Oregon winter vacation
The Oregon coast is a great place to vacation in winter. There are plenty of attractions, but the best thing about this area is that there’s something for everyone.
If you’re looking for a place to relax, there are plenty of beaches and parks. If you like to hike, there are trails all around the coast that lead up into the mountains and down into the sea. If you want to enjoy some of the best golf in the country, there are several courses nearby as well.
Reasons to visit oregon in the winter
Redwoods
California’s giant redwoods get all the attention, but Oregon has a couple of groves of the big trees, too. You’ll have to head down to the southernmost reaches to see them, at either the Redwood Nature Trail near Alfred A. Loeb State Park, or the Oregon Redwoods Trail near the California border.
Crabbing and clamming
Winter is a great time to go clamming and crabbing on the Oregon coast. Clatsop County is the best place to find razor clams, while Dungeness and red rock crabs can be caught up and down the coast. Be sure to get a license from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and check local regulations before you go.
Surfing
There are certainly better places to go surfing on the west coast – and better seasons to do it – but those who brave the conditions to paddle out off the Oregon coast in the winter are treated to big swells, thin crowds and beautiful, wild terrain.
Ecola State Park
Ecola State Park wraps around Tillamook Head on the northern coast, stretching for nine miles along the coastline with trails that lead through lush rainforests and along high cliffs, with views of the ocean and the famed Tillamook Rock Lighthouse.
Fort Stevens State Park
The massive 4,300-acre Fort Stevens State Park offers a diverse set of recreational opportunities, suitable for all seasons. You can get a view of the incredible jetty at the mouth of the Columbia River, see the iconic Peter Iredale shipwreck, tour old military batteries, and hike out along long stretches of beach. The park also boasts nearly 500 campsites, as well as yurts and cabins.
Harris Beach State Park
A big, beautiful state park on the southernmost segment of the Oregon coast, Harris Beach offers both sandy beach and rocky shores, teeming with tide pools and massive sea stacks close to shore. Bird watchers, rock hounds and hikers alike can enjoy the park.
Boiler Bay
Just north of Depoe Bay is a rocky point that juts out into the ocean and forms part of Boiler Bay – named for an old boiler from a shipwreck that still rests underwater. The viewpoint is perfect for storm watching, bird watching and whale watching, and is a popular picnic spot should weather permit.
Hikes
Aside from the trails at state parks, there are dozens of great year-round hikes up and down the coast. There’s the Amanda Trail near Yachats, the Ocean to Bay Trail in Newport, The Thumb hike in Lincoln City and plenty of others.
Rainforests
A drizzly day on the coast can be magical when you’re walking beneath the canopy of a Pacific Northwest rainforest. There are forested spots all over, but some of the best can be found within the Coast Range, at the Valley of the Giants, the Drift Creek Wilderness, and the Kentucky Falls area. Good forest can be found on the coast proper, too, at Cape Perpetua and Ecola State Park.
Cape Perpetua
Cape Perpetua is truly a vertical experience, with phenomenal tide pools at the ocean’s edge, and great scenery from one of the highest viewpoints on the Oregon coast. In between are forested trails, campgrounds, a visitor center and other unique features, like Thor’s Well and Cook’s Chasm.
Yaquina Head
Another destination with a lot to do, Yaquina Head features the tallest lighthouse on the coast, tide pools, hikes up tall hills overlooking the coastline, a phenomenal visitor center, and rocky beaches full of driftwood.
Waterfalls
From Kentucky Falls and Niagara Falls in the Coast Range, to Blumenthal Falls and Hug Point Falls on the coastline itself, there are several stunning plunges to discover during the rainy months of the year.
