Exploring Newport, Oregon
Spending Two Days in Newport, Oregon | Yaquina Head Lighthouse | Otter Rock | Yaquina Bay Lighthouse | November 2025
We arrived at the Oregon Coast on a Thursday afternoon — officially marking the first time we’ve ever driven the van to the Pacific Ocean. To our relief, we found that the sun was truly out here, and that we had finally escaped the constant cloud cover that had been plaguing our time in the valley. I immediately directed Curtis to Yaquina Head Natural Outstanding Area, which was the first stop on my road trip with Charlotte in 2017, in pursuit of my quest to return to places where I have good memories with her.
When we arrived, we first stopped at the visitor center to get stamps and walk through the exhibits (something I didn’t do last time). Then we drove out to the parking area for the lighthouse, and started on our walk. We began by admiring the rocky and rugged views to the North, then made a circle around the lighthouse. We then started to make our way down to the beach, when suddenly I noticed a rainbow appear to the North, ending in the ocean. I had the strongest, comforting feeling come over me that it was a sign from Charlotte, that she was here with me again. It was the kind of sign I had been looking for in Corvallis (because I had seen one there in 2017, and sometimes we imagine moving to that town) but seeing it here in Newport made me start paying closer attention.
I caught up with Curtis down by the ocean, and we walked on the black rocks and admired the dramatic views — the rock formations in the water, waves crashing against them, and the picturesque lighthouse sitting high up on the cliff. We spotted some seals in the waves, bobbing their heads, and several different water birds. We stayed out here for a long time, until we had less than an hour of daylight, when we finally made our way back to the van in order to go scope out an overnight parking spot.
We believed that overnight camping on the coast wouldn’t be too difficult, especially when there are large pull offs on US-101 that allow overnight camping. We just expected that would be something we’d end up doing, and that we’d have to accept the sound of traffic passing by throughout the night. However, on this first night, we happened to find a spot that was seemingly legal (or at least used enough without people getting in trouble) that was on a small scenic drive just off of the highway, which meant the sound of traffic was obscured and all we could hear was the sound of waves crashing into the rocks far below us. It was an ideal spot, which led to us deciding to stay in the area for two nights because we loved both the spot and the Newport area in general!
After scoping out a spot to sleep, we drove to a lookout to watch the sunset and make dinner, to minimize our time having to be stealthy. This brought us to Otter Crest State Scenic Viewpoint, where we witnessed one of the most beautiful sunsets we’ve ever seen. I’m not kidding when I say this was possibly the highlight of our entire winter trip for me. The sun cast a golden light over the sea and onto the land below us, with ocean mist and fog partially obscuring the view but reflecting back that golden light. I took it as another sign from Charlotte, because she knows how much I love sunsets and sunrises and just looking at the sky.
We slept well in our pull off, then at sunrise we drove back to the viewpoint to enjoy a gorgeous, colorful sunrise and make breakfast in the lot. We agreed to take the day slow, and enjoy the town some more. To start things off, we drove to the smaller town of Otter Rock, and went on a little walk to see the Devil’s Punchbowl, and then went for a long walk on Otter Rock beach. We always say that we’re not beach people…but I think in Oregon, we could be.
Next, we drove back to Newport, this time driving to the Newport Bay Lighthouse and starting a walk here. We walked up and around the lighthouse, then followed the trail back down to the park entrance and over to where we could get a good view of the Yaquina Bay Bridge. We were in the mood to just wander, so we continued wandering under the bridge and down the hill to the waterfront district. It was still mid morning, so nothing was open and we had no reason to be here, but the sound of sea lions barking in the distance had us curious and so we kept wandering. Whenever we’d come to a dock, we would walk out to see if we could see any sealions because they sounded so close, but they were never visible…until we came to a spot that’s appropriately called the ‘seal lion dock’ on Google maps, and found dozens just chilling on a giant platform!
We stayed here for the longest time, watching them go from sleeping peacefully all cuddled up together, until one would decide it needed to readjust itself which would lead to a rippling effect of them barking at each other for disrupting the peace. Thankfully there were signs in place to help us understand these creatures a little more: All of the sea lions that we were seeing here are males, and they usually hang out here from late summer to late spring. In June and July (which are known as the ‘quieter months’ in Newport) they will all make the trip down to the Channel Islands area in California for mating season, with the females who typically stay in Southern California year round. It was a smelly spot, not going to lie, but an awesome ‘free attraction’ in town that we enjoyed very much!
After our time with the locals, we made our way back to the van next to the lighthouse and had lunch. We debated what to do for the rest of the day, and ultimately decided we wanted to return to Yaquina Head area — we were enjoying Newport, but when all we want to do is hang out and enjoy pretty areas, we prefer to stay in parks where we aren’t in anyone’s way. We drove back North, this time parking in the Quarry Cove area.
While Curtis stayed in the van to get some work done and take a phone call, I took my journal out to a bench to write and enjoy the sun and the waves. While I was sitting there writing, I got yet another sign from Charlotte, in the form of a hummingbird coming right up beside me and hanging around. I was starting to think that after feeling her presence near me three times here in less than 24 hours, maybe this is where I need to be? I don’t think I’d mind that at all…
When Curtis was finished, he went for a quick walk up to the highest point on this peninsula, then we walked down to the quarry cove together. We had been hoping to see some tide pools, however the tide was decidedly not in our favor at this point in our trip, and we’d have to wait another week or two to see the optimal tide take place during optimal time (e.g. in daylight, during a park’s opening hours…and even then the winter currents were against us) Instead, we wrapped the day up by once again returning to the overlook for sunset and dinner, and then made our way over to another sleep spot on the scenic drive. If we didn’t mind loitering around a town for too long, maybe we would’ve found a way to stay here longer, but with so much more we wanted to do on this vacation, we felt it was time to move on — just, slower than we had been going. Besides, I had already made up my mind that we would come back here someday. We always return to places we love, and this town just so happens to be pretty high on the list of places we love.
Charlotte at Yaquina Head, 2017
