Have you ever heard of that place you can’t get to from here? Believe me it exists.
After driving from Pocatello to Boise, my wife and I headed west across Oregon toward the coast.
The problem is that you can’t just drive west. You have to go drive northwest from Boise, to Ontario, Oregon, west to Burns, northwest 127 miles out of your way to Bend, Oregon, connect with highway 97, go south for about 50 miles then turn west again at Crescent, go over a couple of mountain ranges, connect to Highway 5, go south for about 30 miles, then turn west again on Highway 38, and go 40 miles to reach the coast.
I would fly next time, except there is no airport there.
Did I mention that the scenery along the way is gorgeous? We went through high desert and several mountain ranges all the way to the coast.
I just spent the last two weeks of March in Reedsport, Oregon. Reedsport is a small town of 4,107 and has a rich history of logging and fishing. The logging industry ended in 1999, but the U.S. Forest Service still maintains an office in Reedsport.
Neighboring Winchester Bay is one of the largest fishing ports on the Oregon coast, and you can buy live crabs for dinner at Captain Stan’s floating seafood store. Just watch your hands and fingers until you throw them in a boiling pot.
Once we turned off Highway 5 onto Highway 38, we drove about 40 miles to Reedsport. About 10 miles west of Reedsport on Highway 38 is the Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area, where one can see hundreds of elk.
Other points of interests are the Oregon National Dunes Recreation Area with Dunes South and Dunes North, along with Lake Marie, Coos Bay and Florence.
The beaches in this area are really pretty, and my wife came home with agates, seashells and sand dollars she found along several of the beaches. We explored most of the the beaches along Highway 101 from Reedsport to Waldport.
Just 11 miles south of Waldport, we visited the Sea Lion Caves. Oregon has the largest ocean cave in the United States and hundreds of sea lions call the cave home. An elevator will take you 20 stories down to the cave in 50 seconds, where you can see the sea lions relaxing along the rock walls and playing in the surf as it thunders in and out of the cave.
The Umpqua River Lighthouse really interested me. Originally built in 1857 on the spit of the Umpqua River as it ran into Winchester Bay, the lighthouse was destroyed four years later by a severe storm when high waves knocked the lighthouse off its foundation. The lighthouse was rebuilt on a hill 100 feet above sea level on the southside of Winchester Bay. The lighthouse itself is 65 feet high.
The lens of the Umpqua Lighthouse emits a distinctive red and white automated series of flashes and is the only colored signal on the Oregon coast. The lens was made in France and transported to Winchester Bay by ship. The lens weighs 4,000 pounds
The Umpqua lighthouse is still in operation 24 hours a day and was the first lighthouse built on the Oregon coast.
Lighthouses are no longer necessary for navigational purposes, so the Umpqua River Lighthouse is now maintained by the Douglas County Parks and Recreation Department, and tours of the old lighthouse are conducted daily.
The tall ships are coming to Coos Bay from June 1 to 5, so I want to go back and see them and take a ride on one. We may not get back until the middle of June, though.
If you like long drives through beautiful country, you ought to visit Reedsport, Oregon, and the surrounding attractions sometime.
Smokey Merkley was raised in Idaho and has been hunting since he was 10 years old. He was a member of the faculty of Texas A&M University for 25 years. There he taught orienteering, marksmanship, self-defense, fencing, scuba diving and boxing. He was among the first DPS-certified Texas Concealed Handgun Instructors. He can be contacted at mokeydo41245@hotmail.com.
