Nehalem Bay State Park

We arrived at Nehalem Bay State Park on Wednesday. Upon arriving we experienced something that has never happened to us during the seven years we have had our coach. We could not maneuver into our reserved site. We tired several times, even going around the RV loop trying to position the coach just right. NO GO!

The roads are narrow within most of Oregon’s  State Parks and the campground roads in Nehalem Bay are no exception. These beautiful state parks are old and designed for much smaller rigs.

There were three trees that prohibited us from backing into our site. Two were on either side of site F05 and one was on the opposite side of the road. Prior to booking our sites, we always look at photos of them on the web and this one seemed fine.

Oregon’s Coastal Highway 101 is a curvy, hilly, narrow road and as you travel along you go through many small towns. These towns have speed limits of 25 miles an hour. During the summer months there are lots of people and lots of traffic.

All of the state parks we have stayed in on this trip, have been FULL, including Nehalem Bay, with the Campground Full sign being posted very day!

The milage from South Beach to Nehalem was about 100 miles, not much, but given these conditions my driver was tired. We didn’t want to leave Nehalem Bay and try to find somewhere to spend the night.  Needless to say this would have changed our plans. We were upset!

Nehalem Bay has SOME very nice sites that will accommodate 40 foot rigs, but you must make sure, prior to booking, that you will fit into a site. F05 was long enough, but we could not swing wide enough to get in!

We drove back to the Ranger Station and explained our situation. They assigned us a site that they hold open for emergency purposes.  We thank them very much and we are very happy with the site we were given!

Staying at Nehalem Bay State Park gave us the opportunity to walk on the beach, hike to the Bay, and visit Tillamook to the south and Canon Beach to the north, all of which we enjoyed.

Today, we drove to Cape Meares and walked around in the clouds! We then stopped at the Tillamook Cheese Factory and ate cheese (I did, Howard doesn’t like cheese, can you believe that?) and ice cream. A fun day!

In the morning we head to Fort Steven’s State Park.

 

 

 

 

I add this photo of a Red Crossbill that I spotted while parked at a pull-out, on our way to Canon Beach. It isn’t a good photo, because I was too far away. He was perched atop a huge pine tree with the ocean in the background. However, I was so excited to have spotted the Crossbill, because it has been many, many years since I have seen one.

 

Enjoy the Journey!