Day 60 - (09/16) Brookings, OR ... day 1

This morning we did some exploring and caught up on pictures missed yesterday.  We headed south after noon.

The Tugman campground was very nice.  Here are a few pictures of a great place to stay.  

Park entrance ... on US-101, south of Winchester Bay

Continuing into the campground

This park and picnic ground are located between the campground and Eel Lake

We drove north to Reedsport and stopped at the Oregon Dunes Information Center.  They offered excellent tour guidance, presented a video describing the history of the dunes, and recommended a place for great cinnamon rolls.  Note:  The Sugar Shack Bakery has a wide selection of pastries.  The few we sampled were good, but didn't make our top 3 list for the trip.

A place for sweets in Reedsport

From Reedsport, we drove further north to The Oregon Dunes Day-Use Area.  The Oregon dunes are not a sea of pure sand but a  blend of open dunes, tree islands, wetlands, forests, and lakes.  The dunes stretch for 40 miles along the coast and are managed by the US Forest Service.  The on-site rangers were very helpful.

Zach gave us great dune tour/hike guidance for a cold, windy day

Carol gets a dune view from the overlook

You can look across waves of sand that reach several hundred feet

Carol considers a leap into the sand

People sure looked small from the overlook

Carol heads down

The wind was cold and blowing strong enough to keep the sand in motion.

View of the dunes from the return path

The route south took us through North Bend, Coos Bay, Bandon, Port Orford, and Gold Beach.  We stopped in Brookings.  The coastline changed dramatically as we went from the Central to Southern Oregon Coast region.  There were expansive sand beaches, dunes, sea cliffs, pocket coves, sea-stacks and wind-twisted trees.  It was a beautiful drive ... one minute we were shrouded in clouds and the next minute the sky was blue.

Conde McCullough Bridge spans entrance to Coos Bay

Port Orford dock

Sea stacks - south of Port Orford

Coast pictures ended when we got to Gold Beach ... the camera battery died.  We made notes of places to revisit if possible.

We camped at the Driftwood RV Park in Brookings.  It's a nice park located across the street from  the marina.  There's no landscaping (think asphalt and gravel), but all of the services worked fine.

Map Tracks

Start:  Tugman State Park - Winchester, Oregon 

South on US-101 to Brookings, Oregon

End: 130 miles @ Driftwood RV Park - Brookings, OR