Southern Oregon Coast

Eclipse Road Trip Day 9 - August 22, 2017 (Tuesday)

Reedsport, Oregon to Crescent City, California

After a restful night at the modest inn, we got up, had a simple breakfast of danish and coffee before heading south on Highway 101 to continue our drive along the coast. Weather was not the greatest. In fact, the whole time we were driving along the coast it had been misty and foggy. That was something out of our control and we just had to make the best of it. 

Umpqua Lighthouse State Park

Just a short drive down south is the Umpqua Lighthouse State Park near Winchester Bay. Now I remember that was where we had a picnic lunch a couple of years ago when the two of us drove up north. There are nice picnic areas in this park but it was too early for us to have lunch today. We will have to find some other place later on where we can stop for lunch. 

We were able to see part of the Oregon Dunes Recreation Area

and the Umpqua River Lighthouse close by.

Cape Arago Highway Loop

We figured that since we have plenty of time today and didn't have too long a distance to drive, we should take a little detour off Highway 101 and drive through the Cape Arago Highway Loop. There should be some pretty sights along the way that we have never seen before.

After passing through some small towns and fishing villages, we stopped at the first scenic spot--Sunset Bay. This is a small 'cove' where Sunset Beach is located. With the weather we had that morning, it made for a very different kind of effect when we took photos of this place. Almost mystical!

Shore Acres State Park

What can I say, this place is absolutely breathtaking! The ocean, the cliffs, the flowers, the hiking paths all made this a wonderful stop. 

Cape Arago State Park

The last stop that we went on this loop was Cape Arago State Park. Not as striking as Shores Acres but still very pretty. 

To get back on the 101, we had to backtrack a little and took the long route on a country road up the hill which later merged back with 101. 

Face Rock State Park

After getting back on Highway 101, we went past Bandon before reaching Face Rock State Park. The misty weather made this a disappointing visit here because we couldn't really see the birds and sea animals that usually gathered on and around the rocks. With the low tide, there were many people down at the beach enjoying whatever they were doing there though.

Face Rock

Then we found the quiet picnic area where we enjoyed our lunch of tuna sandwiches. Nobody else was there except a police car drove by to check out the place.

What's that?

Battle Rock Wayside Park

This was the last stop we made in Oregon as we got closer to the stateline. We have stopped here many times because it's an easy on and off site right by the highway. It has a visitor center there and also clean restrooms.

An easy walk down the beach.

Or climb the rock nearby.

Crescent City, California

For some reason, we like to stop here at Crescent City. We became very familiar with this little city and although there's not much around here, we felt like coming home every time we spend the night at the Front Street Inn. Hoping that our favorite restaurant the 'Chart Room' would still be opened, we drove by the restaurant first before checking into the motel. It was just a couple minutes after four but we found it closed for the day already. Well, it was Tuesday, their closing early day, what can I say. So disappointed! We then decided that we would make dinner tonight since we have a kitchen in our unit at the motel. This time we did not get the family suite of choice which is upstairs above the office. Instead we were put in one of the units in the back building around the corner. This unit came with no view but a full kitchen that turned out to be quite practical in our case.

Battery Point Lighthouse

It was still early after checking in, so we decided to take a walk from the motel to the Battery Point Lighthouse. It was like a 12 short block walk. The beach, the lagoon, and the park made it a nice relaxing walk over there. What surprised us was...the tide was low enough at the lighthouse that we were able to walk over to the island! This was the first time we ever encountered this and for sure we would not miss the opportunity to cross over to the lighthouse.

Low tide at Battery Point Lighthouse

It almost felt like Moses separated the water.

Walked right across...on dry land...

to the lighthouse.

The lighthouse.

That bird was flapping its wings the whole time. So cute!

We felt fortunate that we finally were able to get so close to this lighthouse. 

People enjoying the beach...

...and the park.

After our interesting walk, we went to the Grocery Outlet behind the motel and bought some food to cook for dinner. A simple home-cooked dinner was all we needed for this evening. It was definitely much cheaper than eating out at a restaurant.