Starting in Brookings; Oregon coast’s southernmost city I worked my way up most of the coast in two days. August is a perfect time to explore the coast. Compared to the inland areas, the coast has mild, beautiful weather.
Secret beach is a few miles north of Brookings. There are no signs, just a pull out with, hopefully, only a few cars. Head down a steep dirt path towards the water and you’ll arrive on a hill overlooking some of the clearest water you’ll ever see. If you can navigate your way down the rocky slope you can put your feet into the dark sand and wander around the sea stacks for a while. Look around, there’s even a waterfall at the beach. Once you’ve gotten your full, head back up the rocks and follow a trail into the woods for as long as you’d like to go. You can hear the ocean lapping the shores while being surrounded by trees. It’s peaceful out here.
Heading north, Gold Beach is a very small town. It’s best known for fishing or Rogue river jet tours. The Cannery houses Fisherman’s Direct Seafood if you’d like to bring home fresh, frozen or canned local seafood. From spending a day combing the beach for agates to taking a fishing charter out, there are a couple of great choices to spend a half day out here.
A little bit further north you’ll come to Sister rock. This is a quiet hike that, at low tide you can explore sea caves or just enjoy walking through blackberry and flower ensconced trails. The views from the top are spectacular and the tide pools are fun to explore.
Oregon has nature’s bounty wrapped up tight. If you can manage; bring a cooler packed with ice. You’ll want to bring some treat home for later- or for a snack. Just after Sisters rock is the prehistoric gardens. A dinosaur themed walking tour that’s great for kids, or for stretching your legs.
Now back to food. In the town of Langois I found Jensen’s blueberry farm. An honor system farm that takes cash, a 2 pound bucket of u-pick blueberries was $5.
Not too much of a drive later I found myself in the Old Town of Bandon. What a neat place, from the tourist shopping stores full of fudge to the artsy shops to the neat murals this town is a great long stop to stretch your legs and take your time.
If you’re craving chowder, stop into any of the fish and chips places along the pier. I chose the blue fish & chips chowder house and their cup of chowder was creamy goodness served piping hot.
I stopped into the Stillwagon Distillery to samples some rums and walked out with a nice, mildly peaty whisky for my husband. They are produced in Charleston, Oregon just up the road. I also stopped into Coastal Mist Chocolatier for dessert. Let me tell you now, if you go nowhere else along the Oregon coast for food; make this a priority. Bring friends, order multiple items. I ordered a pain de chocolate to go, affogato with their house made creme brulee gelato and a dark chocolate ganache bombe to sample in store. Everything was mind blowing. The worst part was having to limit my choices to 3 things.
There is an art museum that uses trash found from the ocean. It’s a neat place that also teaches responsibility for our refuse.
Before heading out of town be sure to plan a nice pit stop at Rock face creamery. They offer Umqua brand ice cream, three different kinds of cheese including curds. You can watch these being made on site. They also have very nice restrooms.
The best part is that in a nice day you can sit outside and run next door for a locally brewed cider beverage from Bandon Rain and basks in the sunshine enjoying your cider and fresh cheese snacks.
Hours later, I continued north to meet a friend for dinner in Coos Bay. We stopped into Shark Bites for fish and chips and I was pleasantly surprised at the quality. Hand cut fries have never been a favorite but, here they were perfectly done. The fish was cooked to perfection as well. While I didn’t enjoy the coleslaw or tarter sauce, the main meal was delicious.
We walked off our large portions of food by strolling the numerous antique shops.
As well as looking around at the Prefontain loving art around town. He was a phenomenal runner who once called Coos Bay home.
With more time left in the day, we opted to drive further north to catch Thor’s well. This short, paved hike ends in an ocean sprayed bed of volcanic rocks that beg exploration. Make sure to pack decent hiking shoes because sandals won’t cut it once you leave the trail.
Aside from the tide pools, there’s also a soft sand beach that’s ripe for a stroll if you go during low tide.
Just up the road from here in Florence are sea lion caves, but they were closed by the time we made it this far. There are also dunes with a few places to rent ATVs or take tours. Maybe next time.
The most had settled in Yachats when I drove through so I took in the cute shops by car. Then I topped for the night in Newport. This is a cute town with a historic bay front, the Oregon aquarium and village and is full of dining choices.
After enough seafood, I was craving pizza and I’d passed by a few Abby’s to make an easy, but late night dinner choice. They close at 9pm and I just snuck in, in time. I was able to order a small half & half specialty pizza. I like Hawaiian but also wanted something pretty traditional and landed on the Abby’s special.
Another early morning on the road crossed the massive bridge and drove into the Yaquina Head lighthouse national monument area. Your America the beautiful pass is accepted here. While tours of the lighthouse don’t happen until 10am, you can still enjoy the surrounding area including a huge tide pool area and rocky pebble beach.
Going early means easy parking. My stop stopover was devils punchbowl state park. There’s a great viewpoint of the punchbowl from the top and a huge staircase leading to the beach below.
In low tide you can explore both. The beach is massive and a must see.
Wishing I had more time to explore this serene beach, I just had to keep moving on.
Still early in the morning I arrived to Depoe Bay; whale watching capital of Oregon before stores opened up. This gave me the opportunity to stroll the Main Street without too many people around.
I’ll have to come back during the fall migration. For now, heading north I drove past the vast Lincoln City beaches with skies full of colorful kites and shops starting to fill with people. There seems to be quite a bit to spend a solid day here enjoying.
I kept driving to my final destination. The Tillamook creamery. The scenery changes from the coastline views to farmlands filled with cattle and rolling hills. It’s beautiful in a different way. The temps also tend to sneak up as you no longer have the coastline cooking things down. It was still a pleasant 80 degrees and sunny.
The Creamery is a very popular destination. Luckily the tours are free and self guided meaning no lines. An in depth tour is offered only on Thursday’s for $20 and it was a Wednesday. The shop is fun to find souvenirs or bring home cheesy delights. I picked up an 11 year aged cheddar, some curds and a few other things.
The line outside for ice cream was intense. I waited for about 15 min with the smells of cattle wafting over the area and decided I didn’t feel like waiting another 30 min for a cone. Wednesday afternoon, I wasn’t expecting this level of crowds. So I drove south a few minutes to the much less busy, but still cool Blue Heron French cheese factory. If you have children they may prefer this place. They offer a petting zoo, ice cream (yes, Tillamook), a deli and both indoor and outdoor tables. As it was lunchtime I skipped the ice cream and took advantage of the days special.
The $8.50 bacon beer Mac n cheese was fantastic! Very filling, very tasty. If you go and it’s offered; it’s a no brainer. I had a brochure from my hotel that gave me either a free wine or 21oz soda. With a 6 hour drive ahead of me, I chose the fountain soda. I sat inside and enjoyed my meal. Then I grabbed an adorable farm themed truffle to take home.
I took my time getting home. It’s only 245 miles to this point but with average road speeds being posted at 55mph and most times real traffic meaning less speed, especially through so many towns, it’s a long winding drive back home. I’ll save the last few northern coast cities for another trip. There are so many things to do along the way, I had to make the decision to cut out some things. For instance, the dunes, the sea lion caves and a few state parks. Thank goodness I have more time to explore this amazing state.
Eating Around 