Cape Meares — Ad-van-tures

10 Essential Stops on the Southern Oregon Coast

We ended our Oregon Coast Highway 101 vanlife road trip on a high note on the southern border of Oregon. With rugged cliffs, natural arches offshore at Samuel Boardman Scenic Cooridor, 19th-century lighthouses at Cape Arago, and strange formal flower gardens that once belonged to a lumber baron at Shore Acres State Park, there are lots of great spots to discover in the southwestern corner of the state.

Free Camping, Oregon, State Parks, Travel, VanlifeKaylee ThornleyJanuary 28, 2019Beaches, Cape Meares, Flowers, Food, Forest Service Land, Free Camping, Frugal Travel, Geology, Heceta Head, Highway 101, Hiking, History, International Rose Test Garden, Lighthouses, Main Streets, National Forests, Ocean, Oregon, Oregon Coast, Photography, Public Land, Road Trip, Roses, Running, Sea Stacks, State Parks, Tide Pools, Trail Running, Trails, Travel, Trees, Vanlife, Wildlife, Yaquina Head, Coos Bay, Shore Acres State Park, Simpson Reef, Cape Arago, Charleston, Cape Blanco, Port Orford, Ophir Beach, Gold Beach, Samuel Boardman State Park, Wildfires, Shipwrecks, Arch Rock, Arches, Secret Beach, Thunder Cove, Natural Bridges, Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest, Elk River, Brookings, Siskiyou National Forest Comments

4 Destinations We Love in Western Oregon

We love western Oregon and the Oregon Coast. Heceta Head Lighthouse and the Siltcoos Lake Trail in the Siuslaw National Forest are great destinations on the coast. There’s a lot to love inland too! Take the Umpqua River Highway inland to spot some elk in the Dean Creek Elk Viewing area. Then get your bike out for a ride on the Covered Bridges Scenic Bikeway.

Cape Kiwanda State Park and Hart’s Cove at Cascade Head

With sandstone cliffs sculpted by wave action and Oregon’s largest sand dune, Cape Kiwanda State Park should not be missed on any Oregon Coast road trip. Nearby Cascade Head and the Harts Cove Trail is the perfect experience to discover a mossy, green coastal rain forest and to hear sea lions barking.

Strange Trees and Secret Beaches: Cape Meares State Park

While Tilamook might be most famous for its cheese, Cape Meares is also well worth a visit while in the area. Cape Meares like many Oregon Coast state parks has a beautifully preserved historic lighthouse, and just a short walk from the lighthouse is a very oddly shaped tree called the Octopus Tree. Before we left we even saw a pod of gray whales that were feeding and breaching fairly close to shore!