This Oregon Scenic Byway begins in the small fishing port of Charleston, at the entrance to the deep-water port of Coos Bay. Fishing charters and whale-watching excursions depart from the Charleston marina.
My cousin John was the tour guide for the day. We watched a shrimp boat heading out to sea past the jetty.
This is a dangerous area for mariners, and there is a Coast Guard watch tower located here.
You can get a good seafood lunch at the Fisherman's Grotto in Charleston.
The route follows the Cape Aragos Highway west to a rocky headland rising high above the Pacific. This is the circa 1866 Cape Arago Lighthouse.
Just beyond the lighthouse, Sunset Bay State Park wraps around a shallow, protected cove warm enough for swimming.
Shore Acres State Park occupies the magnificent bluff-top site of lumber baron L.J. Simpson's estate where today's visitors can enjoy the grand ocean views.
The mansion as it appeared in 1908. It burned in 1920. A second mansion was built on the site which survived until it was razed in 1948 due to deterioration.
What remains of the estate for us to enjoy, besides the views, are the formal gardens and caretaker's cottage.
Entrance to the formal gardens. This is the only park that charges a small fee to tour the gardens.
The caretaker's cottage, where the Simpsons lived while the second mansion was being built.
Rhododendrons
Roses
Oriental gardens
Water lilies
Views from the cliffs
Pigeon Guillemots are the size of pigeons, but are in the same family as Puffins. They nest in rocky cliff cavities on the islands just off shore.
A tree clings to the edge of the cliff.
You can see how constant winds have shaped the trees.
A type of algae forms the red line at the top of the cliff.
This view is from an overlook at Cape Arago State Park at the end of the road.
From Simpson Reef Overlook you can look down at the boisterous barking sea lions and seals.
A protected cove in Cape Arago State Park.
Trails lead down to the beach from here, but we did not take the time to do that.
A view looking away from the ocean along this byway.
Our tour continued south on Seven Devils Road. We stopped at South Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve and hiked a short trail....one of many trails at the Estuary. Then we got directions to Hinch Lane where there is a kayak launch. It was low tide, but we picked up a tide chart to know the best time to launch during a rising tide.
A kayak paddle through these tidal flats will be a separate post for another day.
Then John took me on the old Seven Devils Road to illustrate how the road got its name...lots of hairpin turns.
Continuing south we come to Seven Devils Wayside.
The Coos County Gold Rush of 1853 lured men here to Whiskey Beach to pan the sands in hopes of striking it rich.
The next stop on the Charleston to Bandon Route is Bullards Beach State Park which is where I was camping. Thistle and I hiked the 3/4-mile trail over the sand dunes to the beach here one morning.
Walking in deep soft sand can be strenuous.
Fortunately, part of the trail is on boardwalk.
Through some woods...
It opens up to more dunes that lead down to the beach.
It was a cloudy morning and the beach was deserted.
At first Thistle was a bit timid.
But he got over it. Wheee!
Grrrr! A sea monster on the beach!
After a romp, we followed the same trail back to the campground.
I met my cousins in the town of Bandon where they treated me to lunch at Tony's Crab Shack. The crab cakes are very good.
My cousins John, Joan, and Kimberly live in Bandon and are a great source of information about places to go and things to do in Oregon.
This is the view from Coquille Point, one of the beach access points along Beach Loop Drive.
The rocks and islands are breeding places for many kinds of sea birds and mammals.
This formation is called Elephant Rock. If you use your imagination, you can see the head of an elephant, its trunk and ears facing you.
Inaccessible islands and cliffs offer safety to seabirds like these Western Gulls for raising their chicks, protecting them from land predators.
Harbor seals sunning themselves on the rocks below Elephant Rock.
The rocks are nesting places for large colonies of Common Murre.
This boat ramp leads into the Coquille River near Bandon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge, another important sanctuary for sea life.
Three kinds of Cormorants live here.This is a Double-crested Cormorant.
Coquille River
One morning I went down to Coquille Point at low tide to explore the tide pools.
Volunteers were there to guide you and teach you what to look for. There were many Ochre Sea Stars.
Periwinkle snails among the Mussels.
A crab hiding among the mussels and barnacles.
A tidepool Sculpin and Giant Green Anenome
Low tide near Elephant Rock.
Carefully lift the seaweed to see what hides beneath.
Large Sea Stars cling to the rocks.
Orange and purple sea stars.
Sea Stars and Acorn Barnacles
The ribbed creature between the two green anemone is called a Black Leather Chiton.
Hermit Crab
A tiny shore crab.
Chitons
Unidentified sea creatures...
Nesting Pigeon Guillemot.
A colony of Pelagic Cormorants.
Pelagic Cormorants have a red face....hard to see in this picture.
Sea gulls were exploring the tide pools too. This one is eating a crab.
Limpit
I thought these anenomes looked like old ladies sagging breasts...
Pinkish anenomes
Common Murres nest shoulder to shoulder on the flat tops of the rocky islands. At only 4 weeks of age, the still flightless chicks jump from the cliff into the sea to join their fathers who teach them to fish.
Muted colors on a foggy morning beach.
More colorful sea life.
Farther down the beach is Face Rock. You can see the profile of the face on the right side.
This pretty ground cover was growing on top of one of the islands near Face Rock.
There are sea caves that can be explored at low tide too.
I think these rocks are called Cat and Kittens Rocks.
Face Rock has a mouth full of Murres!
More tide pools near Face Rock.
This picture is from Devils Kitchen Picnic area.
My last stop on the tour was China Creek. This area is closed to entry to protect nesting Snowy Plovers.
There was supposed to be a volunteer here with a spotting scope to point out an active nest, but I was not here at the right time.
I used my binoculars to look for the Plovers, but was not successful.
China Creek
Alas, there was no Plover Host here.
The only sitting bird I saw in the dunes was a dove, and it was just resting, not nesting.
My RVing friend, Donna, stopped for an overnight visit while traveling through. We had chowder in Old Town Bandon.
And so concludes the Charleston to Bandon Tour Route.
