Oregon Coast Camping

Whatup dudes,

I am trying to plan a weekend trip to the Oregon coast. I think I would like to stay between Newport and Florence. Basically, I am looking for some good beach camping spots and maybe a few good hikes, either on the coast or a bit inland. Anyone have any suggestions? It'll just be me, the dog, and the gal in the RTT.

My Fiance has spent quite a bit of time at cannon beach/manzanita but neither of us have spent any time on the southern/central coast. suggestions on where to camp, some good day hikes, and maybe some good local food dives would be much appreciated.

 

One place to check out is KGW’s Grant’s Getaways…he always seems to have great locations.

Nothing comes to my mind, and I’d love to hear from some others as well.

A friend of mine took a trip with a group to Hug Point but that’s probably a place you are already aware of if Cannon Beach is familiar to you.

https://stateparks.oregon.gov/index.cfm?do=park.profile&parkId=137

 

If you’re further south towards Florence then sand camping at the dunes is an option. It’s pretty cool out there in the middle of the dunes.

 

thats something we were highly considering. pretty weather dependent. i think there are places you can camp right on the ocean in the dunes just south of florence?

 

the sand camping spots aren’t ON the ocean but only a few hundred yards inland.

 

good to know. are there beaches that are better than others? what about closer to newport? are there beaches you can drive on up there?

 

I guess if you were gonna do a beach camping weekend with a good hike or two what you do? where would you go? any advice?

 

I’m pretty sure the only sections of the Oregon Coast that you’re allowed to drive on the beach are Gearheart to Warrenton, Pacific City, and certain spots at the dunes.

I don’t think there is any legal camping anywhere ON the beach. The closest you can get is sand camping at the dunes. Next would be some of the state park campgrounds that are walking distance to the beach.

 

The Saint Perpetua Trail is a good hike. Leads up to a smaller trail loop with a nice lookout of the ocean. There is a $5 fee to use it though.

Also recommend just getting the AllTrails app. Its great for finding hikes wherever you are.

 

I’ve got all trails. Thanks for the rec

 

i've been doing research off an on for a few months to plan out a couple weeks in oregon from colorado. sounds like we would be in similar setups, tacoma, dog, girl, rtt.

the only place on my map near the areas you mentioned is jessie m honeyman park. https://stateparks.oregon.gov/index.cfm?do=park.profile&parkId=95
its not on the beach, but close

i dont think there is anywhere you can actually camp on the beach, at least not from what i've found

maybe one of these? just zoomed in on google maps and scrolling around

 

Slitcoos sand camping is the closest you're gonna get to camping on the beach (but it's still not ON the beach).

https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/siuslaw/recarea/?recid=42547

 

I booked a spot at Tillicum campground last night for my september trip. very close to the beach, but not camping on sand. there are a handful of videos touring the campground on youtube, lol. i could probably throw a rock from the edge of the campground to the water. well... im not that good at throwing. a frisbee for sure though

 

Been a couple months, wonder if he found a spot?

 

Good on you... trying to land something there end of September and it's slammed. Wondering if the First Come/First Serve sites will be worth chancing~!

 

Yea not a lot of availability. I have a spot booked but if I can get a first come site for 2 nights I'm gonna do that. There's also cape pertetua campground a few miles south. Not right on the beach but looks like it's walking distance.

 

I guess I better beat you there! Lol

 

Update on coast camping after getting back home over the weekend.

I ended up staying 2 nights at Tillicum Beach Campground. The first night we had a reservation. The next morning, the spot across from us was first come first serve. The people that stayed there that night left around 9am. Immediately moved our stuff to that spot and paid for it. There was someone else walking around the campground looking for a spot that morning too. They may have been in the same situation I was in. Left for the day to hike around, got back to the campground at 2ish and campground was full. This was a Saturday, so it must have filled up pretty fast. Highly recommend this area for sure. Being that close to the beach was incredible. 2 nights of sunsets was great. Such a long beach too, we walked away from the stairs and let our dog run around off leash. It was great.

Stayed at Fort Stevens near the Washington border the night before. This campground wasn't terrible, just very packed and crowded. The spots weren't too close to each other, just a lot of spots and people. Great big trees, felt very rain foresty. The campground wasn't terribly close to the coast. We tried walking there but took a wrong turn and ended up at some battlement thing and couldn't see the ocean. Oh well. Drove down to it the next morning. I didn't know you could drive on the beach there too. Thats pretty cool, but I didn't do it.

After Tillicum, I headed south and got an AirBnB in Coos bay. Time to take a shower and do laundry.

Next was Harris Beach state park campground near Brookings. Not super close to the beach, but closer than Fort Stevens. This was a pretty cool area. Some of the spots looked nice. We booked one of the 3 available the day before and the other 2 were taken when we got there. Campground itself wasn't amazing, but the park rangers said we could have a fire on the beach. That was super cool. Ended up on the beach until like 930 pm (didnt realize it got so late). Had to setup camp in the dark and just before quiet hours. A note on this campground, theres a walking trail to the city thats maybe a mile long. Could be fun to stay there, walk into town for food and drinks, then be able to walk back to camp.

One note on all the Oregon state campgrounds I stayed at during this trip (2 others than the ones mentioned above), they are all pretty nice. They all had running water in the bathrooms and electricity. The water spigot things at some of the camp spots was real cool too. I could fill my waterport from these or use the hose right on the thing. I'm sure this is a normal thing at most developed campgrounds, but not something I'm used to in Colorado. Colorado is like all vault toilets with not a lot of hook up areas.

They were all very quiet too. I'm not sure if the trees just dampen the sound, or if everyone just goes to sleep as soon as the sun goes down. Tillicum was a little more party oriented, but again, quiet later into the night.

 

Dynamite layout... thanks for this man! I'm heading down tomorrow night... checking out a few spots and have something booked in CannonBeach in case I can't find a dispersed spot.

Fort Stevens is pretty dope if you wanna access the beach all day. We have stayed in that area, then wake-up fold down the RTT, drive onto Del Rey and open the RTT and basically make a nice spot for the day!

Glad you enjoyed your time; looking forward to it... aside from the forecast. eek

 

Well. We made it. Camped a night in Cannon Beach… drove down yesterday and snagged a decent spot at Tilicum. In the trees with a view of the water and power and water included (which is just nice not to have to think about).

Rain forecast for Sunday. So might head north again and VRBO something with a shower and laundry.

no photos as the cell signal is crap right here.