Southern Oregon Coast

Our drive from Joseph Stewart Recreation Area near Medford to our next stop in Reedsport, OR, on the coast took about four hours. It should have been shorter, but we ran into construction in a couple of areas. We finally made it to Winchester Bay RV Resort located at Salmon Harbor Marina just a few miles south of the town of Reedsport where the Umpqua River meets the Pacific.

Most of the sites at Winchester Bay RV have a view of the water, and some are located directly on the water overlooking either the marina or the river. The sites located directly on the marina are designed with the hookups near the street so motor homes can pull in frontwards. Trailers or 5th wheels that must back in will need extra-long electrical cables and hoses to reach the utilities. The photo below shows our site overlooking the marina at Winchester Bay RV Resort.

Winchester Bay has full hookups with 50 amp electric, cable, and free Wi-Fi. The roads, pads, and patios are all paved, and the sites are well-spaced with well-manicured grass and shrubs between. The campground was fairly quiet except for when the wind was flapping our slide-toppers. It got windy in the late afternoon the first two days of our stay, and it was windy almost all day the other two days we were there. Fortunately, the wind died down at night.

One attraction in the area that was recommended to us by friends was the Sea Lion Caves located about 45 minutes north of Reedsport. The Sea Lion Caves are the largest sea caves in the world. A colony of hundreds of sea lions live in and around the caves. Other colonies live on the rocks offshore. They are Stellar Sea Lions, which is a non-migratory species, so the animals spend all year in the area. In winter, much of the colony tends to seek shelter from the weather in the cave. In summer, most of them spend more time outside on the rocks. In spring, the pups are born on the rocks, also known as the rookery. The photo below shows hundreds of sea lions on the rocks below the cliff.

 

The next photo is a little closer view. You can see several sea lions that have just climbed up from the water onto the rocks.

 

The caves were reportedly discovered in 1880 by William Cox, who was a sea captain. Cox was fascinated by the caves and the sea lions and bought the land from the state in 1887. In 1927, R. E. Clanton bought the land from the estate of William Cox intending to develop the caves into a tourist attraction. Clanton's friends considered it to be a foolhardy venture because there weren't very many tourists at that time. Highway 101 didn't exist yet, and the only access to the coast was by a gravel road. Still, Clanton persuaded two others to join him in partnership.

Brave visitors originally entered the caves by climbing down a rope ladder hanging over the cliff to a primitive foot bridge. The business struggled during the 1930s, and the original partnership was dissolved and a new one was formed. A new, enclosed stairway was eventually built 200 feet down the north face of the cliff into the cave. After WWII, the business finally started to prosper.

When the original roadside entrance building was destroyed by a fire in 1946, a new one was built to look just like the old one. The next photo shows the building perched on the edge of the cliff. There is additional parking across the road, including a few spaces for RVs.

 

In 1958, the owners decided to replace the old stairway with an elevator. It took two years to blast the 215-foot shaft for the elevator down into the rock because they only worked during the spring when most of the sea lions were outside the cave, and then only on days when most of the remaining sea lions had voluntarily left the cave. They didn't want to harm the sea lions or scare them away permanently. The elevator, which was opened in 1961, was specially designed to resist all the damp, salt air.

Behind the entrance building, there are platforms that can be used for whale watching when the California gray whales are on their way north a little earlier in the spring. There is also a sculpture of a sea lion family, and the next photo shows Margery with the sea lions.

A path winds down the face of the cliff to the left where you can see the sea lions on the rocks. Another trail to the right takes you to the elevator to the cave. The next photo shows the area down over the cliff where the inlet leads into the cave from the ocean.

 

At the bottom of the 215 foot elevator ride, it is a short walk down a ramp to the cave where the sea lions hang out.

 

The next photo is a closer shot of a number of the sea lions sitting on a large rock in the center of the cave. Sea lions were also scattered on the rocks around the edges of the cave.

We were glad to have been able to have a more up close and personal view of elephant seals in Moro Bay and the sea lions at Pier 39 in San Francisco. The shear number of seals here on the Oregon coast was noteworthy, and the cave was interesting; but seeing them from such a long distance was frustrating.

The Sea Lion Caves are located in volcanic rock. To the north of the caves is Heceta Head Lighthouse located on a volcanic rock headland. The 56-foot tall lighthouse was first lit in 1894. The light is visible for up to 21 miles. Heceta Head Lighthouse claims to be the most photographed lighthouse in the world.

While the coastal area from the caves northward is mostly volcanic rock, the area to the south is covered by sand dunes. From the caves, you can see where rocks end and the dunes begin.

Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area covers a 40-mile stretch of coastline from a little south of the Sea Lion Caves in Florence, OR, past Reedsport, and on down to Coos Bay. The Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area is used for camping, hiking, picnicking, horseback riding, and off-road vehicles.

Unlike the dunes at Marina Dunes in California which are covered by a variety of wildflowers, these dunes are covered mostly by grasses. The dunes here are also much higher than in California. Although the biggest dunes we saw in Oregon were probably less than 100 feet high, they can reportedly reach heights of up to 500 feet. As you move inland, there are an increasing number of shrubs on the dunes, and eventually some trees. There are also islands of trees, which are the remnants of forested land that has been overrun by the dunes. The area covered by dunes along the Oregon coast can be up to two or three miles wide. The next photo is a little closer view of the dunes.

On another day, we drove south to Coos Bay to make a Walmart stop. With a population of 15,000 to 16,000 people, the city of Coos Bay is the largest city along the Oregon coast and the only city on the Oregon coast with a Walmart.

Along the way, we passed Umpqua River Lighthouse just south of the campground. The first lighthouse was built near this site at the mouth of the Umpqua River in 1857, but when the river overflowed its banks in 1861, it caused the lighthouse to topple. The lighthouse that stands today is 65 feet tall and was first lit on Dec. 31, 1894. The photo below shows the Umpqua River Lighthouse.

 

The body of water called Coos Bay is the largest natural harbor between San Francisco, CA and Seattle, WA. The major products exported from Coos Bay Harbor are logs and wood chips used for paper. In Coos Bay, we came across this huge pile of wood chips being collected for export. The pile was several blocks long and about 40 to 50 feet high.

The little town of Charleston is located on the western side of Coos Bay and is the home of a marina where many pleasure boats and a large, commercial-fishing fleet are docked. We took a drive over there to take a look. The next photo shows some of the fishing boats docked at Charleston.

After our little sightseeing tour around the Coos Bay area, we made our Walmart stop. Then we headed back to the motor home, relaxed a little, and made preparations to pack up and head out the next morning. The weather was in the 50s and low 60s the entire time we were in Reedsport, and it was windy much of the time; but at least it was sunny. We're looking forward to going inland again to warm up.

Comments

[Oregon Coast Restaurant]

Great post on the Oregon Coast. We enjoy it here. Great photos.