Exploring Port Orford

We were tired of my home cooking so we had breakfast at a little café in Port Orford called the Paradise Café. It was recommended to us by our Lazy Daze friends, David and Nola.  They hosted at the Coast Guard Museum in Port Orford earlier this year but had moved on to other activities by the time we arrived.  The café didn’t look like much from the outside but they sure served a great breakfast.



Russ wanted to try a pancake with his breakfast – just to taste it, he said!  It’s a good thing he only ordered one.  Look at the size of that thing.  It was pretty tasty and NO, he did not finish all of it or the rest of his breakfast either.  I got the ”little” breakfast and I was glad I did!

Port Orford is definitely a working fishing village and we saw many boats down at the boat yard.  It was curious, we never did find a boat ramp but we did see this huge crane where they lift the boats into and out of the water.  There must be a way to get to the ocean from the river but we didn’t find it.










Right above the shipyard, on top of a bluff, were some pretty fancy houses.  Must be where the rich folks live!!  Or maybe they’re just crazy, building a house up there.  There was an article in a local paper about some folks in Brookings that were suing the city because their home fell off a cliff last November.  Seems it rained almost 6 inches in 24 hours and the storm drains couldn’t handle the water.  It built up causing a flood and undermining the houses whish then took a nosedive off the cliff.  I’m no geologist but it seems like erosion would be a bit of a concern here eventually.



We came across Garrison Lake in town, where a fisherman was braving the fog but not seeming to have much luck with the fish.  Nice place for a picnic though with a boat ramp, pagoda with a table and nice clean flush toilets.



We saw a lot of these flowers in the area but don’t know what they are.  Does anyone know?  Some kind of lily I think but they sure do bloom late for lilies.  They are so beautiful – Russ thought they were fake!



Battle Rock park is at the south end of Port Orford and is a beautiful place to stop.  It was foggy the day we were there so the picture does not do it justice.


There is an easy path down to the beach.  Could not believe there were surfers out there on this cold, foggy day.  He’s wearing a wet suit, but still!!!!  Brrrr…


About 9 miles north of Port Orford is the Cape Blanco lighthouse, the westernmost point in Oregon.  Nina and Paul are hosting here.  We ran into Paul and his dog Polly as we were driving around the campground but Nina was busy getting ready for work. 

This was the only place on our trip that I could say was bitingly COLD!  It was so foggy you needed a lighthouse to find the lighthouse!  Even the host greeted us with,”Welcome to where the Cape Blanco lighthouse used to be.”  It was definitely the coldest and foggiest stop on our journey.  The lighthouse in Bandon was foggy but it wasn’t cold.


The road into the campground and lighthouse was not the best so be careful if you go.  I would not take a motorhome up there although many people do.  There was a sign that said loose gravel so I slowed down.  It’s a good thing I did because it wasn’t just loose gravel, there were big, make that BIG, potholes and places where the road had slipped away.  On the way out, we saw a fella who must have hit a pothole a little fast.  He was in a pickup pulling a pop-up and either the hitch or the trailer frame had broken and he was stuck right there and not a thing he could do.  Someone had stopped to help and the traffic was just beginning to pile up behind him.  Do be careful if decide to visit Cape Blanco.  Also, be aware that although the campground is supposed to have a dump station, it is closed.  Looks like it has been closed for some time don’t expect to dump tanks there.  Interesting place to visit but too cold and foggy on the day we visited.

On the way back to camp, we stopped at a pull out and Russ got this photo of Humbug Mountain.  The state campground is at the base of this mountain and the beach is just a short walk from the campground.