Northern California/Oregon Coast Camping

[Andrew]

hey guys, for spring break some buddies and I are planning a camping/skate trip up the Northern California/Oregon coast. Was wondering if you all know of any cool places to check out, whether it be camping spots/hiking/skate parks/etc.

Rewatched the first Beauty and the Beast tour vid as well as the epicly latr'd and got some pretty good ideas but I thought SLAP might know of some other places that are a must see.

Really stoked for this trip and would appreciate whatever you guys got!

[dillanharp]

Fort Ross is a pretty fun camp spot.

[N.L.]

Too many to mention. I do this trip regularly. Not too many skateparks on the very N Cal coast but camping in the Redwoods is amazing. Then move north to Brookings/Gold Beach/ Port Orford (camp at Humbug Mountain or Cape Blanco both super nice sights right on the beach). Next up would be Coos Bay for skatepark (camp at Bastendorf). Then comes, Reedsport, Florence, Waldport, Newport, Toledo, Lincoln City, Bay City, Nehalem Ramp, Cannon Beach, Seaside and finally Astoria.

Lincoln City is the highlight of the trip skate wise. You could skate there for days and not get bored. Bay City is an empty little gem that no one ever goes to or really knows about and there is a county camp site right next to it. Bear in mind that some of the older parks like Newport, OG LC and Astoria are now quite rough due to the weather. I lost some skin yesterday due to a coastal park.

Hikes: Humbug Mountain is the highest coastal mountain that comes right out of the sea. Salmon River Mouth. Cape Lookout. Indian Beach to Seaside are some of my favorites.

You can often camp on the beach. Its legal as long as its outside of city limits and there are no signs but you can even get away with it when you are in city limits, just be discrete.

Weather during Spring break can still be terrible but so far the Oregon coast hasn't really had a winter, so who knows.... generally speaking the further north you go the worse the weather could be. Pay attention to NOAA. Brookings and PO are considered the 'banana belt.'

[hydrant hopper]

Camped from Florence down to San Francisco this past December.  It was rad because since it was in the 30s every night, every campground was empty.  In Florence we stayed at Honeyman and it's pretty rad, real wooded and right next to the dunes. Don't go too far back into the campground because it's all confederate flag type dirt bikers/atv people that ride the dunes.  The whole drive down the coast is extremely pretty and all the little towns are pretty rad.  There is a skatepark in Coos Bay.

We went down and camped at Cape Blanco, which is right next to a point with a rad lighthouse on it that is really pretty at night.  From there we headed down into Northern California.  Campsites in Oregon were in the $20 range per site, but once you cross into California the price nearly doubled at some sites.  One night in Northern California, we ended up staying at a campground that had a raccoon colony living throughout so that provided some drunken entertainment at night. I forget the name though, I want to say it was Humbolt Lagoons.  Eureka has a skatepark with a frisbee golf course right next to it; fun way to spend a morning.  There are a lot of camp grounds in the Redwoods area.  A lot were closed since it was winter.  Definitely check out the Humbolt Redwoods State Park; a lot of really huge trees.  And if you aren't in a rush I would suggest stopping at the points of interest along all the highways.  

Lastly, spent New Years at Sinkyone Camp Site which is off of the 1 on the Lost Coast.  You pull off at highway mile marker like 90 or something and drive about 10-15 miles down a pretty rugged dirt road.  The campsite has no water or bathrooms or anything but it's in a wooded area at the mouth of a river on the ocean, really cool.  From there drove down the 1 to SF.  Brace yourself for hours of windy roads and 15 mph turns.  Had a great time and highly recommend the trip.

[Andrew]

this is great, thank you so much dudes!

yeah, we're a bit concerned about the weather but we're trying to keep the trip pretty flexible, if it looks like it'll rain, we'll head inland or completely reroute the trip.

[Senrud]

Fern Canyon in Prairie Creek Redwoods. There are campsites basically on the beach with small meadows where packs of elk hang out and spend the night, so if you wake up you can have breakfast and check them out and enjoy the water as well. I went with people who don't skate so I'm not sure how close it would be to a park or some spots, but it's worth a trip all the same.