OR State Park Harris Beach State Park (Brookings)

Harris Beach State Park

http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_79.php

We stayed at Harris Beach State Park for 2 nights and love it. We stayed in A loop, spot number 13, which was right across from both park hosts, in close proximity to Laddy's favorite thing (the massive and amazing play structure), and a very short walk to some of the nicest bathrooms I have seen. I picked this spot because as a woman traveling alone with her 4.5-year old kid, I felt like it was safest to be close to the park hosts (it was something I tried to do at several locations, if I could). Plus, wood was just across the road and only $5/bundle, which seemed a steal after the $7-10/bundle in Cali).

The only down side to our spot was there was very little shade, and Dottie warmed up a bit. The breeze always picked up close to sunset, so we opened her up and were fine. The pad was paved, we had our own front lawn, with a nice picnic table and fire pit. Shrubs surrounded our site, so there was decent privacy from folks parked next to you. I forgot to take a picture of the space, so you will have to use your imagination.

Our spot had electrical, our own water spigot, and a cable tv connection that we didn't need (loved the electric for the nights though!). There are more rustic spots, that are more in the woods, but some are really close to the highway and noisy. There is also a dumping station at this location for grey water.

The town of Brookings is very close (about a 1/4 mile away), but when you're here, you don't really notice it. It is convenient for groceries (Fred Meyer is 3/4 mile away) and they have a nice pier area. We popped into Sebastians for dinner on our way south. It was recommended by the gas guy. A little more than I wanted to spend, but my salad could have fed 4, and the seafood was great.

There are a few trails around to walk, and I noticed there is a path to walk into town. Most of the walking happens on their beautiful beach.


Looking down from the lookout


On the beach with a kite flyer

They also have tide pooling, but we didn't have much luck. Not sure where everyone moved to, but asking around, others couldn't find the little critters either. It was fun to explore there though.



Like I said, bathrooms were very clean and large, with flushing toilets and sinks with warm water. The showers were warm, and lovely, and laddy wouldn't stop telling everyone how nice they were (I must have scarred him with that really cold shower at Patrick's Point!). They were your standard stall showers, but again, very clean.

And lastly, great place to take kids. This is what will be their very favorite thing:

Luckily this picture doesn't show me having a small heart attack, every time he went across that section!

I would go back here in a heartbeat, and this may be my new favorite section of beach in Oregon. Plus, the weather tends to be nicer in Brookings than the rest of the state, so that is also a little something to look forward to (it is practically California, and acts like it!).