UPDATE III: In writing about Charleston, Oregon - a place well worth your family's attention on any Oregon Coast vacation - due diligence is required regarding the nearby larger town through which you will likely pass en route, Coos Bay. I fear that what I have to say will not be at all to the liking of the Coos Bay Chamber Of Commerce. But then, you, dear reader, want the the real nitty-gritty, do you not? Well, there's plenty of that there in Coos Bay, let me tell you.
A late night foray for lodging on a 1989 trip up the West Coast was my first hint of the anomie and despair that is Coos Bay, Oregon. Surrounded by an all-encompassing dark, my wife and I couldn't get any clue at all as to whether we were on the correct road to that near-coastal burg, heading west off Interstate 5. There was not a single blessed sign of the usual variey, either confirming the route number after some confusing forks in the road, or stating the distance to town. No help whatever. At the time, I somewhat bleakly recalled a former Oregon governor - the late Tom McCall - who had once famously said outsiders should visit the state, but make not to move to Oregon. I wondered if perhaps xenophobic locals had carried things one step further, trying to actively discourage visitors as well, by removing helpful road signs of the sort I so badly needed to see that night. Stranger things have happened, but as I was to soon learn, sane and sober folk would need no special urgings to avoid Coos Bay, once exposed. We ended up in a cheap motel eating take-out pizza at midnight and I had my first encounter with MTV and the fine Dutch rock hip-hop group, Urban Dance Squad (I recommend their first CD, "Mental Floss For The Globe"). It was the best thing that ever happened to me in Coos Bay. Having seen the burg in the light of day and having passed through many times again since moving to Seattle from Chicago in 1994, I can now share some additional impressions. While there are some lovely waterways north and west of Coos Bay leading toward the ocean; while the Oregon Dunes (a mixed blessing, as I've recently discussed here) are nearby; and while there doubtless are many fine and hardworking people who live in Coos Bay; the town itself is a ghastly hellhole.
A lonely downtown boardwalk only highlights the post-industrial wasteland along the befouled waters bordering Route 101 to the east. The old adage about putting lipstick on a pig leaps to mind. The landscape in David Lynch's "Eraserhead" was cheery by comparison. A huge casino is the big attraction, for the many geezer-rubes all over Oregon who have apparently decided retirement should mean RVs, small time gambling, cheap buffets and obesity. (Perhaps Tom McCall should have suggested some aesthetic and environmental guidelines for visitors, as well?) The interior downtown of Coos Bay, which we recently had the misfortune of driving through, is a rueful collection of gravely dispirited emporiums, devoid of life even at mid-day. Believe me when I say, with every ounce of my being, and with deep, deep concern for the state of your chakra, that the best thing you can do in Coos Bay is.......to keep driving.
I am fairly sure the road signs I was looking for on the way into Coos Bay would not have been removed by anyone from that hard-up town, which was even then in decline, but perhaps instead by someone(s) from a very different and nicer place near Coos Bay such as the funky fishing village of Charleston. It serves as a gateway to what may be the best ocean beach in Oregon for families with young children. I can see why locals wouldn't want the place to be overrun by Californicators and obnoxious, rather opinionated outsiders.
Charleston is a pretty 45-minute drive north from tourist-friendly, beautiful Bandon By The Sea, where our family was staying for most of a recent nine-day Oregon Coast sojourn. In Charleston, the hot spot is the marina, where you can eat some take-out seafood and watch the commercial fishing boats come and go. I am writing here for fellow members of the non-boat owning class, so be forewarned - this isn't Motel 6 or Holiday Inn country, not by a long stretch. The local motel or two we spotted near the Charleston waterfront looked very much worth avoiding, but here's a special place I'd sure inquire about for next time - water views in central Charleston (despite the misleading Coos Bay address given); nice inside, sleeps 8 for $150/night, but you'd just want to ask about morning marina noises, I'm guessing, from one of the pix at the site.
Whether you stay in Charleston, or, more likely, Bandon, where you really want to go near Charleston is just a few miles south of town on the Cape Arago Highway, to Sunset Bay State Park. It's one of the few truly protected beaches on the Oregon Coast, bracketed by semi-circular cliff walls on the north and a forested ridge on the south that taken together radically mellow out the Pacific waves so kids can very safely wade and body surf. On the north face of the beach, up against some sandstone cliff walls, is a long platform of intriguingly shaped rocks ideal for climbing and tidepooling. Here are a few pix from our outing there.
Just a few minutes south on Cape Arago Highway, a pleasant two-laner, are Shore Acres State Park and Cape Arago State Park. Also in the general vicinity is Seven Devils State Recreation Site, my official nominee for loneliest ocean beach in Oregon. We stopped by for a long walk on a mid-July day when inland temperatures were well into three digits. There was a couple prospecting for gold in the stream, agates as we walked south on the beach, and mist all about. It was ethereal (below). What better place to escape the venal climatological predations of Bush, Big Oil and the Trilateral Commission?
Well-marked signs on 101 lead to Seven Devils. From there you can continue northwest on the road that brought you there, until you are deposited on a paved, curving road a bit east of Charleston. On the way into town is the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve. Do watch the 10-minute video in the visitors center, and get some trail maps and suggestions from the staff on a suitable, low impact hike. You can enjoy a picnic lunch at tables outside. What exactly is the South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve? Let them tell you:
The mission of South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve is to improve the understanding and stewardship of Pacific Northwest estuaries and coastal watersheds. The 4,771 acre Reserve encompasses a mixture of open water channels, tidal and freshwater wetlands, riparian areas, and forested uplands. SSNERR actively supports and coordinates research, education, and stewardship programs which serve to enhance a scientific and public understanding of estuaries and contribute to improved estuarine management.
One of the best ways to experience the quiet majesty of the South Slough is a kayak excursion. Check with the office in advance by phone or e-mail to see when and where to do so, and from whom to rent kayaks if you don't bring your own (here is one local kayak guide/rental service, scroll down to "sea kayaking").
We opted for a hike down to the edge of the slough from the visitors center. It's billed as 3.5 mile round trip, but didn't even seem that long. It's a nice, forested, family-friendly trail, and when you get to the slough's edge (below) the silence fairly roars. Driving directions to South Slough here, minus the Seven Devils side-trip.
TECHNORATI TAGS: OREGON, OREGON COAST, TOURISM, VACATION, CHARLESTON, SUNSET BAY STATE PARK, SHORE ACRES STATE PARK, CAPE ARAGO STATE PARK, SEVEN DEVILS, SOUTH SLOUGH ESTUARINE RESEARCH RESERVE, COOS BAY, URBAN DANCE SQUAD, BANDON
Posted by Matt Rosenberg at July 31, 2006 09:32 PM
In the 50's, America was busy installing radar stations along the coast. My father was an Air Force M/Sgt, effectively running the technical end of things. We were stationed at North Bend, just up the coast from Coos Bay, prior to heading further north to Neah Bay and the last of these stations that would be obsolete by the mid sixties. Coos bay was a busy deep water port exporting finished lumber. War veterans and lumberjacks seemed to find a rough humor where beach parties and beer drinking were the norm. It was a rough place full of tough people. My last trip through was in the early 80's. The base we built was now a coast guard station and the vibrancy was gone. Bleak, dusty, unpainted destitution. I hired a bunch of the native sons in the 90's as carpenters and listened to what they had to say. (Over many beers, of course). They don't like outsiders and state bureaucrats. While one ruined their logging economy, the other allowed it to occur. There was no effort to find other source income then, and as you see, none now. I will leave aside the feelings of watching your father and grandfather descend into poverty, unable to pass along all the insights of generations of a people devoted to maintaining a forest. Okay, maybe I won't. It never was in their interest to cut down all the forest. They weren't fools. The forests they re-planted were healthier than the natural tangles they tackled. Healthier and more productive. They had grown to believe there was a way to farm their lands with trees, keep the brush down and control fire. Places worth visiting were preserved. But airline passengers looked down and simply said "this can't be good." Those planes from California...
Those Coos Bay boys were quoting grand dad 15 years ago, saying the neo forestry was going to destroy the forest by allowing it to burn up. Think of underbrush as kindling, then stack it up twenty feet and strike a match. What once charred the trunks now burns so intense it creates its own 50 mph+ winds. If you don't die from high-tailing cremation, you suffocate. Talk about jobs Americans won't do... Now we read it is a result of global warming.
If one looks at a map of the west coast, you find Coos Bay strategically placed almost exactly mid way between the borders of our nation. This is a deep water port on the coast, not a hundred miles inland. There is no risk to the delicate eco-systems of the Sound or the Columbia River. No foamy residue lapping at the shores. Why Oregon does not take advantage of this is a mystery, unless one factors in an obstinate, angry local population with good reason to dislike outsiders. Tourists not welcome? Maybe you now have a clue.
Jj