On the eighth and final day of our Oregon Coast Road Trip, we headed south toward Brookings from our camp on the Rogue River near Gold Beach, visiting Kissing Rock, Arch Rock State Park, the Natural Bridges, Whaleshead Rock, plus the mysterious Secret Beach, which really wasn’t all that secret these days.
We woke up early, ate a quick breakfast, and headed down the Rogue River to Gold Beach. We were back on the coast for the final time. We topped up the gas tank in town and drove a short distance south to the first stop of the day: Kissing Rock. It was misty on the beach, as was typical of the Oregon Coast this past week, but that didn’t stop us. We looked at Kissing Rock, took a selfie-kiss, and then tried to figure out how it got its name. It was a very large rock, but it didn’t look like it was kissing anything. Not even itself. We walked all around the rock, even down on the beach, and viewed it from every angle. Vicki thinks there was one spot where two split rocks were touching, but she didn’t convince me at all. Perhaps we’ll never know. Regardless, we had a fun hike along the shoreline, hearing and smelling the surf in the fog.
As we drove further down Highway 101, we pulled into any and every parking/view spot we could find. There were lots of picturesque places on this final section of coast. Cape Sebastian, Myers Creek, and Ariya’s Beach were among the spots that struck our fancy.
When we pulled into Windy Point, we got out of the car to hike a bit. I met up with @joe.snapper (IG), a PCT hiker that camped in the same spot with me earlier that Spring, back in Southern California. Due to the massive 2023 snowpack, he decided to jump over to the Oregon Coast and hike the 300 mile OCT. It was fun coincidentally meeting up with someone I knew thousands of miles from home. He was almost finished with the trail, just like we were.
After that, we checked out the sea stacks at Arch Rock State Park. They were quite stunning, and we had a great view of them from high on Windy Point. At least the mist had cleared enough to see them this time!
The next big stop was Secret Beach. Now, I had never heard of this place until I scrolled down the coast on my desktop using Google Maps, months earlier when planning this road trip. Yes, “Secret Beach” was listed on Google Maps! Not much of a secret, is it? But we didn’t care. It was a damp Friday morning, and when we stopped we were the only car in the parking area. The real reason it stays somewhat secret is that you have to hike a ways to get there, and the last part has a steep downhill component. This separates the truly secretive from the merely inquisitive. Even Vicki decided not to do the final downclimb! But I wasn’t going to be deterred. When I arrived, I was the only one there, although another couple came down a short while later. They had parked at a different trailhead further north. But it was all good. I was able to take photos of the two of them, and they liked that. Vicki took a photo of me from her resting spot on the cliff, so everything worked out fine.
And I have to say that Secret Beach was worth the hike. There was even a small waterfall down there! Very pretty. Totally worth the effort.
After regaining the car at the trailhead, we continued south to a viewpoint overlooking the Natural Bridges, which were very similar to the arch rocks, in that they were sea stacks that the sea had eroded a tunnel through. They were quite beautiful, and forested, too.
The Southern Oregon Coast was turning out to be very picturesque. There were high cliffs and sea stacks all over the place. Everywhere we stopped was another fine view. We knew that this was our last day, and we would have liked to explore things a bit more deeply, but we already had plans for later. Maybe next time!
All of our rushing came to an end when we arrived at Whaleshead Beach, which ended up being one of our biggest stops of the day. We decided to eat lunch there, and hike out onto the beach, just because it was so beautiful. We love pretty much every beach, let’s face it. The low clouds and mist made it extra special. It was a fun hike that also let us stay cool. Sunny beach days are nice, too, but we didn’t want to get roasted.
As we neared Brookings, the southernmost town on the Oregon Coast, we made a few last stops. One was House Rock, and the other was Rainbow Rock.
We drove further south, and before we knew it we were in the town of Brookings. It was a fine place, with a small harbor, but we didn’t stop for any photos, I’m sad to say. The only picture we took was the “Welcome to California” sign as we headed out of town.
And that ended our road trip along the coast of Oregon. It took us about a week in total, and I could see making a similar trip taking several times that long. There were plenty of sights and parks that we either skipped or barely explored. I could see why so many people were moving there from California. Trees, rain, sandy beaches, and sea stacks were just the beginning of its attractions. Truly, it was a beautiful coastline, full of wonders and secrets to explore. And I had a strong feeling that we would be back someday.
For a topographic map of the hike see my CalTopo Page
For LOTS more photos of the trek see my Flickr Page
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