Shore Acres State Park

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There are three state parks altogether here just west of Charleston and south of where the Coos River meets the ocean. Only Sunset Bay has a campground. Today, we hiked up the connecting trails that included part of the Pacific Coast Trail to Shore Acres and the formal gardens that are there.

We parked Usain back at the beach as our campground pass covers parking in any state park area through the day we leave. Otherwise, that fee is $12 per day for us out-of-staters. We will stay in a different site at Sunset Bay for tonight.

As we left the campground, we watched a Hairy Woodpecker send a piece of tree bark flying and grab an insect. Three baby woodpeckers were climbing up in the tree, and one got to eat this bug from the parent. They seemed pretty unconcerned about our proximity.

Norton Gulch Beach, #136

The trail overlooked the Norton Gulch Beach, and there was a path down to it. The trail is lined with Salal plants and ferns with more open area under trees.

Formal Gardens at Shore Acres

Timber baron Louis Simpson built a mansion by the sea here in 1908 as a seasonal home. It burned down, and he was in the process of rebuilding when the stock market crashed. The second home was never finished and the brutal weather here brought it to ruin. The formal gardens have been kept up, though, with a lot of volunteer help and are very beautiful. Rhododendrons grow like trees here (just bushes in Iowa) and they had many varieties in this garden. A large pond, a greenhouse, a pavilion, and gardener’s cottage are used for weddings and events. There is a lovely gift shop and an observation building near the cliff edge for whale and winter storm watching.

We returned to the van by a different path (Coastal Pacific Trail) that hugged the rocky shoreline and had awesome views of sandstone rock structures and one sea stack lined with sea lions.