Camping at Sunset Bay & Photographing the Beauty of Oregon’s Coast
Located near Coos Bay, the Sunset Bay campground provides access to several scenic miles of the Oregon Coast Trail, which winds its way along the shoreline from Sunset Bay all the way to Cape Arago.
Trip planning
This was my second trip at Sunset Bay with a good friend of mine who is into photography. This section of the Oregon Coast is famous for it’s dramatic scenery and a perfect place to practice photography skills.
Since our goal was take photos at sunrise and sunset, we didn’t do any long hikes on this trip. Instead, we got up early and hiked in the dark to viewpoints that we scouted the night before so we could shoot at sunrise. We did the same at night, returning to camp in the dark after sunset.
camping in our cars to stay warm and dry
From the campground, a trail connects to the beach at Sunset Bay and the Oregon Coast Trail. Side trails lead to viewpoints along the coastline here, all of them featuring different views of dramatic scenery.
trails through coastal forest lead to viewpoints of the dramatic coastline
Sunset Bay beach
Cape Arago lighthouse at sunrise
sunrise at Sunset Bay
waves crashing at Shore Acres State Park
We didn’t realize that there was a tsunami warning while we were shooting photos on the second day of our trip. There’s no cell service at camp, but there is on the trail in between and we found out about the warning while hiking back to camp. The waves were large, but didn’t seem much different than a high tide with waves crashing against the rocks on the shoreline. Thankfully, there wasn’t any damage in the area.
sunset at Shore Acres
Even after exploring many of the trails here, there’s still more to discover so I hope to return again soon.