Hiking Humbug Mountain
Port Orford to Nesika Beach, OR | Hiking Humbug Mountain | Arizona Beach | Sisters Rock State Park | November 2025
On the day that we left our camping spot near Port Orford, we had planned a busy day of hiking and exploring on the coast. The rain and clouds that had come over the holiday had moved on, leaving a beautiful sunny day for us to enjoy being outside. We left the China Mountain area and started heading South, with our first stop of the day being Humbug Mountain.
Humbug Mountain is a peak that has lived rent free in my head for the past 8 years ever since I first saw it. When I was driving the coast with Charlotte in 2017, I seriously considered hiking it with her, but ended up chickening out when I saw the trailhead sign which warned of recent mountain lion sightings and a hornet nest right on the trail. I knew it also wouldn’t be the easiest thing for me to do alone with Charlotte, so I moved on to easier places where we could hike…but I never forgot about this prominent peak that stands right on the Oregon coast.
As it is such a prominent peak, naturally it was one of the things Curtis wanted to do most on the coast, so I knew this year was going to finally be my chance to hike it. We had been admiring it for the past few days while hanging around Port Orford, but today was truly the best day to hike it — it was clear of clouds, potentially promising great views of the partially foggy coastline below if we made it up.
And so we set off on the trail, beginning on the long switchbacks taking us up the mountain. Right away, we were transported into a lush forest filled with moss hanging from the trees and tall ferns along the way. We had to dodge a few small streams cascading their way down the hillside and across the trail, but over all the trail was in very good condition. I loved that this hike had just what each of us wanted — prominence for Curtis, a meandering trail through a gorgeous forest for me.
At about a mile in to our hike, we came to a fork in the trail which would make a loop up to the summit and back. However, because of signs warning us of wind damage and downed trees to the left, we just took the right (West) trail up and back. I didn’t mind at all, while we were walking on the West trail we could hear the sound of waves crashing into rocks on the coast far below us, reminding us that even though it looked like we were far remote in a lush forest, we were still right next to the ocean. The switchbacks became shorter and the trail became steeper, but before we knew it we were in the final stretch to the peak. As we neared the end, the trees became thinner, and the sun beams broke through every chance they got.
The peak doesn’t really have a good 360 view, but we sat on a log and enjoyed our mostly clear view to the South down the coast. We stayed up there until three guys and their three unleashed rambunctious dogs arrived, then made our way back down. The trip down went by quickly, and while we had been mostly alone for our whole hike up, we saw quite a few groups making their way up now. Altogether the trail was 5 miles long, and gained just over 1800 feet of elevation. Check out our recording on AllTrails if you’re interested in the hike. I always like to look for little aspects of a hike that remind me of other places we’ve been, and for some reason Deer Mountain in Ketchikan, AK was on the front of my mind for much of this hike. Probably because of how similar the trail structures were, and how green the forests are.
It was around noon when we finished, so we drove a little further South looking for a scenic spot to have some lunch. We ended up at Arizona Beach, where we snacked in the van, and then went out for a beach walk. We spent a long time standing along the creek that empties into the ocean, watching the sand banks on either side fall into the water piece by piece.
Next, we drove down a little further to a state park Curtis wanted to check out: Sisters Rock. I don’t remember it at all from last time I was here, and there really aren’t signs signaling where to turn. We parked in a dirt lot, dodging the giant puddles, then got out and started following the Oregon Coast Trail down a slope. The Sisters are made up of three large sea stacks, two connected to the coast and one further out in the ocean (maybe technically, only the one in the ocean is a seastack). We followed the trail down to a small strip of beach connecting the two, ultimately walking towards the taller one on the right (North). Curtis had heard about there being a sea cave here, so we went in search of that first, finding it at the base of the mound on the right. We sat at the mouth of the cave, watching and listening to the roar of the waves coming crashing in. Next, we wandered up to a lookout on the other mound and enjoyed the views and a different perspective on the sea cave here, as well as the ever present seals. This probably ended up being our favorite coastal park along the entire Oregon Coast this trip — it was unexpected and incredibly gorgeous, with hardly anyone else there!
As sunset was approaching, we found a stealth camp spot for the night on a road parallel to US-101. We braved the evening chill and wind to go out on the beach for sunset — what would end up being our last sunset in Oregon for this trip. It was one of those colorful sunsets that just keeps getting better and better even after the sun has slipped below the horizon, the perfect way to end such a wonderful day and week+ spent on the Oregon Coast.
