Heceta Lighthouse / Oregon Dunes
Driving the Oregon Coast | Cape Perpetua to Reedsport | Thor’s Well | Heceta Head Lighthouse | Holman Vista & Sutton Creek Trail | Oregon Dunes | November 2025
We started our morning by driving back down the forest road and returning to US-101. For our last stop in the Cape Perpetua area, we stopped to see Thor’s Well — which honestly wasn’t quite as impressive to us as the Devil’s Churn was the day before, but maybe we timed the tide wrong. To make the most of our stop, we walked along the coastal trail all the way back into the woods and to the visitor center before returning to the van.
Today was predicted to be rather gloomy with a chance of rain in the afternoon, and while much of the day was overcast, we still happened to see the sun and blue skies for a short period of time. In fact, that about sums up our time on the coast: even when it was supposed to be cloudy or rainy, we would still see the sun every day. We were expecting the PNW gloom, so this was a pleasant surprise and definitely made it easier to stay on the coast longer.
Our main goal for today was to drive a little further down the coast to the Heceta Head Lighthouse area. This would give us a new place to see and new trails to hike, and we could also find another spot to camp in the forest not far from this area. The short drive helped to charge our battery, since we wouldn’t be getting a lot of solar today.
We parked in the main parking lot near the giant Cape Creek bridge and paid the day use fee. After having snacks in the van, we set off on the trail that leads up to the lighthouse. We arrived just before they opened for tours, so we continued following the trail going up the hill and enjoyed more views from above the lighthouse and of the coastline to the North. Back at the lighthouse, we stopped inside and talked to the ranger there, and watched a short film about the history of this spot.
Once we were finished here, we made our way up a forest road to find a spot where we could relax for the rest of the day and camp that evening. We were extra cautious knowing it was supposed to rain, and found a spot where it wouldn’t get too muddy and we wouldn’t have trouble getting out (we’ve only gotten stuck and needed help twice, and those aren’t experiences that we ever want to repeat, especially here in a very little traveled area and without cell reception!)
The next morning, we made it out safely, and once again returned to US-101 and resumed our drive South – after a quick stop to enjoy another view of Heceta Head Lighthouse from a rest area on the South side. From here, we could hear the sea lions barking either on the rocks or near the sea cave below, but we weren’t willing to pay the fees to see the cave. And so we continued driving South, looking for a spot with cell reception where Curtis could get some work done and we could have some sort of morning activity.
This brought us to the Holman Vista, one of the Northernmost recreation areas on the Oregon coastal sand dunes. I made breakfast while Curtis worked, and then we went for a long walk together — first to a lookout over the dunes, and then on the Sutton Creek Trail which took us into the woods and on a long walk to the creek, near the campground. Curtis found a letterbox, and then we made our way back, checking out another trail to the North before returning to the van. We got back on the road, and stopped in Florence to stock up on enough food to get us through the week, as it was Thanksgiving week and we didn’t want to have to set foot in another store until the next week.
From here, we continued further South to another rest area with dune overlooks. After having lunch in the van, we made our way out to the lookout. From where we were, we were still far from the coast, high up on the sand dunes that stretched out as far North and South as we could see. It was an impressive view, but after mulling it over we decided against walking the 5 mile loop trail through the dunes. If we’re being honest, coastal dunes just don’t do it for us, probably because we aren’t sandy beach people to begin with. And that’s okay, we still made an attempt to enjoy this part of the Oregon Coast before moving on. We did find it humorous to think about how the author of the book Dune was inspired by this place to write his book — not intermountain or landlocked sand dunes, but dunes right next to the ocean.
It was mid-afternoon at this point, and we still weren’t entirely sure where we wanted to camp tonight. This area had a lack of dispersed forest camping like we had enjoyed before, so it seemed like we would probably end up on the side of a highway. We read about a spot off of OR-38 East of Reedsport that we thought could work, so we did a drive-by to get a feel for it. It turned out to just be an old weigh station, which could work, but we wanted to minimize our time spent there so we kept on driving East to the Dean Creek Elk Viewing Area. True to its name, there were plenty of elk within view, so we hung out here for the rest of the afternoon, watching the elk and getting some work done. When dusk was approaching (which was when the viewing area closed) we made our way back to the pull-off. I made dinner and we sat there for a while, feeling it out. It wasn’t the worst, we could probably make it through the night and it would just be loud, but we decided to check our camping apps to see if there was something better. I looked more at the stealth camping options in Reedsport and learned that it was legal to park in a large lot a few blocks off the road, and we agreed that it would probably be quieter than this place.
When we arrived, we were much more satisfied with this spot, and settled in for the evening. A fog moved in, making the nighttime views rather eerie, and then some horn/siren sounded which sent us to the internet searching for any potential alerts in the area. It turned out that it was just a weekly siren test, and we ended up having a peaceful and uneventful evening here.
