Today was fun. We started the day with a Ranger walk around Lake Marie, here in Umpqua Lighthouse State Park. Yesterday, they stocked the lake with hungry rainbow trout. The fish were jumping like crazy.
During the walk the Ranger gave us tips on the best dune trail, best place to view seals, sea lions and best place for whale watching. All are within the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, all further south, another area the size of Connecticut or larger. There’s lots of area to cover out west if you want to see “the good stuff”!
Oregon State Beaches are very pet friendly, leash laws very from beach to beach and many are leash free. We chose the Oregon Dunes Beach where dogs must be on a leash no longer than 6 ft. We got lucky and E T was the only dog on the beach. She still has stitches and open wounds, so we don’t want her playing with other dogs yet. Because there were no other dogs on the beach, we stretched our leash a little longer than 6 ft so that she could run in the waves.
Then we went hiking on The John Dellenback Dune Trail at mile marker 222.6. Umpqua Lighthouse is at mile marker 215.6. How do I know? I picked up a FREE copy of The Original Highway 101 Mile By Mile Guide at the Visitors Center. This Guide is GREAT!
The Dune trail is pet friendly and takes you to some of Oregon’s highest sand dunes that you can climb on. Most of this part of the trail is in a forest. Then the trees open up to the most spectacular views and unbelievable dunes I’ve ever seen. We climbed up and down and all along the peaks. It was great fun. Enjoy the slideshow!
I’m glad that you had a better day. You had me worried that you were not going to like the Pacific Coast Highway. It is treacherous in a vehicle as big as yours!