Cape Blanco State Park / Blacklock Point 8/31/09 - 9/3/09

[kelkev]

Some photos from our car camping trip to Cape Blanco State Park this past week. We stayed at the state park campground, which was a pleasant surprise - - huge, spacious sites with lots of privacy. And quiet. Very quiet for a state park, so much so that I still can't believe it. We had beautiful weather, very little fog and very light winds, both a rarity at this western most point in Oregon. Great beaches, especially to the north towards the Sixes River and beyond to Blacklock Point, where we dayhiked via the Cape Blanco Airport trailhead (as described in Sullivan's 100 hikes Oregon Coast, first edition). We also hiked to the mouth of the Elk River (south) from our camp. Nice network of family-friendly trails in the park, and some great vistas.

As a valley resident, I'm accustomed to crowds, traffic, noise, developments, and such along the beaches in Lincoln City, Newport, etc. But most of the Southern Oregon coast is devoid of such human creations like outlet malls, casinos, and traffic jams, especially areas like Cape Blanco, Blacklock Point, and Humbug Mountain. Kind of fun to walk for miles along the beach and not see a soul.