Coos Bay OR - Sunset Bay State Park

A winding 28 miles north of Bullards Beach is our next stop, Sunset Bay State Park. To get there, we got off Hwy 101 and took West Beaverhill Road (a nice mellow sounding name) that turns into Seven Devils Road (sounds like somewhere an RV and a slightly squeamish passenger enclosed therein would not want to be, but actually not bad for an RV) to Cape Arago Hwy. Cape Arago runs along the coast, and, like most of the Oregon coast we've seen, is green and lush and beautiful.

Sunset Bay is a beautiful little bay that's good for playing in the water and, apparently, crabbing. It was a Sunday when we arrived, and there were families there enjoying the sun and the water. We headed for our campsite. I had been pleased when I booked it that I had been able to find a site near the stream. Much to my dismay, the "stream" was a turbid, somewhat smelly ditch that was hidden from our site by the bushes. The site was also very narrow, but not to worry, we were only in it for two days then would have to move to another site in a different camp loop.

Getting ahead of the story, the second site was much roomier, and I was pleased with it...until the rain.

Flooding, pretty much limited to our site. Not major flooding, just a big deep puddle under most of our RV. The deepest part of the puddle was under our front door step. So on to our third campsite for our last night there...

Although the campsites were not the best we've seen, there were a couple of beautiful places to visit while we were there. Aside from Sunset Bay, which was an easy walk across the highway, we visited the Simpson Reef viewpoint. From this viewpoint, you can see Stellar sea lions, California sea lions (very noisy), and harbor seals. We were also told that sometimes you can see grey whales and osprey (we saw neither of these).









Cape Arago is also home to Shore Acres State Park. Shore Acres was once a private residence on five acres with. The residence is no longer there, and in its place sits an observation building from which to view the rugged coastline and tempestuous ocean. Almost in contrast, the park is also home to the serene English garden that was part of the original residence.

Before we left the area, we took one more walk along Sunset Bay at sunset! Unfortunately, the weather wasn't cooperating that day, so we were not able to get a picture of the sun setting on the middle of the bay. 

Tank loves the beach, and Oregon has been wonderful. They are much less restrictive than California about allowing dogs on the beach as long as the dog is on a leash and that you clean up after them (the dog that is, not the husband).










I must also include seeing the Cape Arago Lighthouse, although from a distance. The Cape Arago Lighthouse was transferred to the Confederated Tribes of the Coos in 2013 and is no longer accessible to the general public. In addition, this was the closest location to the campgrounds where we could get a cell signal and internet!