TASTE OF OREGON RV TRIP
Reedsport / Winchester Bay

REEDSPORT

If you're going the recommended route, then from I-5 you'll take the exit for Drain/Curtin (exit #162) and follow Umpqua Hwy/SR 38 West to the coast at Reedsport. However, before you get to town, you might want to stop at one of the first two attractions described below.

Loon Lake Lodge & RV Resort - Full hookup RV camping, marina with boat rentals, swimming, fishing. Located east of Reedsport, south of SR 38.

Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area - On SR 38/Umpqua Hwy just a few miles east of Reedsport (large parking area).

Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area - Rent a dune buggy from one of the many outfitters and check out this incredible natural area. The heart of Oregon Dunes is near Reedsport.

WINCHESTER BAY

Winchester Bay is a tiny town, but it does offer some interesting things to do.

Winchester Bay RV Resort - RV sites right on the water. Also, there are docks on the river, and kids can rent crab rings and bait and crab from the docks.

Bayfront - There is a very small bayfront area with a nice gift shop and a few restaurants. See pictures below.

Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area - Rent a dune buggy and check out this incredible natural area. The heart of Oregon Dunes is near Winchester Bay. Everyone recommended the Dunes to us, and had the weather been better for us, we probably would have gone off-roading here.

Umpqua Lighthouse State Park - Located just a little south of Winchester Bay off the 101, surrounded by dunes. Umpqua River Lighthouse tours, gift shop, museum, small campground (online reservations). See pictures below.

PICTURES FROM THE TRIP

Winchester bay has about 4-5 restaurants. We ate pizza here at Bedrock's on the Bay. The consensus is that when you get rural then the quality of the restaurant goes down. Of course this is not a hard and fast law, but it is a generalization that we have noticed.

You can't see it very well but past the water is the HUGE Winchester Bay RV Resort that has access to the dunes and the ocean. That is where kids can rent gear to go crabbing.

Winchester is a great place to access Oregon Dunes. These are federal lands and you can ride buggies and ATVs on them.  People come from all over to do this.

Map of Oregon Dunes - click the picture for a larger image

This is typical of dune area where people were riding

Umpqua River Lighthouse facts.

Umpqua River Lighthouse

The lighthouse also had a sea rescue unit. They used these motorized, self-righting boats for many years.

They figured out how to use prisms to direct the light much further and each lighthouse had it's own signature beacon. This one had some red in the light and that is not always the case.

The lighthouse museum had very nice displays and is worth a visit.

We paid for the tour and it was very interesting

The stairs are made out of cast iron, and they are not tied into the brick walls.

This is looking up the stairs at the foundation of the actual light

These represent history of the way that they produced the light

This is looking at the inside of the lens.

I am up in the lens.

It is wild to think that this lens was constructed in the 1800's in France, then sailed all the way around South America and back up the coast and was assembled here!

This is a wide angle shot taken from the bottom of the lens

This is a re-creation of the living quarters of the lighthouse keeper assistants.

The meeting room

this is a model of the rescue ships that were stationed here

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