We left our Monday free of wine tasting reservations in the hopes of visiting the Oregon coast, and thankfully, the weather cooperated with our plans. Our plan was to check out the section from Pacific City to Newport, about 50 miles total. Given our many stops it took us about five hours.
McPhillips Beach – We found a spot in the small rocky parking lot and walked down to the beach. This beach allows cars to drive on the sand, but I wasn’t willing to brave that in our rental car! Plenty of other people did drive out and were enjoying the views with tents set up next to their SUVs. We walked about a mile south to an outcrop where waves dramatically crashed against the rocks.
The Pacific City town beach was very busy and pricey to park so I hung out on the car while Eric jumped out to take this quick photo.
Newkowin Beach has a large municipal lot and we easily found a spot to park and walk out to the expansive beach. On the way in, we saw three otters playing in the creek! The sun was in full effect so we didn’t stay on the beach for long, instead we headed to the Tillamook ice cream truck and grabbed a table in the shade.
Siletz Bay viewpoint has a nice view and some interesting information about past tsunamis that have affected the area.
Access to Fogerty Creek Beach was a bit of a challenge as Google maps didn’t have the parking lot in the correct spot. You have to park across the street then follow a path under the highway to get to the beach. This beach was small with much coarser sand and seaweed than other spots. It was also a little more crowded, likely due to all the picnic facilities in use on Labor Day.
selfie @ Boiler Bay scenic viewpoint
It’s a short hike through huge trees to get to the Whale Cove lookout point. We saw seals playing in the water and lounging on the beach but no whales.
Next we crossed over the iconic Ben Jones Bridge at the start of the Otter Crest Loop scenic drive. Worth the detour!
Devil’s Punchbowl was our last stop of the day and it was a beautiful view. The tide was coming in so it wasn’t safe to explore inside the ‘bowl’ area but that might be really cool on a future trip.
After a full day of coastal views, we reached Newport and headed east to Corvallis for dinner.