Oregon Coast
- Kaitlin
- Sep 29, 2023
- 6 min read
Updated: Oct 20, 2024
Sept 29 - Oct 3, 2023
I did a solo 5-day road trip down the Oregon Coast. The aim was to camp the whole time which I did except for the first night in Portland. It was a super fun experience!
Day 1: Vancouver to Portland
This day was mostly spent driving. As I was crossing the border, I got pulled into border security and had some food confiscated. I hadn't crossed the border for years and had entirely forgot that you couldn't bring some perishable items across. Thankfully, it was only a few things and not my entire 5 days worth of food.
I drove 7.5 hours mostly without stopping to my hostel in Portland. I couldn't use GPS directions as my phone only worked in Canada (and I hadn't thought this through beforehand) so I figured out how to get there myself. Although it wasn't hard (you stay on the I-5 for essentially the whole drive south), I was pretty proud of myself for figuring it out, especially as I got into Portland.
I stayed at The Society Hotel Portland, a decent hostel located right in the heart of Chinatown. This meant the location was quite sketchy. There were people shooting up drugs right outside the doors of the hostel. It was late afternoon by the time I arrived and so I decided to drive to nearby Forest Park for a walk. This is a massive park with endless intersecting trails. I didn't want to be caught out after nightfall so I came back just as it was getting dark. There was a paid parking garage a few blocks away where I parked my SUV. I got given a middle bunk in a huge room with bed bunks so tall that you had to climb a massive ladder to reach the middle and top bunks.
Day 2: Portland to Brighton
After my long day of driving yesterday, I was itching to get out on the trails and beaches today. From Portland, I drove over to the coast, with my first stop being Ecola State Park. Notable viewpoints include Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, Cresent Beach, and Indian Beach. At one point, I climbed down a muddy cliff to reach a beautiful private little beach. It was a neat experience to have it all to myself.
From Ecola State Park, I went to the famed Cannon Beach. I didn't actually stop in the town - I only drove through it - but it was cute and quaint. My next destination was the trailhead for Neahkahnie Mountain. This is a short, 3.2km hike up to a rock bluff that overlooks the coast. I had great views on this warm sunny day.
At the trailhead is another short trail heading towards the water that takes you to Elk Flats viewpoint. This was one of my favourite experiences of the whole trip. The cliff views are absolutely stunning.
From this viewpoint, I could see a ridge to my right that looked climbable. I really wanted to climb it and as I was approaching it on my way back, I happened to see a faint billy goat trail that led through the trees. I decided to take this and as luck had it, it led me to the very top.
One of my great finds as I was climbing back down this ridge was a lobster mushroom! This was my first time finding one. It was unfortunately too old to be edible and so I left it where it was.
After the Elk Flats ridge and lookout, I drove to my campsite in Brighton for the night which was at Kelly's Brighton Marina and Campground. This was a bustling, interesting place where patrons could pay to fish for crabs and the staff would cook it for them to enjoy right then and there. It was loud and noisy but thankfully there were some hidden walk-in campsites behind the marina. I was the only one camping there and so I essentially had the entire area to myself. I made friends with a cat that wandered the area.
Day 3: Brighton to Lincoln City
After a glorious 12 hour sleep, I packed up and continued my way down the coast. This was a day of visiting capes. My first stop was Cape Meares.
After Cape Meares, I drove to Cape Lookout State Park. I did a short hike to Cape lookout and then another short hike to a beach below Cape lookout where I put my feet in the water.
After this, I went to Cape Kiwanda, where I climbed the big well-known sand dune and cliffs beside it. Climbing a sand dune is fun. And hard. It's not entirely unlike walking through snow. The best method is to take off your shoes. There were lots of paragliders gliding off the sand dune onto the beach. It looked like a lot of fun. The cliffs that I climbed were not, strictly speaking, supposed to be climbed. However, it was one of those things that people do anyways. I happen to be one of those people. I do not always follow rules, especially not ones I deem to be unnecessary or irrelevant to me. This was one of those rules.
From Cape Kiwanda, I drove to my next campsite in Lincoln City: Devil's Lake State Rec Area. This was a very nice campground. I have come to learn that state campgrounds are the way to go. They not only tend to be the cheapest options, but also the nicest.
Day 4: Lincoln City to Dunes City
This was a cloudy, rainy day. I started my day by going to Depoe Bay to have my luck at seeing some whales. Unfortunately, I did not see any. I then went to Cape Perpetua scenic area. There were several interesting points of interest in this area. One was Devil's Churn, a narrow chute of rock with huge waves that can soak you entirely if you don't stand back far enough.
Another point of interest was Sprouting Horn. This was an area where there was a hole in the rock and water spouts through it, sounding like a whale.
I then made a brief stop at Hobbit Beach, which was the same as all other beaches, before going to Heceta Head lighthouse. There, I parked beside a family who had BC license plates. I saw them at the lighthouse (they were wearing Canada-themed clothing) and chatted with them. They happened to be from Maple Ridge, not too far from me. Funny how things like that happen.
After the lighthouse, I drove into the town of Florence and had lunch at a local pub. I had a very good grass-fed burger. This was the only meal of the whole trip that I bought, as my intention was to bring my own food to cut down on costs. However, it was nice to have at least one meal that wasn't my own food.
My next stop was the Dunes City sand dune. This natural sand dune is huge. There is no official access point to reach the dune so I walked into a campground on its eastern side and bushwhacked through the forest until I came to the sand. I walked all the way from its eastern end to Hornibrook shore on the western end. Nobody else was walking on the dune. I'm not even sure I was supposed to be there. I saw a couple of tour bus-esque ATVs full of people ripping around at one point. I also saw cougar tracks everywhere. It was such a cool experience. It started pouring rain before I reached the western end. Needless to say, I got soaked. But it was 2.5 hours of a very unique experience.
There were huge waves on Hornibrook shore at the very western tip of the sand dune. It felt quite isolated over there.
Exploring the sand dune took much longer than I expected. I arrived soaked and very sandy at my next campground - Lagoon Campground. This was not a very nice campground. The facilities were not well maintained and it was a bit of a ghost town in there. There was no gate house or person to talk to upon arrival. There was only an old man in the campsite across from mine who watched me wordlessly as I set up my camp in the pouring rain.
Day 5: Dunes City to Vancouver
This was another full-day travel day. My drive back to Vancouver took 9 hours. I drove it with barely any stops or breaks. I didn't eat anything that whole day so I wouldn't have to stop.
Overall, I really enjoyed this trip! I lucked out on nice weather with the exception of about half of one day. I would love to do a road trip down the entire western coast one day, from BC to California.
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