Sunday, July 23, 2023
I broke up our blog into two parts today as this portion of the Oregon Coast has many wonders worth writing about. Bandon will be the next post..
We packed up and left Brookings, the weather once again overcast as we drove through patches of fog continuing north. This is typical summer day here on the Oregon coast where the moisture from the Pacific Ocean is drawn onshore by the heat inland and recedes in the afternoon. Daytime highs have been in the sixties- perfect- and that’s why we chose to travel the coast rather than endure temperatures 40 degrees higher inland.
The southern 50 miles of the Oregon Coast is known for its beauty and is called the Gold Coast by some folks who consider it the most scenic of the Oregon coastline. We’ll continue on the Coast Highway, US Highway 101, for several hundred miles, staying in several places before we head inland to the Bonneville Fish Hatchery. I’ll summerize what is to be seen and visited along the way.
These images of Samuel Boardman Scenic Corridor borrowed from the internet
Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor is state land acquired between 1949 and 1957 mostly from private owners and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. Samuel H. Boardman (1874-1953), the first Oregon State Parks superintendent, served from 1929 to 1950. He conceived the idea of a great coastal park in Curry County and worked tirelessly to acquire the present park lands. This state park, the nugget of Boardman’s proposal, was named in tribute to the founding superintendent at the time of his retirement. The Scenic Corridor runs from 2 miles north of Brookings to about 13 miles south of Gold Beach. We love this part of the Gold Coast.. We’ve stopped at every overlook in the past to take in the natural phenomena such as Arch Rock, House Rock, Secret Beach, Lone Ranch Beach and Whale’s Head Island but it’s too difficult to do so with our current RV and toad so we continue on.
Images of Gold Beach courtesy of the internet
Gold Beach (2241 souls). The community was originally named Ellensburg in the 1850s, but later took the name Gold Beach after a beach near the mouth of the Rogue River where hundreds of placer mines extracted gold. Mailboats based in Gold Beach have been delivering mail upstream to Agness since 1895, one of only two rural mailboat routes remaining in the U.S. Although Gold Beach had been a community since the middle of the 19th century, and the county seat since 1859, its current incorporation charter only dates to 1945.
We continue on passing Ophir, a community so small its population is not listed, Sisters State Beach, Arizona State Recreation Area and then Humbug Mountain State Park where its “Campground Full” sign is displayed 24/7 during the summer months. This time of year the coast is extremely popular with campers.
Port Orford is a small community (1133 souls) was discovered by Captain George Vancouver in 1792. It’s small hamlet featuring a grocery store, a restaurant, an RV park and little else besides its harbor. Battle Rock Wayside Park is right in town with Port Orford Heads State Park nearby.
Just to the north of town begins cranberry country. The area between Port Orford and Bandon grow up to 30,000,000 pounds of cranberries a year. Its possible that those cranberries you eat at Thanksgiving come from this area. Ocean Spray has a warehouse in Bandon. The area is also rich in blueberries. We look forward to purchasing some while in Bandon.
Next is Cape Blanco State Park. It’s a must see with its beautiful lighthouse and very inviting campground. Langlois is a community of 177 souls located about 8 miles south of Bandon. The town is named after early pioneer William Langlois (pronounced Lang-loyce) and was famous for its blue cheese- until the factory burned down in the 1950’s. Langlois is also home of the Langlois Market, world famous to Highway 101 road trippers, known for their hot dogs and house made mustard.
To the north of Langlois is West Coast Game Park Safari which features over 75 species of animals ranging from goats and deer to tigers, lions, leopards, bison, camels, wallabies, chimps and more.
We stop at Misty Meadows Jams to purchase a few of their very extensive jam offerings and their home grown frozen blueberries. As luck would have it- no blueberries. The lady behind the counter explained that the crop was late coming in and a very light crop, so they will keep what berries they harvest for their own use. Darn!
We drove past downtown Bandon to Bullards Beach State Park where we’ll be staying for three nights. More to come in the near future!
Travel With Jil and Mike 