Cape Lookout State Park - located on a sand spit between Netarts Bay and the ocean in Tillamook County.
Moving day was on July 4th so Kevin/Heidi & Kim tagged along and we spent the first day all hanging out together which was super fun. Of course our first stop was the Tillamook factory for ice cream and cheese. It was the perfect beach day and we threw the frisbee and just relaxed. Kim headed back home but we had a sleepover with the rest of the gang in the RV.
I wasn't crazy about the choices for RV spots in this campground, but if you are a tent camper there are some really fantastic ones with lots of privacy/space. The bathrooms here weren't kept up well either so I didn't use those much. It was just close quarters with lots of people walking/playing/kids riding bikes/playing all around and often the RV spots had no privacy/space at all. Either that or they had so much vegetation that if you were trying to rely on your solar panels (in a spot with no hookup) it would be hard to get enough sun. Our space had no privacy or trees at all and was on a corner where everyone just cut through to where they were getting or kids ran their remote controlled cars all around it. The campground does have great access to the beach and that was really nice with plenty of room to spread out and walk as far as you wanted. Depending on the weather the colors changed drastically and we had a few really beautiful evening sunsets.
One day we biked the Bayocean Peninsula trail and it was wonderful. It's mostly gravel and we stopped several times to watch wildlife like these Whimbrels feeding in the water & mud.
We had to push our bikes through a couple of deeper sandy areas but they were really short stretches. Once we got to the jetty we sat and just watched a multitude of birds come by: pelicans, Caspian Terns, gulls, Semipalmated Plover, eagles, Pigeon Guillemot (with their amazing colored feet), Common murres and cormorants. We backtracked the loop to get back to our car.
Another day we drove through Oceanside and stopped to walk the pretty beach. Then we went up to Cape Meares Lighthouse (which happens to be the shortest lighthouse on the OR coast) to see some great misty views.
This park often has clouds that hang right over Cape Lookout so we had been watching the weather and got really lucky with a gorgeous clear day for amazing views all along the trail. If you hike this be sure to wear shoes that can handle mud. The trail runs right along the edge with real steep drop-offs so it makes for fantastic views but you do need to watch where you're going!
Our last day we decided to hike the Sitka Sedge Natural Area which is an estuary and passes by some saltwater marshes, goes through forested sections and takes you out to the beach where you get a great view of Pacific City's Haystack Rock to the south and Cape Lookout to the north. We spotted a couple of Belted Kingfishers as they hunted on our way back through the marshy area. Afterwards we grabbed some yummy seafood ourselves!
Spectacular photos Alison! Love the text too.
Gorgeous adventures.