Here are the Visitor's Tales for South Beach State Park.
We just spent the weekend at South Beach near Newport. What a wonderful Park! Even though there were quite a few campers it didn't feel crowded at all. The trails to the beach were really great and well marked.
We hope to visit again soon!
Gayla Halleman
During the first week of August, I spent time vacationing on the Oregon coast with a friend. We rented a convertible and trekked down the coast from Lincoln City all the way to Brookings, then back up to Portland to return home.
During our travels, we stayed at three state campsites: South Beach, Honeyman and Sunset Bay.
We hit the Newport Aquarium first. I have never seen anything like the huge jellyfish tank there!
Each campsite was comfortable and clean with great facilities. I must say that Honeyman was my favorite of the three because it is located in the middle of a beautiful old growth forest.
The wonder of Oregon Dunes is a major attraction at Honeyman. We avoided the dune buggys and spent a couple of days hiking and just relaxing by the lake.
Perhaps one of the most spectacular points along the coast was the Oregon Dunes Overlook south of Honeyman. We arrived a couple of hours before sunset and made the mile or so hike out to the coast.
What we found was a beautiful beach that was entirely deserted. That, plus the amazing dunes and islands of trees surrounded by sand, made the hike one I will always remember.
Sunset Bay was a very beautiful area as well. First, there are terrific tide pools within easy walking distance from the campsite. There is also terrific hiking with amazing coast scenery. Take the trail that leads you to the formal garden [Shore Acres] for a terrific time!
One of the definite highlights of our trip was a 4-hour jet boat ride up the Rogue River. We had seen the brochures that showed a lot of wildlife along the river. I could not believe that we would really see that many animals, but we did! We saw osprey, otters, a bald eagle, seals, deer and even a bear!
Bill Benish
Related Parks:
Jessie M. Honeyman Memorial State Park
Sunset Bay State Park
Shore Acres State Park
We spent a lovely week on the Oregon coast as we do every year. The
stay at beachside is our favorite (we had to split our time this year between
South Beach and Beachside). The parks are the best ever.
Uncle Buckster
Related Parks:
Beachside State Recreation Site
I was at South Beach state park in July of 2001 for a week. I had more fun than I have had in years on a camping trip thanks to your staff.
DSDTRR
I just wanted to write a little note about our first camping (RVing) trip to Oregon in 15 years, which we enjoyed very much. We are from British Columbia, and used to travel to the US quite a bit before we retired up here 7 years ago. This was the first time we have ever camped in state parks. We enjoyed the coast (Cape Lookout and South Beach) We prefered South Beach as it was closer to amenities. We went to Memaloose intending just to overnight on our way home, however we found it one of the best-run campgrounds we had been to. The camp hosts were really terrific, and our site was very clean and even raked! The hosts came by in the evening to see if we needed wood. They were available all of the time we were there (Sept 27 - 29). As I had mentioned, we had only planned to overnight, but after passing some of the sights on the way, we decided we need at least a day to discover some of the area. We traveled some of Highway 30, really enjoyed Multnomah Falls and found Crown Point so beautiful, I hope the money can be found to restore the building soon. I would love to see it. We hope to come back before to long and do some more exploring as we know we have hardly touched all that can be seen. We know that we have a very beautiful place here in BC, however I was thrilled to find so much beauty there in Oregon and so many wonderful State Parks.
Thanks for making us feel welcome.
Joy
Related Parks:
Cape Lookout State Park
Crown Point State Scenic Corridor
Memaloose State Park
Return to Visitor Tales for Central Coast
