The Ultimate Oregon Coast Road Trip, Part Three: The Southern Oregon Coast.

By now, we’ve made it all the way down the coast, and are now reaching my personal favorite, the Southern Region! While this area is quite a distance from Southern Washington and Portland, many would argue that it is hands down the most beautiful place in the entire state.

Known for its exquisite beaches and dramatic coastline, the Southern Oregon Coast at times feels like you are on a different planet. While the Northern region is notably famous for the well-known Haystack Rock, you will find other unique rock formations here such as the “Wizards Hat” and a natural bridge. There is even a rock thought to resemble a human face, hauntingly rising out of the ocean. If you’ve come this far, please check out Part One and Part Two of this blog to see other areas of interest along Highway 101. Here are a few of my favorite places to visit on the Southern Coast.

Coos Bay

Coos Bay is a cute coastal town near North Bend, on the way to the main attraction of the Southern Coast, being Bandon Oregon. Forty-nine miles south of Florence, and about twenty-seven miles from Reedsport, Coos Bay is the home of a spectacular park called Golden and Silver Falls State Natural Area. Along this 1.2 mile round trip hiking trail you will encounter, not one, but two gigantic waterfalls that you can hike right up to. Silver Falls towers at 259 feet, while Golden Falls stands at 254 feet. If you had to choose just one, Silver Falls (pictured below) is more impressive and has a more clear view of the whole waterfall. Golden Falls is slightly harder to access if you want to get up close, and requires some climbing uphill over boulders to get an unobstructed view.

Golden and Silver Falls is somewhat of a detour off the main coastal highway, so is often overlooked by people traveling down the coast. The diversion will take you about 47 minutes away from Highway 101, so if you don’t have the time, or don’t want to travel off-course, it is easy to skip this spot. However, if you are a waterfall lover like me, the trip is definitely worth the extra mileage. These waterfalls are best viewed during the wetter months of winter and spring, as they can be very low flow in the hot summer heat, and down to a trickle during those months.

Other Things to Do:

• Shore Acres State Park.
• Three River’s Casino.
• Oregon Coast Historical Railway.

Bandon

Bandon is the next stop along our road trip, and there are plenty of things to do and see in this small coastal city. About an hour after passing by the Oregon Dunes, you will reach Bullard’s Beach, a recreational area along the mouth of the Coquille River. Constructed in 1895, this lighthouse stands at the end of Bullard’s Beach Road. While the lighthouse is not open to the public to go inside, you can explore the rocky shore and tall grassy beaches nearby. The walk to the lighthouse is a mere 0.3 miles roundtrip on a paved trail from the parking lot.

The next stop, is Bandon Beach, otherwise known as Face Rock Scenic Viewpoint. You can view the unique rock formations from an observation deck above, or head down the stairs to the beach to walk amongst the staggered sea stacks. As you can see from the photo below, the standout feature of this beach is the “face shaped” rock rising from the waves. In my opinion, this beach is one of my favorite places I have ever traveled to, because it really is that stunning!

Along this beach there are several sea caves that are accessible at low tide, and a number of other famous rock formations such as the “Wizards Hat”. This beach has a unique history full of legends, that you can read about here. During the spring and summer months artists will create “labyrinth” designs on the beach made up of mesmerizing patterns and circles drawn in the sand. It really is a cool thing to witness, if you are visiting at that time. You can find the schedule for this here.

Where to Stay and Eat:

• My all time favorite stay in Bandon is the Lighthouse Cove Inn. This cute little inn is just a few minutes drive from the shore and has a cozy beach decor with attention to little special details, such as hand-painted murals on the walls, chocolates on the bedside table and a faux fireplace. If you are planning to drive south to Brookings for just a day trip, it is only about an hour and a half drive away and a perfect middle ground to both areas.
• If you are looking for a fancy dinner and are a seafood lover, I really enjoyed my meals at Lord Bennett’s Restaurant and Edgewaters Restaurant.
• For casual eats stop by the Face Rock creamery for an ice cream cone, or the Bandon Fish Market for fresh chowder.

Brookings

If you haven’t tired of the unique geological formations down the beaches of the southern coastline yet, our next location is going to blow your mind! Located about 83 miles south of Bandon, Brookings is home to some of the most awe-inspiring landscapes in the Pacific Northwest. As you drive down the Oregon coast highway, you almost won’t be able to help yourself but to pull over and explore the beaches and sea stacks down below. This is a perfect area for photography and watching the sunset. If you are lucky, sometimes you can catch a cloud inversion around sunrise time, as certain parts of the highway go up above the clouds.

Gold’s Beach is most well known for being the location where the Rogue River runs into the Pacific Ocean. There are plenty of sea stacks to view here, including the one above, which is shaped like a shark’s fin. This unique monolith is famously titled “The Kissing Rock”, with a reputation for being a spot where teens gathered for a romantic stroll with their sweethearts. One can beachcomb for hours, walking along the shoreline at Pistol River State Scenic Viewpoint, where there is a number of large dunes and rock formations to explore. There is also an abundance of beautiful trails to hike around in the Cape Sebastian State Scenic Corridor. One of these is the trail leading to the next photo spot, aptly called Secret Beach. The Cape Sebastian Trail is 3.3 miles through lush forest down to this idyllic beach, with 797 feet of elevation gain.

Secret Beach, shown above, is technically a part of the Samuel H Boardman Scenic Corridor, and there are several ways to access it, if you don’t want to do a long and moderately strenuous hike. The easiest way is to park in the small parking lot directly off the side of Highway 101. This is not a marked area or trailhead, and there is probably only room for about 5 cars there. The parking lot can be found approximately 0.5 miles north of the Natural Bridges viewing area, and you will see the small lot goes down and behind the guardrail. Please note, that access to this parking area does require a higher clearance vehicle, due to a large uneven drop off the asphalt road. You could probably do it in a lower clearance vehicle, but you may scrape the bottom of your car when going off the side, or not be able to get back up. This parking area can be filled with water that has gathered in potholes during the rainy months, due to the drop off the main road.

The trail here is called the Secret Beach Trail and is about 0.5 miles roundtrip if you go directly to the beach and forgo the other two trail spurs. The descent downhill is quite steep and slippery, but as you can see, the views here are other-worldly. At certain times, there is also a waterfall that runs down to the beach, making it even more impressive!

The Natural Bridges Viewpoint is the next stop along the way, and easily one of the most magnificent scenes in all of Oregon. In fact, people have traveled hundreds of miles from afar specifically for this view! You have likely seen photographs of this spot, as it has become very popular on social media as of late. While the area is very beautiful, it also comes with many dangers.

The Natural Bridges Viewpoint trail is the easiest (and safest) way to view the natural arches. It is mostly flat, with only 59 feet of elevation gain, and 0.6 out and back. There are a multitude of social trails leading to alternative views of the bridges, however they can be extremely dangerous, and people have died falling off the cliffs here. If you do decide to follow one of these social trails, take extreme caution. The terrain is slick with loose sand and tree roots, and there are thousand-foot drops off the sides.

Other Fun Stops Along the Way

• Arch Rock Viewpoint.
• Whaleshead Viewpoint.
• Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.

If you’ve come as far as Brookings, and you haven’t had your fill of adventure yet, then you can head further down the coast into Northern California to see the majestic Redwoods. The Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park is only 40 mins south of Samuel H Boardman Scenic Corridor and hosts an abundance of trails that allow you to walk amongst these ancient trees. On a foggy morning, you might get a chance to see the famous light beams peeking through the canopy above. The Grove of Titans trail and Stout Memorial Grove trail are two short and easy walks through this magical forest.

Happy Wandering!