Hi guys and gals.

I'd like to take a trip to the Oregon Coast and am looking for information about the airports and the practicality of camping at them. Actually, I want to do a whole "Beach Cruise" trip all the way up the west coast but that's for another time in another thread.

Wakonda Beach has piqued my interest quite a bit so I really want to go there. Anyone been there?

Nehalem Bay looks like a good option, other than being in a popular vacation spot.

Other airports of interest:

Cape Blanco

Gold Beach, Probably no camping but an appealing location.

Lakeside: A bit far from the ocean but still interesting.

Siletz Bay

Pacific City: I think this one is pretty well covered by Rob.

If you have experience at any of the airports along the Oregon coast I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thanks!

Great place for a fly-in dinner at Siletz Bay.
Right across the highway is Side Door Cafe. 3-9pm Tues-Sat

You are welcome to contact me for more information.

whee wrote:Wakonda Beach has piqued my interest quite a bit so I really want to go there. Anyone been there?

Many times in 8GCBC/w 31” tires and R44. Not too problematic during the dry season. Camping is fine.

Note: A guy from KONP hit the north wires and was horribly injured along with PAX. Amazingly, they lived.
Note2: My hangar neighbor crashed a freshly overhauled Cessna 172 on its zero timed engine on the first flight. Came home on a trailer. Cause: bounce into the ditch.

whee wrote:Nehalem Bay

Many times with R44. Fun to camp! Watch out for the “NO TAXI ZONE” hidden ditch!

whee wrote: Cape Blanco

R44 two times. Never camped. Windy and remote. Extremely rough ocean.

whee wrote: Gold Beach

Never personally landed there.

whee wrote: Lakeside

R44 once. Quaint homes. EAA chapter

whee wrote: Siletz Bay

R44 many times to practice. No PIREP on facilities.

whee wrote: Pacific City

Many times in R44 and 8GCBC/w amphibious floats. Very nice for lunch with Rob

I would vote for Nehalem Bay being the best camping spot. Second on the list would be Wakonda Beach. Nehalem Bay has the advantage of having the town of Manzanita being nearby. Pacific City gets my vote for the best of the coastal airports. It is real close to the beach and has decent restaurants close to the field. Definitely a favorite of my dog. Pacific City can have limited parking and I don't think you can camp there but I could be wrong. Pacific City can be tricky with an East wind in the fall.




Josh

on straight floats - I did a trip down to Florence,OR from Seattle - and landed on Siltcoos lake

Wind was strong couldn't even land at Wahonik due to coastal wind so went to Siltcoos lake instead

Rented dune buggies at dune city, Camped at a little RV park, met lots of locals and had a fun night out. Good town and good people.

Cape Blanco is a great spot! It can be windy, but as fall sets in, the wind really starts to lay down for the most part.

I think you could get away with camping at Blanco, taxi to the north end and set up camp off the runway. There are hiking trails that go out to black lock point, floras lake, etc. It is a beautiful spot.

highroad wrote:Cape Blanco is a great spot! It can be windy, but as fall sets in, the wind really starts to lay down for the most part.

I think you could get away with camping at Blanco, taxi to the north end and set up camp off the runway. There are hiking trails that go out to black lock point, floras lake, etc. It is a beautiful spot.

I was just about to post the same thing, basically. If you like the rugged beauty of the Oregon coast, Cape Blanco is really nice. I've been there a number of times and the hiking trails are great. If you're willing to hike with your camping gear and camp away from the plane it looks like there might be a few nice spots to camp at the end of the trail overlooking the ocean, but I've never camped there myself.

Wind can for sure be a factor there, as it can be at the other coastal airports. If it's steady and down the runway it can make for some impressively short landings and takeoffs.

Nehalem, as others have mentioned, has really nice camping and it's a short walk to the beach and town. Can get a bit swirly if it's windy.

Gold Beach airport, while not the most picturesque, is really close to the beach and there's a place where you can get seafood down by the docks within easy walking distance.

Thanks for the information guys! I'd like to squeeze a trip in this fall but I'm not sure about it yet. Wakonda Beach sure seems like an awesome spot though Nehalem is probably a safer bet.

nickelb wrote:on straight floats - I did a trip down to Florence,OR from Seattle - and landed on Siltcoos lake

Wind was strong couldn't even land at Wahonik due to coastal wind so went to Siltcoos lake instead.

That's an adventurous trip on straight floats!

I actually reached out to the CSPA about float legality on Siltcoos back when we were looking for property and there was some ambiguity. Oregon isn't the easiest state to fly floats in.

Did you divert to Siltcoos because of wave height? Or crosswind?

It was a great adventure down there on straight floats - had the right mix of fun things to to do, great flying, and problem-solving [Making new friends and asking them to drive us and jerry cans for 100LL]

The reason we diverted to Siltcoos was extreme crosswinds on Wahonik. The most unique wind situation I've ever had. It was gusty above the tree line, but once below the treeline, the winds created so much inconsistency that aileron and rudder response was almost nonexistent, only option was to add power and go around. After 3 attempts, I could not get enough control authority to land safely.

Siltcoos had high winds too, but the lake was more than long enough to provide more separation between the tree line and get more consistent air. The landing was straightforward on that lake. I have not run into winds like this anywhere since.