The 10 Best Places to Camp on Oregon's Coast

Camping at Nehalem Bay State Park. Photo © Judy Jewell.

From north to south, here are great coastal camping spots for all interests—whether you’re looking for something easily accessible or beautifully secluded.

North Coast of Oregon

North Coast

• Saddle Mountain: One of Oregon’s best wildflower hikes is the late spring or early summer climb of Saddle Mountain, about 10 miles inland from the beach. Most hikers just come for a day trip, but the primitive campsites at the trailhead are a good base camp for the hike to the summit.
• Nehalem Bay State Park: This campground has beach access to the Pacific on one side and sandy Nehalem Bay on the other; bike and hiking trails make it easy to get around.
• Cape Lookout State Park: At the base of a secluded sand spit, with easy access to hiking on Cape Lookout, one of the coast’s top hiking trails, this campground has popular yurts and cabins.

Central Coast of Oregon

Central Coast

• South Beach State Park: Just south of Newport, this large campground has easy access to the beach. Lucky folks who sign up early and pay a few bucks extra can join a guided paddle trip up the nearby Beaver Creek estuary.
• Carl G. Washburne State Park: On the central coast between Florence and Yachats, camp on the inland side of the highway in a thicket of huge salal bushes. Pile your gear into a wheelbarrow (provided) and trundle it to one of the great walk-in campsites, then hike along the Hobbit Trail. There are also plenty of standard spots for car and RV camping.
• Jessie M. Honeyman State Park: A few miles south of Florence, this large campground is a playground for sandboarders and dune riders. Two miles of sand dunes separate the park from the ocean. The two freshwater lakes within the park’s boundaries are popular places to boat and swim.

South Coast of Oregon

South Coast

• Sunset Bay State Park: Not only is this bay-fronting campground a lovely and quiet haven, it’s adjacent to several of the southern Oregon coast’s top sights: Shore Acres State Park, Cape Arago, and South Slough National Estuarian Research Reserve.
• Cape Blanco State Park: A beautiful and often-blustery campground at the state’s westernmost point, just north of Port Orford and Humbug Mountain. Campground trails lead down to the beach and to the nearby lighthouse.
• Harris Beach State Park: Just north of Brookings, this magical campground sits in a grove of spruce and firs, and just off the beach are menhir-like sea stacks busy with seabirds.
• Alfred A. Loeb State Park: On the north bank of the Chetco River, find aromatic old-growth myrtlewood and the nation’s northernmost naturally occurring redwood trees at Loeb State Park. The 1.2-mile nature trail winds through the redwoods, passing one tree with a 33-foot girth. When the south coast is foggy and cold on summer mornings, it’s often warm and dry here.