The Bay Area, Coos, that is…offers a broad array of Oregon Coast attractions largely unsullied by the tourist throngs inundating the seashore further north, where proximity to our state’s urban centers has spurred development.  Winter weather should not be allowed to dampen your exploration of the coastline between Reedsport and Bandon and centered upon North Bend/Coos Bay, sited along the largest natural harbor between Seattle and San Francisco.

Highway 38 from Interstate 5 (25 miles south of Eugene) west some 50 miles to Reedsport is an uncrowded, bucolic entry to this playground.  South from Reedsport on U.S. 101, you pass the southern section of the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area on a 20-mile drive to the Bay Area.   Scenic spans cross two arms of Coos Bay and deliver you to North Bend.   Here, swing west on Cape Arago highway, which follows the bay nine miles to Charleston, a major commercial fishing port where you can find the local catch for sale.  The annual Charleston Crab Festival beckons the first week in February.  Just south of Charleston, you’ll find three scenic state parks linked by a trail. 

Sunset Bay park encloses a small protected bay.  Shore Acres park is the former estate of lumber king Louis B. Simpson, whose beautiful gardens offer year round enjoyment of trees, shrubs and flowering plants collected in the past century during Simpson’s world travels.  An reconstructed observation tower provides views of towering waves, rugged cliffs and whales migrating from December through June.  Cape Arago park is on a narrow promontory jutting into the ocean, with views of the wild surf crashing on its rocky shores.

Gambling Break Beckons

If you seek a break from nature’s impact, return to North Bend and swing south on 101 to Coos Bay, 4 miles south.  On the way along the port docks, you may be tempted by the Mill Casino & Hotel, a gambling enterprise of the Coquille native American tribe.  Just south of Coos Bay proper, the House of Myrtlewood stocks the state’s largest retail offering of decorative items crafted from this beautiful wood, native only to the Holy Land and the southern Oregon coast.

From Coos Bay, 101 takes an inland course south for some 15 miles before returning to the coastal shore at Bandon.  Just north of this cheese, cranberry and golf capitol, Bullards Beach state park is the site of the historic Coquille River Lighthouse, open daily for tours.  Bandon is now home to a pair of world class golf courses, with the newest, Bandon Dunes, a subject of international press attention.  The Bandon Cheese Factory abuts 101 and retails its products plus those including concoctions of the cranberries harvested from bogs surrounding the town.  Golfing activity has inspired construction of  condominium lodging and several satisfying resort dining options.

From Bandon, you can wind your way west into tall timber country on highway 425, going 75 miles through Coquille, Myrtle Point and Winston (home to tourist-beckoning Wildlife Safari) to I-5 just south of Roseburg.

Information can be accessed by clicking www.oregonsbayareachamber.com

© 2003 Oregon Magazine