A Few Days in Newport, OR

We've spent the past three nights at South Beach State Park, at the South end of Newport, OR. Just like our last two Oregon state park stays, this large park has been busy every night and especially on the weekend; September is really popular on the coast! Note for those with tall rigs, there are plenty of low hanging branches to watch out for at the state parks.

South Beach State Park is bounded on the West by the Pacific Ocean and on the North by the jetty to Yaquina Bay. From the jetty you can view the impressive Yaquina Bay Bridge and watch a steady stream of fishing boats enter and exit the harbor.

Sunset along the jetty with the Yaquina Bay Bridge as a backdrop.

A long liner returns to the harbor after a day on the ocean.

About a mile from the state park is Wilder Disc Golf Course. This turned out to be the most challenging course we'd ever seen, with the best signage ever! You play through thick forest, across deep, steep ravines, surrounded by dense undergrowth. We learned to stage ourselves so we could (hopefully) see where each others discs went...the foliage was so thick it was extremely difficult to find the discs at times. Very tough course!

Lots of trees, notice the dense bushes to Hans right...we spent a lot of time searching for our discs!

South Beach State Park has a wonderful trail system with options that will appeal to every activity level. There are easy paved trails, wide, mostly level bark trails, and our personal favorite, the single track trails that took us into the rolling dune forest. And, there's the beach to walk on too.

Walking through the dune forest.

Looking South towards the jetty.
Notice the crowds on the beach on a Friday afternoon!  ;-)

One evening we went out to dinner with our friends Dennis and Sheryl at Local Ocean, a really wonderful seafood restaurant on Yaquina Harbor. We enjoyed everything we ate and I bought some fresh caught tuna from their market as well.

Walking the harbor after an early dinner.

Lots of California Sea Lions in Yaquina Harbor.

Brian Booth State Park is just a few miles South of Newport and within its boundaries is the Beaver Creek Marsh and several miles of trails. We parked at the welcome center on Beaver Creek Road and hiked about 4 miles that included marsh land (on a seasonal trail), forest, meadows and rolling hills. There are also water trails for kayakers.

There are a variety of forest trails in the reserve.

Beaver Creek.

We tried to go to Rogue Brewery on Newport's South Bay but at 3pm on a Saturday afternoon they were so busy there was a 30 minute wait just to have a beer! Even though they had dozens of people waiting we still saw an unused dining room/bar that would have accommodated another 50 customers...looks like a business that could use better management of their resources.

Fortunately our trip to the South Bay harbor was not a waste. Just outside the Rogue establishment is the Port of Newport Fishing Pier in the shadow of the Yaquina Bay Bridge. This long pier is a very popular place on a Saturday afternoon. Dozen of people were crabbing off the pier and sea lions were cavorting in the water too. We spent an hour enjoying the action all around us.

We watched a young woman pull crabs out of several traps with no gloves!
Red Rock Crabs are so prolific around here that crabbers are encouraged to take all they can.

Dangerous looking claws!

Playing and fishing along the pier.

This morning we played the 9 hole disc golf course at South Beach State Park. By far the easiest course we have ever seen, this wide open, short hole course is great for families and beginners. It has posts instead of baskets.

Each hole has a long and short tee and very few tree obstacles.
You can see the white pole that is the "basket" just beyond and to the left of the red tee.

This afternoon we'll set up camp at Bullards Beach State Park for a few nights. Friends Dennis and Sheryl will join us for our last stop along the coast before we head inland to visit my daughter and son in law. We've been extremely fortunate in the weather department lately and will have a couple more gorgeous days before the rain begins. September truly is a perfect time to visit the Oregon coast!