I stayed at South Beach State Park over the Labor Day weekend. This is a very big park and was extremely busy over the holiday weekend with a lot of family reunions.
I booked this park late so I was at the entrance to the park so it was not what I would call a restful weekend. It was great for people watching though, particularly the people who spied the trailer.
I was also right by the bathrooms. It is amazing that people have no qualms about taking shortcuts through someone's campsite.
Unfortunately, I tweaked my back so I pretty much hung around the camper popping advil and reading. I did manage to take a couple of walks around the park and to the beach.
It was not the best weekend I have had camping.
The sites off of the main drag are nice. There is not a lot of vegetation between the sites so do not expect privacy. The bathrooms, as seems to be the norm with Oregon state parks, are nice however can get a little messy with that many people using them. There are several paths from the park to the beach. The shortest is 1/4th of a mile, the start of which was across the street from my campsite. There are a number of trails and paved paths for walks and bike rides. You can walk or ride your bike to the Newport Aquarium about two miles away. All of the park employees were very nice and helpful. They have educational programs as well.
Lessons learned: Book early, avoid holiday weekends. Overall a nice park and I will probably go again with a little bit more planning.
Of the three OR state parks I have been to so far, this would be number 3 on the list.
I booked this park late so I was at the entrance to the park so it was not what I would call a restful weekend. It was great for people watching though, particularly the people who spied the trailer.
I was also right by the bathrooms. It is amazing that people have no qualms about taking shortcuts through someone's campsite.
Unfortunately, I tweaked my back so I pretty much hung around the camper popping advil and reading. I did manage to take a couple of walks around the park and to the beach.
It was not the best weekend I have had camping.
The sites off of the main drag are nice. There is not a lot of vegetation between the sites so do not expect privacy. The bathrooms, as seems to be the norm with Oregon state parks, are nice however can get a little messy with that many people using them. There are several paths from the park to the beach. The shortest is 1/4th of a mile, the start of which was across the street from my campsite. There are a number of trails and paved paths for walks and bike rides. You can walk or ride your bike to the Newport Aquarium about two miles away. All of the park employees were very nice and helpful. They have educational programs as well.
Lessons learned: Book early, avoid holiday weekends. Overall a nice park and I will probably go again with a little bit more planning.
Of the three OR state parks I have been to so far, this would be number 3 on the list.