Oregon Coast South of Coos Bay

On Saturday, we drove south to Bandon where wind and waves have sculpted monoliths along the shore into contorted spires. We stopped at viewpoints overlooking the beach, rock monoliths, and rock formations. One was called Face Rock and resembles a face gazing skyward. We walked down stairs to the beach. And for those of you still experiencing temperatures in the upper 90’s, it was windy and in the 60’s – jacket weather for us. We also visited 3 state parks that preserve a beautiful stretch of coast beginning with Sunset Bay State Park. Sunset Bay is almost completely surrounded by sandstone cliffs, and the entrance to the bay is narrow, so the waters are fairly calm and get warm enough for swimming – at least for some. South of Sunset Bay we stopped for a view of Cape Arago Lighthouse before driving on to Shore Acres State Park, once the estate of a local shipping tycoon. The gardens include a formal English garden with lots of dahlias, roses, and other flowers and shrubs, and a Japanese garden with a 100-foot lily pond. Rock walls rise up from the water and are as awesome as those we saw in Bandon. We walked a section of the Oregon Coast Trail here. Then it was on to Cape Arago State Park where we watched seals sunning on the rocks and small islands from Simpson Reef Viewpoint. Click HERE to see more pictures.