Need help planning a trip to south and central coast of Oregon.
 

Hello everyone,
My wife are going to travel to the coast of Oregon for the first time the first week in July. Need help on some nice coastal towns to visit. We live near Sacramento,California and have traveled the north coast of Calif. as far as Trinadad, CA. We will drive to Ferndale, CA and stay for two days. Then we will drive to the Oregon coast. Looking for travel suggestions for 3-4 day trip along the coast. We like to hike, ride bikes, and take lots of pictures. Our plans are very flexable. Any Info on nice towns, hiking trails along the coast, and restaurants would be greatly appreciated.
Louie and Vera

About 4 hours from Eureka is our favorite town--Bandon. We have stayed at the Sunset motel for years-not fancy but comfortable
(there are some stairs down to the beach.)
Good place to eat is place out by where river empties into ocean Can't remember the name but noted for its steaks..
Few miles up the road is Coos Bay...formerly great lumber town..The mill is now an Indian Casino.
On main street, center of town is the Blue Heron--quite a menu and good food.
Further up the road are some sand dunes-hiking across some of them is fun but tiring..
Florence is next--have refurbished the "old town" area -touristy but nice..
Yachats few miles above Florence is really small but has great place to stay (if you can get reservations) Shamrock Cabins
You can get web sites for Sunset motel and Shamrock by doing a search On Google or maybe Fodors ???
Remember July on Oregon coast is VERY cool and windy..
PS do you live in Rescue???
I grew up in Oroville and Quincy
Also you will get lots of info if you do a search on this site "Oregon Coast"

Thanks Traveler24 for the great info. We really appreciate it. Yes we do live in Rescue, CA., and I'm a Firefighter in Sacramento, so the Screen name kind of fits well...
Ciao, Louie and Vera.

Brookings or Gold Beach has more to do than Bandon, in My opinion.
http://www.goldbeach.org/
http://www.southernoregon.org/
Yachats is a magical place.
Tiny, set into the side of the Mountain. Wonderful.
Cheap to extravagant.
http://www.yachats.org
http://www.trillian.com/rockpark/rock.htm
Astoria is the Real working Town near the mouth of the Columbia.
http://www.astoriaoregon.org/

Those are our favorite towns.
The further North you go, the more People and
"tourist towns" you'll find.
Most on here prefer Cannon Beach and Seaside, but I'm more fond of the lower 2/3 of the Coast. (Disclaimer-I live in Southern Oregon)
Add: The 3 Capes Loop and Netarts Bay are also
Quite fun.

There are some nice hikes on the Oregon Coast
around Florence close to the town of Mapelton is the Sweet Creek Falls trail- its really more of a walk than a hike- a couple of miles but well worth it.
Very beautiful!

Just past Florence you can park at Devils Elbow State park and hike up to the lighthouse - from there a trail will take you to the "Hobbit Trail" and to a beach only accessible by walking in. One of my favorites.

Farther north around Cape Perpetua there are a lot of trails - there is a visitors center and you can get maps there. My favorite is to walk down to Devils Churn and then along the coast -

If you can find a Bill Sullivan hiking book he lists the best hikes in the area- he is a local hiking guru.

I love to stay in the Yachats area - I like the Adobe or the Overleaf ( both in the same area)

Outside of Florence you might enjoy a dune buggy ride - it is VERY fun- a driver takes you over the dunes - I lived here before going on one and now I am hooked - take all my guests over there to ride the dunes.

Hey- my daughter lives in Sac and her best friends husband in a firefighter in Roseville

hope you have great trip out here- there is a lot to see and do

As Seaside was mentioned in an ensuing post...I am taking a trip there during early october. Do plan on traveling the coast,both north and south from there.From what i've read and surfed on the net, it looks like a nice town to visit.Will I be disappointed? As a first time visitor to Oregon, guess that makes me a "tourist".Any help would be appreciated........

You absolutely have to stop in at the Bandon Bakery...go under the "Old Town" arch and drive straight ahead.

Lots of sea stack scenery around (and south of) Port Orford.

Seaslife, The coast is usually divided in thirds.
Each holds unique charms. The Southern Coast is a bit more wild, wooly, and remote, The Middle has Newport, Mountains and Sand Dunes. It's all good.
We've driven the length of 101 several times.

More comments about Oregon coast--
Driving time along the coast "usually" 35-40 MPH.
Lots of "passing"lanes help--July & August more trafic..
IMO-it would take 5 full days --from Brookings to Astoria. Even then you would have to pass on some great places.
Our first trip (years ago) we went from Eureka to Newport..took 4 days and then crossed over to I-5 to get home in a hurry..
Cannon Beach reminds me of Carmel & Seaside of Santa Cruz,,,just a Californian opinion..
And yes, Bandon is a quiet town, I guess that is why we like it...
In any case I predict this will be the first of many trips to the Oregon coast.

My wife and I would like to thank everyone that has replied to our post. All the information has been very helpful. It's sure nice to get first hand recommendation from fellow travelers. This saves time and helps in planning our vacation.
Thank again, Louie and Vera.

We made a trip on the Oregon Coast several years ago strictly to visit Lighthouses. They're interesting to visit, climb to the top (a sort of vertical hike LOL), enjoy the view and our pix turned out great. We didn't get to them all, but did see the following: Yaquina Head, Yaquina Bay, Heceta Head, Umpqua River, Coquille River, Cape Blanco. We took pictures of Cape Arago, but as I recall it wasn't open to the public.

This might give you something a little different to think about. It's a beautiful area.

With all the great Information we recieved on this board my wife and I would like to share our plans for our Oregon coast trip. Two nights June 29,30 in Ferndale, CA, see the Giant Redwoods and the Lost Coast area. Drive up to Gold Beach early so we can catch the 11:30 am Rouge river trip with Jerry's Jet Boats ( 104 mile trip ). Stay one night at the Inn of the Beachcomber. Leave Gold Beach and take a slow drive up the coast to Yachats and stay at the Adobe Resort for three nights. We will do some hiking and enjoy the coast. We travel back to Gold Beach for one night at the Beachcomber. Then travel to Fort Bragg, CA for three nights. Do the Salmon BBQ, fireworks on Sat. July 7th, and go Salmon fishing on Sunday. Dive home on Monday. I printed out all the replies so we can reference them on our trip.
Thanks again, Louie and Vera.