Oregon Coast: Coquille River to Tugman State Park

Cape Arago State Park

Coquille River Light

View of Coquille River jetties from Bullards Beach. The actual
functioning light is now on the south jetty.

July 10, 2015. The morning started with another visit to the Coquille Point unit of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge. We walked the interpretive trail and at the end of the point saw the Coquille River lighthouse to the north. Of course a visit to the lighthouse was on mom's agenda, and we were happy to indulge her. But we wondered if there was a shorter way over there from Bandon than going back to 101. Our wandering took us to a wharf on the south side of the Coquille River, between us and the lighthouse, just east of the south jetty where the Coquille meets the ocean. The Coquille is as wide as a bay here, so after a brief pit stop at the wharf--and me lecturing some tourists about feeding bread to wild gulls that a local bakery sold to them for that purpose--we left Bandon and returned to Highway 101. To get to the lighthouse that is just a bit more than 1,000 feet across the river from Bandon, we had to travel about 1/2 mile east out of Bandon, then about 2 miles north to cross the river, then meet up with Bullards Beach Road at Bullards Beach State Park, then travel

From the south side of the Coquille River

another 2 or 3 miles south again along the Coquille River to Bullards Beach and further south down the little peninsula to the lighthouse. However,  no one was in any big hurry and it's a beautiful ride. This is a rather small and cute looking lighthouse, restored in the 1970s. There were no tours, but we were able to go inside and do our donation-shopping at the gift shop.

Then we did a little exploring. First, my husband and I took a very nice and mellow trail east along the Coquille River. Then, my brother and I went the opposite direction--west out to nearly the seaward end of the north jetty, built by the Army Corps of Engineers to provide a safe entry to the Coquille River for ships to dock at the Port of Bandon. There were other people on the jetty, but the waves came up fairly high and were crashing against the rocks we were standing on. It seemed rather dangerous to me, so I suggested we turn back. It turns out my web search after the fact reveals that the jetties are not open to human recreation because of the hazardous conditions. In other words, we and a bunch of other fools were going where we weren't supposed to go.

Enough adventure for the morning, we drove back out through Bullards Beach State Park now thinking about lunch. I wanted to have a picnic at the park, but there were no other takers on that idea. Instead, we made a beeline several miles north to Coos Bay to eat at a Subway sandwich shop. I wasn't too thrilled about the idea of what we missed along the way. Our next destination was the Cape Arago lighthouse. I wanted to avoid the Coos "Bay Area" of Oregon and go back south to take Seven Devils Road. I liked the name of it--thinking there were perhaps seven devilish rock formations we would enjoy encountering.

Seven Devils Road to Point Arago State Park

We backtracked several miles to follow the sign to Seven Devils on West Beaverhill Road. Our first diversion was to turn left on East Humphrey's Road to Whiskey Run and found ourselves at Whiskey Run Beach. Whiskey Run is small and secluded--only ourselves and a couple of young partiers were there. We spent a little time enjoying the beach, then went back to Seven Devils Road and took it north to the Seven Devils State Recreation Site. The name of Seven Devils Road had nothing to do with rock formations out at sea. This wayside was a nice beach with a restroom and signs explaining the origin of the name--the seven dangers that early travelers encountered on the narrow, windy road that paralleled the Pacific. Some travelers settled at the wayside, and Oregon State Parks acquired the private property in the 1960s.

Seven Devil's Wayside. I could see settling here.

As we continued north towards Point Arago State Park, we encountered the South Slough Estuarine Research Reserve. This area covers the southern tidal marsh estuary connecting Coos Bay with freshwater streams to the east and south. It's a delta with forests and wetlands and a wealth of fish and wildlife for researchers, students, visitors, hikers, and birders to use and enjoy. It sounded like heaven to me, except the main trail was closed and would have been too lengthy to take in the amount of time we had. So I had to settle for the little nature trail around the closed interpretive center. It was a nice hike but not quite the wetland birder dream, so here's a place I need to try to get to again to explore more thoroughly. Mom wanted to see the Cape Arago light before it got dark, so we pushed on.

We came from the south to the Cape Arago State Park headlands, with beautiful ocean views and hiking trails down to the coves. On our way down to the cove, an enthusiastic hiker told us about whales that had been passing by; we tried to look out for these whales, but didn't see them. We did enjoy beautiful views of the coves before hiking back up and moving on. The Cape Arago light is on a peninsula that is private land, with no public access. The only view of the light is from an unmarked pullout on the west side of the Cape Arago Highway. The lighthouse isn't very near this spot, but it's a good view with a zoom lens. I discovered a little trail that went from the lookout along the highway and into the trees but didn't find a better viewpoint.

The inaccessible private bluff that holds the lighthouse

It was after this that going through the Coos Bay area was inevitable. We decided we didn't want to stay in a motel but would rather find a campground north of Coos Bay. Because we were now riding along the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, campgrounds we stopped at were filled up with people and their ATVs, trailers, and other dune-buggy toys. So we kept looking. Luckily, we were told about William M. Tugman State Park with a campground nestled on the east side of the highway at Eel Lake. There was a vacancy here and without the noisy dune recreationists. There was still wood available to build a fire, and we were able to enjoy a night of camping in a very nice scenic area.

Before moving onto the next chapter of this random ride, I'll leave you with a little video of Cape Arago.