Campgrounds of the Pacific Coast: Oregon

In terms of campground quality, Oregon is generally considered to be the best of the three Pacific states (free showers!). California's are pretty basic and Washington doesn't have a really well-defined route that the majority of cyclists use, so the infrastructure isn't quite as strong. But Oregon has a single route (101), strong state backing for cycle touring, and a state legislature that is apparently able to spend money wisely (looking at you, Sacramento). That being said, you'll need to learn how to hang your food from a tree in Oregon. Food lockers are nonexistent, and raccoons are as aggressive as anywhere else - see the duct tape on my tent for evidence.

Harris Beach State Park, Brookings, OR
Rating: 4/5
Distance to nearest town: 1 mile
We spent a rest day here, and let me tell you, this might be the closest a public campground gets to luxury. There's a laundromat in the campground! Other amenities include free showers (although these exist at all Oregon State Parks) and food lockers (the only park in Oregon where we saw these). It's a massive campground, but the hiker/biker spots are well separated from it. The downside of that fact is that you're right next to the RV dump station loop, so you will be woken up at 7 AM by idling diesel engines. The hiker/biker also gets a lot of traffic noise at night from 101, because there's not much to block the noise between the park and the highway. On the other hand, the sites themselves are almost all under tree cover, which keeps it from getting too wet. The beach itself is less than a half mile walk downhill, and it's worth exploring. The coast here is extremely rocky, with formations jutting out of the water every which way, something you surprisingly don't really see further north.

Humbug Mountain State Park, Port Orford, OR
Rating: 3/5
Distance to nearest town: 6 miles
It's a decent campground in spite of the name. Humbug Mountain itself is really a massive (something like 2,000 feet tall) headland, and the campground is on the back side of it. You can head out to the shore around the north side, but it's a pretty significant hike. The campground itself is actually in two pieces, with the hiker/biker area separated from both. From the entrance, it's just past the first loop on the right side of the road, up on the hillside. There are five or six sites that can fit (just) a pair of two-person tents each terraced out of the slope. You don't have much noise being so far from everyone else, but the downside is that the restrooms and showers are a bit of a walk. Also, there are no food lockers, and another biker found three mice in her food pannier in the morning.

Bullards Beach State Park, Bandon, OR
Rating: 2/5
Distance to nearest town: 2 miles
Another massive campground, but in this case, you're right in the middle of it. Literally. The hiker/biker area is a long, narrow strip off the path to the restrooms in the middle of one of the loops. There is not a lot of room here, so it will be cramped if there are more than 4 tents set up. You're also right next to several regular campsites, and because we were here during Memorial Day weekend, they were all occupied. It seemed like every single person had a campfire, to the point that the entire sky got hazy with smoke in the evening. The good news is that you're very close to the restrooms; the bad news is that everyone else will be running right past your tent all night. Also, chances are you'll hear the foghorn all night.

Umpqua Lighthouse State Park, Winchester Bay, OR
Rating: 3/5
Distance to nearest town: 3 miles down a decent-sized hill
Here's an example of where you really have a choice of campgrounds. Just a few miles south of here is William Tugman State Park, which also has a hiker/biker camp, albeit in a much larger campground. If you're following the Adventure Cycling route, however, it is slightly off route, although not as far downhill as Umpqua Lighthouse. In any case, we chose the smaller of the two campgrounds with what must be the smaller of the two hiker/bikers. Here, it is located in the woods behind an RV site in the high section of the campground. I say that because most of the sites and the only flush toilets are down a steep hill from the entrance at the top. You don't have a ton of privacy from the campsites next to you, but you are very sheltered by the forest canopy. We were serenaded by the sound of ATV engines in the dunes below until about 9 PM, although I have to imagine it's less of a problem outside of holiday weekends. This is also another foghorn campground, as you would probably guess from the fact that it includes lighthouse in its name. By the way, the lighthouse itself is another couple hundred feet below the campground, and you can only really see it between the trees from a few spots.

Carl Washburne State Park, Florence, OR
Rating: 4/5
Distance to nearest town: 12 miles (to Yachats)
First off, this place is isolated. Really isolated. Make sure you have extra supplies just in case you get stuck, because it's a minimum 10 miles one way to the nearest store (and that's going to be a small general store-type thing). That being said, the view from the beach here is incredible - you can see Heceta Head to the south and Cape Perpetua to the north, both rising steeply out of the water. The hiker/biker area is somewhat inconveniently located at the top of a steep hill, but it's in the middle of the campground and close to restrooms and showers. It's also very well protected under a canopy of pine trees, and noise is a non-issue in this part of Oregon. That being said, watch out for wildlife. This is the place where a raccoon ripped a hole in my tent in the middle of the night trying to get food. There aren't food lockers and finding a place to hang food is difficult given the lack of sturdy branches within 20 feet of the ground.

South Beach State Park, Newport, OR
Rating: 2/5
Distance to nearest town: 1 mile
This is another massive campground very close to a major tourist town. The park is right at the southern end of the Yachats Bay Bridge into downtown Newport, which I would recommend walking due to its narrowness. Perhaps more importantly, it's on the same side as the Rogue Ales Brewery, which is accessible by bike path from the campground. The hiker/biker camp is in a field very close to the entrance, and while there are plenty of places to hang food, there are also tons of mosquitoes. You're a decent walk from the main restroom/shower block, but there is a port-o-potty set up on the walkway to the yurt area close by. We got unlucky in that there was a school group that was evidently given seconds and thirds on sugar cereal in the morning. I don't think these kids actually walked anywhere - they just ran around yelling before 7 AM. The beach is easily accessible, with a bike path behind the foredune that allows you to get anywhere along it quickly. The campground itself really isn't anything special though; it's the town of Newport that makes it a good place to spend a rest day.

Devils Lake State Park, Lincoln City, OR
Rating: 1/5
Distance to nearest town: you're in it
So you thought you were going to be in a park surrounding a small lake, right? Wrong. You're in the middle of a residential neighborhood half a block from 101. There are houses right across the street from the hiker/biker, and unless you get there first and grab the single site at the bottom of the hill, you'll be camped in an area that is literally bounded by someone's kitchen wall. The bathrooms are back down the hill in the main campground, and because you're so close to 101, traffic noise is pretty much what you'd expect in an average suburban neighborhood near a busy commercial street. We stopped here pretty much to lay-up (the next hiker/biker is 45 miles north, which would have meant close to an 80 mile day from Newport), but if you're headed south and the weather is good, I'd shoot for Beverly Bay closer to Newport.

Cape Lookout State Park, Netarts, OR
Rating: 4/5
Distance to nearest town: 8 miles
We hit this place in bad weather, but without rain and wind, this would be an amazing campground. The only reason it gets a 4 instead of a 5 is that hanging food is difficult and non-port-o-potty restrooms are fairly far away. The hiker/biker area is under Sitka spruces right next to the beach, with very small (1 tent only) sites carved out from the brush. It's worth noting too that the campground is on the north side of Cape Lookout itself at the bottom of the hill. If you're riding southbound, you'll have a steep 800 foot climb immediately upon leaving in the morning. It's also on a scenic route way off 101, so noise is not an issue. The downside is that the nearest town is pretty far away, so be prepared. Another nice feature here is that the hiker/biker is very close to the day-use picnic shelter, so even if it's raining, you'll have a dry place to prepare meals.

Nehalem Bay State Park, Manzanita, OR
Rating: 3/5
Distance to nearest town: 2 miles
This is a very sandy campground on the narrow peninsula dividing Nehalem Bay from the open ocean. The hiker/biker is again right next to the entrance among trees, but unusually, it contains several tent pads. You'll want tri-stakes here, and it's also worth noting that a two-man tent will be a tight fit on the pads. Restrooms are reasonably close, although showers are a decent walk. Water is unusually far away as well, but not to the point that it's a serious nuisance. The beach isn't too far by bike, and you're isolated from the rest of the campground, so you shouldn't have too many problems with noise. Idling RVs in the morning are the worst of it.

Other relevant campgrounds/information:
Sunset Bay State Park, Charleston, OR - It's about 3 miles off route, but others told us it was quite nice. It's in an awkward spot with regard to other campgrounds, which is why we only thought about it as a bailout spot.

Oregon Dunes, Between North Bend and Florence, OR - There are a whole bunch of campgrounds, mostly run by the Forest Service, along this stretch of 101. They're more expensive than hiker/bikers and I doubt they're any nicer, so I'm not sure why you'd stay at any of them. That being said, I didn't get a close-up view of any of them either.

William Tugman State Park, Winchester Bay, OR - This is very close (less than 2 miles) to Umpqua Lighthouse, where we actually did stay. It's also a much larger campground and not quite on the Adventure Cycling route. They take you on a side road rather than staying on 101, but if you really wanted to stay here, all you'd have to do is deal with the slightly higher climb on the highway.

Honeyman State Park, Florence, OR - Another large campground a couple miles south of Florence. I can't say much else about it except that it's easily accessible from town.

Beachside State Park, Wakonda Beach, OR - It's listed on the map. I don't remember anything about it, but I assume it's one of the string of parks sandwiched between the highway and the ocean between Yachats and Newport.

Beverly Beach State Park, Newport, OR - Some other cyclists said it was nice. It's something like 7 miles north of Newport proper, and the campground is definitely exposed to the highway (101 overlooks it).

Oswald West State Park, Arch Cape, OR - No hiker/biker, but it does have walk-in sites. I was told that it's a great place to explore by a guy I met in Seattle; all I remember is a pretty dense forest on either side of the highway.

Fort Stevens State Park, Hammond, OR - This is WAY off (10 miles) the Adventure Cycling route, but as far as I can tell, it's still the closest campground to Astoria. There may or may not be a hiker/biker campground here (I've heard/seen conflicting reports).