As
Highway 101 leads south from Coos Bay, the Cape Arago
Highway (State Route 240) provides a loop drive to
the coast and several natural attractions. The route
passes the Charleston Boat Basin and the historic
downtown area, before the junction with Seven Devil's
Road, which leads south to the South Slough Estuarine
Reserve. The reserve is probably the Oregon Coast's
best point to observe waterfowl in great numbers. Ten
miles from Highway 101, Bastendorff County Park
has a large campground plus day-use facilities, including
picnic areas perched overlooking the ocean. Sunset Bay
State Park also features camping and picnicking. The
large campground is one of the facilities using the state
parks reservations during the summer months: 800-452-5687
(in-state and out of Portland), or (503) 731-3411 (in
Portland and out of state).
Shore
Acres Botanical Gardens State Park is a memorial and
tribute to Louis Simpson, a real-life timber baron who
built an estate on the property. The mansions are gone
(one burned, the other was torn down), but the extensive
gardens remain and are open to the public, ablaze during
evening hours with a multitide of more than 150,000
lights twinkling during the winter holidays. The park has
a storm shelter on a scenic ocean viewpoint, and you can
pick up a portion of the Oregon Coast Trail in the
park.
Cape
Arago State Park -- on the same loop road -- has a
trail which leads north along a ridge where sea lions and
seals are seen on the rocks that comprise the Oregon
Island National Wildlife Refuge. This portion of the
shoreline is noted for its fierce winter winds and
ranging surf, and this park is probably the best place to
see winter storms. Storm-watching has become an important
annual event for many visitors, who come to experience
the brutal effects of the wildest of Pacific seasons. The
park has picnic areas.
The
Cape Arago Highway returns to join Highway 101.
Bullard's Beach State Park has a large campground
with full and electrical hookups for RVs and trailers,
plus tenting sites, and a few yurts in which to stay. The
park also has hiker-biker and horse campsites, and
includes four miles of beach with dunes and forest, with
access to the Coquille River north jetty and lighthouse.
The campground is open year-round and reservations are
not required.
The
town of Bandon is another cheese-lovers' haven,
with a factory producing distinctive cheddars. There is a
retail store on Highway 101. South of town is the Beach
Loop Drive, passing Bandon Rocks, a small wayside
picnic park, and Bandon State Park. There is no
camping along this road but the beaches are fine and
generally uncrowded, with an impressive display of
offshore rocks.
Other,
smaller, parks lie to the south along Highway 101. The
road to Cape Blanco is found 26.5 miles south of Bandon.
Located five miles west of Highway 101, Cape Blanco
State Park has a campground, and a lighthouse located
at the westernmost point in Oregon. The campground has
electrical hookups, hiker-biker areas, and a horse camp.
Inside the park is the historic Hughes House,
built for a pioneer family in 1898. Tours of the home are
available from May to September: Thursday to Monday from
10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and on Sundays from noon to 4
p.m.
South
of the small town of Port Orford, Humbug Mountain
State Park offers a three-mile hiking trail to the
summit of the mountain, at an elevation of 1,750 feet.
Another trail links the park campground (no reservations
necessary) and picnic areas.
Rogue
River Country
The
southern end of the Oregon Coast is a combination of
Oregon and California landscape. The Siskiyou Mountains
touch the sea for much of the last 40 miles, with the
Klamath Range slightly inland. In the center of this
forest area is the small town of Gold River. This
is where the Rogue River reaches the sea, after tumbling
down the mountain slopes from its source, a series of
springs near Crater Lake. Brookings and Harbor, two towns
on either side of the mouth of the Chetco River, are
close to the California border.
There's
a unique mix of vegetation found in southwestern Oregon,
including redwoods which have sneaked into the state from
nearby California, myrtle, and huge Douglas-firs. You can
experience this ecosystem by visiting Loeb State
Park, located inland from the town of Brookings. The
park was created to preserve a grove of virgin myrtle
trees. A short trail follows the Chetco River
through the extremely dense grove, and leads to a Forest
Service trail that climbs through a grove of tall
Douglas-firs and then into a coast redwood forest. These
trees are at the north end of their range. It's easy to
see why early explorers of this region dreamed of the
legendary Sasquatch, or Bigfoot, living in these
incredibly dense and moist forests.
The
town of Gold Beach is named for the gold
discovered here in the mid-1800s. The town offers
camping, ocean and river fishing, and the famous jet
boats which take visitors up the Rogue for an
unforgettable trip. They are successors to the early mail
boats which ran mail and supplies to mining and lumber
camps along the river. Today, the Wild and Scenic Rogue
is protected, from Lobster Creek, about ten miles
upriver, to Grants Pass. The Illinois River, which
flows into the Rogue just downstream from the wilderness
reserve, is also part of the Wild and Scenic River
system. It is classified as wild for 30 miles, and
another 18 miles is classed as scenic. Both rivers are
descended by rafters and kayakers.
Rogue
River Trail
The
Rogue is a prime rafting river, and the Siskiyou National
Forest's Rogue River Trail is one of the best ways to
experience the Oregon wilderness, while catching the
historical flavor of the area, as it parallels the river
from near Grants Pass to a point about 31 miles from Gold
Beach. The trail is 40 miles long.
To
get there, drive along U.S. Highway 101 to the town of
Gold Beach. Take Jerry's Flat Road (also known as Forest
Road 33), along the south side of the Rogue River for 31
miles, past the little river resort community of Agness,
and onward past a river crossing. After crossing the
bridge, turn right and continue upriver for another four
miles. The trailhead is located at Illahe, near Illahe
Lodge.
