used to let us tenters in, we were distraught to learn of the change in policy and have missed the amenities.

Florence and Yachats are interesting, quiet, cultural and artistic. Waldport and its Tillicum Beach have to be my personal favorite, whenever we get a chance to get away, if the beach is what we're about, that's our first choice of where to be. Be warned, there are no showers.

There's an aquarium at Newport, and just north of that is Depoe Bay, which has a nostalgic character all its very own, including bottle playing patrons you might hear while strolling its short front street blocks.

Then there's Lincoln City's south end, Taft, a Best Western with a sauna, pool and free breakfast, and another little eatery down on the water across from Mo's, (famous for clam chowder) Elanor's Undertow, Hot Rod Lincoln is on the juke box. There's a casino at the north end of town, and a factory outlet mall as well.

After that Seaside is likely the biggest bunch of things to catch, but along the way, Garibaldi and Rockaway Beach are home to a couple of gaming table taverns and an interesting pair of boulders called Twin Rocks. One of the two has a big arch open in it which you can shoot the sunset through if that's the time of day you can get yourself there. Seaside has a big boardwalk, complete with pedal rompers to rent, an amusement arcade, with rides and games that take up a few blocks. There's a Lewis and Clark exhibition near Astoria, and the old skeletal remains of a shipwreck, also good for a sunset shot. Seaside has something of a smaller scale mirror in Long Beach Washington, near a tiny spit of land called Ocean Shores, A whopping two miles across at its thinnest point.

Don't know what you can expect to find from there, Forks is where the Twilight series is set, but I'm more familiar with the inner lining of the Olympic peninsula where you can find yourself surrounded by peaks if you can find your way to the Lake Cushman area and get a chance to check out a place called Staircase 16? Do NOT swim in heavy clothes, the water is cold and gets deep fast!

A few remaining things to note; folks love their kites here, have camera handy at all times, there's just too much to shoot. Always ask the locals about cool stuff to check out, every area has its secrets. The ice cream is pretty awesome, everywhere. If August is when you're here, that sweet smell in the air is likely black berries which grow on their own and in abundance so pickins' is plentiful, treat yourself to some!

Enjoy.

On Edit. A great guide called Pacific Northwest Camping has been handy over the years, you might see if you can find a copy of one of its many editions resale. The reservations center will not tell you that they are only allowed to book 85% of a campground as they inform you that a particular location is 'booked.

[here_is_to_hope]

5. Slow down there...

You kind of skipped over a bit of the best...us locals know that the Coast gets crowded after Newport...
Between Brookings and Gold Beach are some rather majestic headlands and day hikes, myself, I stay out of Gold Beach as it's kind of an old folks town but it does have a great bookstore.
North of Gold Beach is Port Orford, a small town with more than a few hippies transplanted from Norcal in the late 1960's. It's usually warmer in PO than anywhere else on the Coast because the beach itself faces south-out of our perpetual North wind summers. Battle Rock is there on the beach side as you come down the hill into town, worth a stop for the Indian Wars history. We also surf there a bit in the summer. Just south of Port Orford too is Humbug Mountain SP, its a great hike with a 360 degree view at the top that can't be beat. A bit north of PO is Cape Blanco, the western most point in the Continental US, 400 miles west of LA!
Next up is Bandon-see Gold Beach note.
Next you will trip through some woods and come up on Coos Bay, Charleston and North Bend.
Shore Acres State Park should not be missed if you are a fan of rare plants and flowers.
Charleston is the quintessential fishing town, a hard working harbor and enough characters to fill out a Steinbeck novel.
Sunset Bay is a great beach to stroll and there are paths from there to Cape Arago, where Drake took shelter in the 1500's. Last summer, we had three gray whale momma's and babies hanging out there.
Coos Bay itself...well, the glory days are long gone but I call it home.
I have a couch if you need one (check couchsurfing.com).
But we are the southern gateway to the Dunes (which can be a bit over run with the atv/4x4/dunebuggy crowd, you know, "tread violently"...)

Reedsport boasts the best skatepark on the Coast.

Florence? Thats 'sandnsea' country!


http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_97.php

Oh, and remember, you cannot pump your own gas up here, there is no sales tax and stay away from any place called Moes.

[jotsy]

7. I'm glad someone had info on spots I'm not as familiar with!

I don't do Mo's either, I referenced it as a landmark for the spot across the way, I think it's full of historical ambiance.

[grasswire]

11. Taft and Nelscott are small beach towns absorbed into LC

I'm sorry that Taft was "developed" because it used to be emblematic of the Oregon coast, with its cottages and odd little motels and dives. Right next to Mo's is where the town dock has stood for many decades, and where people used to go crabbing late in the day and stand 'round with a glass of wine and chit chat. My mother lived in Lincoln City, worked in the original Mo's when the chowder and pie were still considered the best around. We loved Taft -- the Taft that is now "developed" and ruined.

[sandnsea]

3. Here you go

http://www.pacific101.com

Oregon state campgrounds are fantastic. Almost all the small towns are cool and have antique shops. Lincoln City, OR is known for them. How much time are you going to take? Be sure and check out the blimp hangar in Tillamook, and go to poor little Blue Heron Cheese that doesn't get as much attention as Tillamook. Lots of places to grab oysters, grill them, butter and tiger sauce, oh yum. I'll have to think on the cool junk yard part.

[Still Blue in PDX]

4. If magic is what you are looking for . . .

check out The Crystal Wizard at Gleneden Beach. It's worth stopping in just because of the beautiful location, not to mention all the really cool things inside.

http://local.yahoo.com/info-22012066-crystal-wizard-gleneden-beach?tab=reviews#reviews

[Reader Rabbit]

6. Breweries

Rogue in Newport

The Pelican in Pacific City

And stop for cheese in Tillamook.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

8. South to North.

Oregon Dunes. About ten miles south of Florence is a scenic overlook just off the highway. This also happens to be the best hiking on the coast. Leave your care. Follow the trail south through the dunes. They trail then cuts west to the beach. Follow the beach north, and then head back east to the parking lot.

Just north of Florence is the Darlingtonia Wayside. It's just a little parking lot with a nature trail cutting through a small swamp. But it's loaded with carnivorous pitcher plants. It's worth the stop.

North of Florence is the Hobbit Trail. A particularly interesting trail that takes you down to a nice beach.

Just north of that should be the Sea Lion Caves. I may have gotten the order of these two mixed up.

On the north side of Newport, take a left at the Walmart, head down a hill, and then take a right for a unique little beach.

Devil's Punchbowl, just north of Newport.

Just past that is Cape Foulweather. Great views for many miles. Given time of year, you've a good chance of spotting whales from here.

Stop in at Depoe Bay for lunch of souveniers.

Boiler Bay and Fogerty Creek are both nice.

Just south of Tillamook is Munson Falls. Worth a very short hike.

In Tillamook tour the cheese factory.

Go on the Three Capes Scenic Drive west of Tillamook. I think a lot of people miss that one. Prettiest spots on the coast. Cape Meares. Cape Lookout. Sand Lake. Good stuff.

Cannon Beach is problematic because it's overrun with tourists from Portland. But Haystack Rock is worth it. Very impressive.

[sea_dream]

9. Oregon Coast

There may not be a more beautiful view in the world than the one from the top of Cape Perpetua. It's between Florence and Newport, just south of the charming village of Yachats.

[Arugula Latte]

10. Ecola State Park, just north of Cannon Beach (which you should also go to)

Ecola:


Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach