Harris Beach State Park
Brookings, OR
This was our last stop in Oregon before dropping into Ca. And quite a nice stop it was. This state park is well positioned on US 101, right across from some magnificent ocean views. A short walk out of the park and right onto the trail that takes you down to the rocky coast with crashing waves and picturesque rocky boulder formations right near the beach. The park itself was well designed, but the RV spaces can be tight due the heavy forested trees and shrubs that surround many of the sites. Our site (B13) was a back in site which was narrow at the front but opened to a decent size gravel patio. The site surface was paved, as were the roads all throughout the park. We paid $232 for our week long stay, which came out to just over $33 a night, a great bargain.
Our site was a 50 amp FHU site, and the utilities worked well. I struggled to get cell signal at our site partly due to the distance from the tower, and also the heavily trees throughout the park. I finally realized that by using my cell phone as a hot spot I was able to connect to the cell tower using T-Mobiles newer Band 71 (600 MHz). Our router doesn't have that band yet, but my newer cell phone does. After hooking up the hot spot we were able to surf the net and stream Amazon at night. There was the occasional buffering, but usually only at the start of the program.
Staying at the park right now requires a reservation be made on line with no walk in accepted. But what that meant was that during our week stay many of the really nice sites were vacant after the weekend. And also do to Covid the restrooms were open but the showers were closed. The restrooms appeared to be handicapped accessible, but not sure if the showers were or not. Over the air TV was out of the question as well, at least in our site which was at the back of the park. Satellite TV would have been dicey as well depending on the site. There are sites in the front of the park that have great ocean views, but of course those sell out first.
Across from the park is a walking path that leads right into Brookings, and it is about 1.1 miles one way. We walked it for exercise one day and it was a pretty easy mostly paved smooth path. Like many state parks, the weekends can be pretty loud with families, but quieted down during the week. Of course with all that good stuff there has to be some issues. For us it was the fairly large group of tent campers in back of us. There were not too loud, but they did partake in smoking marijuana on a nightly basis. Even though the shrubs around the site created a bit of privacy, the unmistakable odor drifted right through. We would hang for a little while, but it usually sent us inside to close up the windows. But I can't blame that on the park, that is society's issue!
So I can definitely recommend this park for great rates, better scenery, and well maintained appearance. Even in spite of the smoke and ash that blew in for a few days due to the wild fires burning throughout Oregon and Ca, it was still a great place to stay.
Pic 1) The patio was pretty private due to the heavy shrubs
Pic 2) Fitting the Jeep in was kind of snug
Pic 3) The drivers side was snug as well
Pic 4) Past the last RV's in the pic is the ocean (through the smoke)
Pic 5) Even in mid Sept at 5 PM the Oregon coast can be cold!
