Hello and welcome back to Nomad Dad Life! Today we continue our journey through Oregon. If you haven’t read the first Oregon post please do so here. We will begin with another coastal city. Just up the road from Florence is our next destination, Newport, Oregon. This would be another place we would go back to multiple times, as there was a lot to see and do in this area. Let’s dive in!
Oregon Coastal Highway Florence Area
Our first trip to Newport was kind of a scouting trip to see which places we wanted to go back to and spend more time at. Since we had a busy day planned, we wanted to get an early start. We packed what we could the night before, so we just got the kids their snacks, made our mandatory road trip stop at Dutch Bros. Coffee and headed out on our latest adventure.
The Oregon Coastal Highway is an amazing drive with lots of interesting places to stop and snap some pictures. The drive from Florence to Newport is a 65-minute drive, but it takes longer with the stops at multiple scenic views. The first one isn’t necessarily scenic, but it is pretty cool. Sand Master Park is located on the North side of Florence; it’s the world’s first sandboarding park. They offer rentals of sandboards, sand sleds, surf boards, boogie boards, skim boards, and paddle boards as well as sandboarding lessons. Hobbit Beach, which I talked about in the last post, would be the next place on the drive, but you can’t see it from the road.
Yachats, Oregon
The Cape Perpetua Scenic Area is close to the city of Yachats. There are a lot of interesting places packed into a small area here. First is the Cape Perpetua overlook, which rises 800 feet over the Pacific Ocean. From this overlook you can see roughly 70 miles of the Oregon coastline and 37 miles out to sea! If you go down to the water, you will see Thor’s Well, Devil’s Churn, and Spouting Horn.
These are all interesting geological formations along the coast. Thor’s Well, also known as the drainpipe of the Pacific, is a seemingly bottomless sinkhole that swallows up water from the ocean. Devil’s Churn is a narrow inlet of the Pacific Ocean. Waves crash into the end of the churn and can spray water hundreds of feet into the area. Spouting Horn is an “ocean geyser” where incoming waves funnel seawater and air into the cave, building pressure until the water explodes in a geyser-like fountain.
If you are hoping to see some sea life on the drive, Seal Rock State Wayside is the place to stop. Seal Rock State Wayside features large off-shore rock formations that provide habitat for seals, sea lions, sea birds, and other marine life. The beach includes interesting tidepools as well as excellent ocean views and a sandy beach.
Newport, Oregon
Newport is the largest fishing town on Oregon’s central coast, known as the Dungeness Crab capital of the world. There is a lot to do right in the town of Newport; one of the first things we did was check out the fishing pier. The pier was full up and down with people crabbing. We chatted with some of the people there, and most had their coolers full of crab already. They were happy to show off their catch to our children! While we were down by the docks, we walked over to the sea lion docks to hopefully see some sea lions; unfortunately, they weren’t there the days we were there. After that we went to Yaquina Bay Recreation Site. This is a park with over 32 acres, most of which is beach. There was an old restored lighthouse, miles of hiking trails, and plenty of recreation areas.
Rogue Ales and Spirits is headquartered in Newport so we stopped there for some fresh seafood for lunch and to sample what they had on tap. They had a large area for outdoor seating, which worked out great for us. Our children could run around in a fenced in area and not have to worry about being too loud indoors. The food, service, and drinks were excellent, and it was a very clean environment. The seafood was extremely fresh. We could see the boats the fish were caught on from where we were sitting!
Our children loved the Oregon Coastal Aquarium. Not sure if they liked the exhibits more or the huge playground they had outside! The aquarium has exhibits both inside and outside, including the largest seabird aviary in North America. Their favorite parts were, of course, the playground, the sea otter exhibit, and the Passage of the Deep, which had a tunnel that was surrounded by water and a clear floor in some parts so they could see the fish swimming below them.
Further up the coast
Just north of Newport was another cool geological formation along the coast called Devil’s Punchbowl. It is centered on a large bowl naturally carved in a rock headland which is partially open to the Pacific Ocean. Waves enter the bowl and often violently churn, swirl, and foam. You can explore inside the punchbowl, but only at low tide. There are viewing areas from up above if you don’t want to get too close.
Continuing our journey north past Newport was what turned out to be our favorite hiking place in Oregon, Cascade Head Trail. It has an upper and lower trailhead; however the upper is closed from January until July. The trail we took was a 4.2 mile out and back hike with 1,108 feet of elevation gain. Just getting to the trail was a hike because the parking lot was about a half mile from the trailhead. The trail was mostly through the forest. We weren’t sure how it would go with 2 young children, but Arkyn did most of the hiking all by himself! He kept singing, “Walking in the jungle, Walking in the jungle. . .”
We got within feet of a herd of a heard of elk who weren’t bothered by Arkyn’s singing at all! Once we got through the woods, it opened to one of the most amazing views we have seen. The Salmon River flows 24 miles and into the Pacific Ocean at the Cascade Head. You can see it winding through the mountains and the Siuslaw Forest. Cascades pour off the cliff into the Pacific Ocean, which is how the area got its name. We ended up going back to make this hike again before we left Oregon.
Food and Drink
After our hike we stopped at Zeller’s Riverside Bar and Grill for what were the best burgers we had in Oregon. The restaurant was in the middle of nowhere and we found it completely by chance. We didn’t know how long the hike would take us and it was getting late by the time we got back to our vehicle. We Googled restaurants in the area, and all were closed except for Zellers. The kitchen was going to close in 25 minutes, and we had a half hour drive. We called right away and were able to get an order in for pickup. If you are ever in the area, check it out!
That is where we will end our post today, the next post will continue our adventures in Oregon. Please follow our journey on social media by clicking on an icon below!
Links
Sand Master Park: https://sandmasterpark.com/
Cape Perpetua Scenic Area: https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/siuslaw/recarea/?recid=42265
Seal Rock: https://stateparks.oregon.gov/index.cfm?do=park.profile&parkId=147
Newport: https://www.newportoregon.gov/
Rogue Ales and Spirits: https://www.rogue.com/
Oregon Coast: https://aquarium.org/
Zellers: https://www.zellersriversidebg.com/
Paula McWilliams
March 20, 2023 — 2:44 am
I learn so much about the places you have been. Thanks for sharing your pictures too. What an amazing gig you have! Just like you to make the most of everything. Way to go!!!