Settle Down in Coos Bay

As our trip evolved it went from a two week trip along the entire Pacific Coast to a one-week trip up the California coast followed by a week in Coos Bay. (Why Coos Bay? Click here.) We rented a bayside cottage, and it worked out wonderfully. We found it well-furnished and more than ample in size, yet cozy. Best of all were the wide views from the bluff-top location — from the large deck, from the kitchen, and from the master bedroom. We watched freighters pass by stacked with logs, and the coast guard practice a night rescue.

Bayside Cottage Views

Here's a freighter going past our deck.

Empire was once an independent port town to the west of Coos Bay, but is now part of the city. It's just a short distance from our cottage.

North Bend

North Bend is Coos Bay's smaller sibling, adjacent to its north. It has a working sea port in its downtown, a happy remnant from earlier days.

Coos Bay

Coos Bay's downtown port is now a boardwalk with historical exhibits, docks for small boats and tugs, a fishmonger, and great views.

The largest ports on Coos Bay are removed from town, as in other modern port cities. Here's a view from the boardwalk towards the large wood processing port at Eastside.

Here's another large port, on the north side of the bay at Jordan Cove, part of the huge sand spit that holds the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area.

Let's finish up the local timber industry with this timber pond near Coquille, south and inland from Coos Bay.

Coos Bay Cliffs

A set of eight state parks immediately south of town make the cliffs easy to view.

The Coast Range

The coastal mountains, with a local relief of two to three thousand feet, can be reached directly from town center by following the Coos River.

Golden and Silver Falls, part of a state park, are the best known of the local outdoor destinations. Here's Silver Falls.

Bandon

Bandon is the next town down from Coos Bay, a beach community of some three thousand souls twenty-five miles to its south. I much prefer beaches such as this one to the calm, tame beaches from my Florida childhood (much less the condo alleys they have become) — but then again, I was never much of one for actually going in the water.