Family Road Trip: South Oregon Coast
I learned a few things on our first trip to the coast— like that Oregon might be the most beautiful state I’ve seen
1) Samuel Boardman – I googled some pictures of “Oregon coast,” spent about 5 minutes looking, and decided that Samuel Boardman looked like the best part. Kelcie put in a little more effort and found the best of the best for me to shoot. This was our first trip and we only spent a few days exploring the coast (so far) but as of now I still believe this to be the best part. Make a point to hike all the way down to a few of the beaches (some are farther and steeper than others—not hard to find one that suits you). Foamy green-blue waters, black sands, & beach caves await. Parts of Natural Bridges, Arch Rock, Secret Beach, and more are pictured here.
2) Airbnb and VRBO both have a lot of options. We booked super last minute on VRBO because Airbnb has really increased their fees lately it seems. My recommendation would be to pay close attention to the weather in the off season (not summer) and book something late to try to get a deal, and hope for some good light for all the photo ops. We may have just got really lucky, but we had a bright sunny day and nobody around.
3) Highway 101 itself deserves a bullet point. The drive from Portland is pretty enjoyable, winding through forests, beaches, and cliff-sides. There are plenty of places to stop, all deserving of their own moment. It’d be impossible to scout them all in any reasonable amount of time. You could make plans by saving some stops on Google Maps (and downloading them offline because reception is spotty), or you could just drive down the 101 and wing it--- because there’s that many great options. We got so excited we ended up in Northern California.
4) Yeah, it’s probably worth it to just drive a little bit longer into the redwoods of NorCal. We stopped in Jedediah State Park and a helpful ranger gave us some directions to a short walking loop. I have never seen trees that big in my life. They may not be the biggest in California technically speaking, but it was more than enough to wow us for sure. How neat is that?
5) Sand Dunes— Like I mentioned, all of our stops felt well-deserved and unique in their own way. But stopping by the dunes was an especially good switch up to the otherwise black and rocky coastline. We spent a little bit hiking around Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area specifically.
6) Thor’s Well— Worth a stop, doesn’t take much time to walk on down to the coast and watch the waves crash into the black rocks. The well itself was a cool touch (its down a slick rocky path out towards the edge of “beach”) and presents a fun photography challenge. It also was my first time shooting big waves in general and that alone was fun.
7) You’ll probably need a car-day pass or camping pass to park in the Oregon State Parks along the coast. If you’re going for a few days or even just to a bunch of different car parks it probably makes sense to just get the $30 yearly pass—the money goes to a good cause (Parks) and then you are set for a while.
Anywhere that’s as easy to access as most of the South Oregon Coast means a lot of people not familiar with leave-no-trace principals will also be there (evident by trash and waste). There are plenty of bathroom options, so find one, or know what to do. Pack out your trash. It all seems pretty obvious to me but in case this is new information:
The Leave No Trace Seven Principles
Plan ahead and prepare. Travel and camp on durable surfaces. Dispose of waste properly. Leave what you find. Minimize campfire impacts (be careful with fire). Respect wildlife. Be considerate of other visitors.