Traveling Down the Oregon Coast:

Where to Stop to Get an Epic Experience and See the True Beauty in Oregon

Do you want to have an experience of a lifetime over a weekend? Want to know all the hot spots between Florence, OR to Tillamook, OR? I have mapped out the perfect trip to see the coast, lighthouses, sea life, and even whales.

The trip started in Portland, OR on a Friday night. After hitting The 5, 3.5 hours later we made it to our destination, Florence. We grabbed a moderately priced hotel room at The Quality Inn, and started our trip with the most important meal of the day, breakfast, the very next day. After scouting out the area, we settled on The Sand Dunes Cafe for a quick bite.

Although the service was subpar, nothing was going to get us down for the trip of a lifetime. We jumped on US 101 to head towards the Sea Lion Caves. Most of US 101 rides by the sand dunes, which I had no idea was as cool as it was. I would like to return to enjoy a day out on the dunes, but didn’t properly plan for them. On our way to the Sea Lion Caves, we were able to pull over and enjoy views of the coast and dunes.

The parking lot at the Sea Lions Cave is across the busy US 101 Highway, so make sure to take caution crossing the road. I had to snap a quick pick of Haceta Head Lighthouse off in the distance.

After paying a small fee, we were able to go see the sea lions both hanging out on some rocks, and inside the cave.

The next stop on the trip was Devil's Chasm. This is the location of Thor's Well, a sea cave that fills up and overflows with sea water. We checked out the cave and saw sea stars stuck to the side as the water would fill it up quickly, then dissappear again. This is also the location of The Spouting Horn, when the sea fills underwater caves quickly, then shoots water into the air.

After seeing spectacular views, we really worked up an appetite. We wanted to have a taste of the coast, and enjoy some fresh seafood. We stopped at the Famous South Beach Fish Market in South Beach, OR. We enjoyed fish and chips, along with some amazing Clam Chowder.

We stuffed ourselves silly, then headed to Yaquina Head Lighthouse. This is the lighthouse that was used in the movie, The Ring. While there we had quite a treat. Grey whales were migrating off the coast, and we got an up close and personal view of them traveling and playing. Afterwards we went down to the beach. The beach is unique as it is made of heavy grey pebbles. These pebbles are lava rocks from an underwater volcano nearby, then wash up to cover the beach. There are amazing tide pools here. We saw more sea lions, sea stars, urchins, hermit crabs, anemones, and Califonia mussels.

Next we took Highway 101 down to Cape Perpetua to see the Devils Punchbowl. This is another sea cave that is completely empty at low tide. You can go down to the cave to explore. We couldn’t figure out how to get down to the cave, but it was possible as we saw others exploring down there.

The next destination along the coast was Neskowin Beach. There is a ghost forest at this beach. The forest used to be down on the beach. Years ago the forest was covered with sand during a big storm. Some time later, the sand was washed back out. You can still see the stumps of the forest at low tide.

We decided to call it a day at this point, and get some rest. We booked a room at the Shilo Inn in Tillamook. This place was extremely outdated, and had a phone in the bathroom. I wondered how many people used that phone while sitting on the toilet. The breakfast the next morning was top notch though. On the way to the hotel we booked, we stopped to grab dinner at the Dutch Mill Diner in Tillamook. Very cute 50’s diner with good food after a long day.

Sunday started out on a hike through Munson Creek State Park. We followed the gravel road to a parking area, then took the short 1/4 mile hike to Munson Creek Waterfall. After enjoying this tall waterfall, a must see, we even viewed new growing Christmas trees.

We ended the afternoon at the Tillamook Cheese Factory and had a blast eating dairy. First we sampled all the different kinds of cheeses. Then we ordered a grilled cheese with tomato soup, and ended with a scoop of ice cream.

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