Power Kite Forum

South and Central Oregon Coast

fletcht - 22-3-2009 at 10:55 AM

Anyone with any experience buggying either along the Southern or Central Oregon Coast? I will be in Medford in a couple of weeks and plan on heading back up the coast. Ideally would like areas that I can camp and walk to flying area.

Oregon Dunes?
Is Beachside open?
Hope to stay at Nehalem Bay on the North Coast for a couple of days then on up to Sunset.

arkay - 22-3-2009 at 11:54 AM

To my knowledge, you can buggy anywhere on the beach in Oregon expect for the snowy plover protected areas.
http://www.oregon.gov/OPRD/PLANS/docs/masterplans/osmp_hcp/p...

Nehalem bay state park (http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_201.php) is a great place to camp. It's protected by dunes and the trip to the beach is about 200ft over the dunes :) If the wind is blowing any west ward direction the buggying is good; if the wind is coming from the east then it's decent around the park but once you get towards Manzanita the east wind tends to get a little squirrelly due to the hills.

Plenty of room to buggy at high tide, but at low tide the beach is huge. Just watch out for sand castles and drift logs :) Beaches are never not crowded but you're likely to see people the further north you go.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&...

Post when you'll be in the area, I'll likely be around in Manzanita and Jim posted another meet-up for 4/18 @ sunset beach. :thumbup:

jellis - 22-3-2009 at 03:40 PM

Shoot the *#%!!!* plover and save a buggy spot. It's them or us and I think we are worth more a Canadian Plover that migrated to our beaches and is a non-native bird. ;)
We found a 14 mile long beach just north of North Bend, OR. It is on the south end of the Oregon Dunes National Recreational Area. The beach can be accessed from
Siuslaw National Forest (Horsfall ORV Campground) at the end of Horsefall Beach Road.

Bladerunner - 23-3-2009 at 11:47 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by jellis
Shoot the *#%!!!* plover and save a buggy spot. It's them or us and I think we are worth more a Canadian Plover that migrated to our beaches and is a non-native bird. ;)



Hey Jon,

Are these Plovers truly Canadian ? I have never heard of them up here ? ( I have my own problems with Canadian Geese ! )

If they spend more than 6 months and a day down there you can have them deported ! Never to be allowed back in your country ! :singing:

arkay - 23-3-2009 at 12:42 PM

Can we deport the goose $#!+ too?! Should be able to put a good load in a flat rate box :)

heliboy50 - 23-3-2009 at 12:59 PM

It's the export tax that would get you. Really high on Goose poo.

sunset-Jim - 23-3-2009 at 01:29 PM

That's a bunch of #@%$#!e

csa_deadon - 24-3-2009 at 12:39 AM

Beachside is open.

Open March 13 through October. 32 electric, including 2 accessible electric; 42 tent, including 37 reservable tent; 2 reservable yurts; hiker/biker camp. For information only, call (541)563-3220 (voice mail) or (800) 551-6949. For reservations, call 1-800-452-5687.

Park rates (subject to rate changes; winter, emergency or other closures)

October 1 to April 30 (Discovery Season)
Electrical/Water hookup: $18
Tent site: $13
Hiker/Biker: $4
Yurt: $30
Extra vehicle: $5

May 1 to September 30
Electrical/Water hookup: $21
Tent site: $17
Hiker/Biker: $4
Yurt: $29
Extra vehicle: $5

fletcht - 25-3-2009 at 02:55 PM

Have you buggied at Beachside? What is it like at High Tide? From Google maps it looks like a fair amount of Beach. I like Oregon State parks, and it looks like I can buggy from my campsite. I'm projecting to be somewhere along the coast April 7th - 9th. I'm moving my daughter to Medford Saturday the 4th, She wants to to go skiing at Mt Shasta Mon, 6th so my plan would be to head to the coast early Tuesday. Arkay, I might make it up to Nehalem Thursday 9th. Depends on how nice things are further South. I camped at the State Park there last Spring and it was very nice. Got quite a bit of time in. The dragging my buggy over the dunes got old after awhile but not bad.

The camping doesn't look as suitable at Horsfall beach area.(Oregon Dunes) Save that for a later trip maybe.

f0rgiv3n - 25-3-2009 at 03:07 PM

Hmmm, I too will be doing a good deal of camping at the Oregon coast this upcoming summer. I'll definitely be checking out Beachside. I'll be doin some ATB action :). I'll be over there in June though.

csa_deadon - 25-3-2009 at 06:00 PM

Haven't buggied Beachside yet. I have done a lot of scudding there. Lots of beach at low tide. Might be kind of tough putting in at beachside (very narrow trail to beach). You may want to drive 10 min to Gov. Patterson State park. Easier access.

Bladerunner - 26-3-2009 at 01:19 PM

Archkiter put together a pretty good list of beaches for kiting in Oregon.

I think you can link to it from here posts ?

She also was toying with the idea of doing an Oregon beach tour promoting wind sports. I thought it was a great idea. Just not sure I have enough vacation time to join in.

fletcht - 26-3-2009 at 08:43 PM

Yes, I've used Archkiter's Beach buggy matrix. I have buggied at two or three of places down the Oregon Coast. South Beach, Carl G Washburne, Nehalum Bay, Beachside was closed when I was down last year. But I am always looking for other input. Each of these required a fair amount of dragging the buggy across the Dunes, or down pathways etc. I love Sunset Beach since I can park my RV van right on the beach and have the luxuries of home right at my backdoor, but then I have to leave at the end of the day to go back to the campground. My Ideal is to be able to park in a campground, and buggy from my backdoor. Having power etc, is a nice extra feature. Looking at the brochure for beachside it looks like I might be able to pull this off. Maybe have a bit of a walk but I can deal with that. So I'll check it out.

csa_deadon - 26-3-2009 at 09:32 PM

I hear the plover taste great with BBQ sauce!! :eekdrull:

jellis - 27-3-2009 at 08:12 AM

The plover is also good with mushroom soup on it and bake in the oven for 35 minutes at 325 degrees.

csa_deadon - 27-3-2009 at 08:34 AM

Do you have to remove the feathers with that recipe Jon? :evil:

fletcht - 7-4-2009 at 01:41 PM

Beachside is great, good access to beach even with a NW wind good beach to play on both low and high tide. A little more room at high tide south of camp area. Well worth camping here if in the Central Coast.

arkay - 7-4-2009 at 04:41 PM

This past week did a run from Nehalem bay start park down to the jetty up to manzanita and back (North Coast). I got picked up at C-loop in the camp ground to drive back :) It's about a 150ft walk over the dunes from the beach to the campground. I think the site C31 was right on the path to the beach so it's a super short walk; but if you are interested I can check which camp sites in the loops are on the paths :) The sand to the south is pretty dry and loose; it's about ~3mi with no access roads so if the wind isn;t blowing from the W or SW (or NW with tacking) then it's a long walk home :) To the north of the camp site is harder packed sand. I was using my PLXR+ with extra wide tires (not bigfoot) and I didn't have any problem pushing through the dry sand. Wind was about 18-20. Was a good 9.6 mile ride that I did at mid-tide. It was spring break and there were only about 6 other people I saw on the beach by camp, so there was plenty of room.

I think Sunset beach is nice to buggy on because of the harder packed sand that's not too wet at low tide; at high tide I find there's almost no usable beach. But the thing that freaks me out most about sunset beach is that it's a highway, yes with cars. People tend to do really dumb things with the cars, like donuts, and sight see more than drive. Last time I was there someones lines were hit by a truck :( But all in all, it's a nice place to buggy.

Manzanita has the same style beach, but the sand is a bit wetter to the north. The beach at low tide is enormous and it still good at high tide. There's a good amount of people around the town center, but once you get away from town it's empty. And there's no cars :)

I haven't been to Gerhart, but I've seen some people buggying at the mouth of the river at low tide and it looks like there's a huge amount of space. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&...

Any other places worth kiting?

fletcht - 10-4-2009 at 05:04 PM

Spent a couple of days at Nehalem Bay State Park. Arrived Wed. April 8th. in the afternoon 4 ish. Winds out of the S SW. My 4.9 reactor had lots of power running up into the soft sand and a ways into the dunes. A few rain showers but kept flying, the kite was wet so had to keep flying until the rain quit to dry it out. The Dunes are great near the park but the driftwood is a bit of an obstacle. Especially coming down from the dunes downhill towards the beach. Must be ready to make some quick maneuvers with the buggy. Thursday went out in the afternoon right at high tide and flew while the tide was going out. Started with my 2.9 Reactor in the dry sand running around the driftwood. A bit under powered to get up into the dunes. By the time I decided to switch kites my 4.9 wasn't enough, went to the 6 M Bora. haven't had any time with this kite before this. Took a bit getting used to the window but what a sweet kite. Played awhile in and around the driftwood and the dunes then headed North. Winds still out of the S. All in all a great time, I camped at B 36 right by the path. A bit of a pull up the path but could ride the buggy back down. Actually able to fly up the lower section of the dunes to the path land the kite in the large clearing on the top. Very few people, no cars. Lots of beach at low tide, definitely need bigfeet for the upper sand area.
I'll be back.