Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Five Fun, Inexpensive (or FREE) Things to do on the Central Oregon Coast!

Fish Food!..Alsea River Fish Hatchery
Oregon Coast Hatchery and Research Center at Fall Creek-28 miles E on Hwy 34 Turn left (if you are heading E on 34) on Fall Cr. Rd. This is a beautiful place to visit anytime of year but especially pretty during the fall months.  You can purchase a handful of fish food for 25 cents and feed the fish.  I love watching the feeding frenzy when you throw a handful of food in!  There is also a small visitor center which is fun to wander through.

 Big Spruce Trail at Cape Perpetua
Alsea River Fish Hatchery----This hatchery is located 43 miles E on How 34.   Turn left (if you are heading E on 34) on Fish Hatchery Rd.  This is a fun place to visit.  The hatchery raises trout that will be used to stock local lakes.  You can purchase a handful of fish food for 25cents and feed the fish....again it is fun to watch all the flipping and tail slapping that occurs as the fish rush to eat the food at the surface!  There is a tank which holds sturgeon and an enclosure that houses different varieties of pheasant. 

Cape Perpetua--Fee area $5.00 per day. Cape Perpetua is a beautiful recreation area just a few short miles South of Yachats.  There are a lot of trail heads that begin at the Visitor Center.  You can take a 2 mile trek and go visit a 400 year old Spruce tree, a 1 mile hike down to the tide pools (paved and stroller accessible the whole way) and others.  Make sure to go during low tide for tide pool accessibility.  Otherwise at high tide you can observe water spouts and splashing waves!

Yaquina Head Lighthouse--Fee area $5.00 per day.  This is a beautiful place to visit.  There is a wonderful interpretive center.  There are games for the kids to play, coloring for them to do and it is fun to tour around looking at all of the lighthouse history.  The drive out to the light house offers an incredible view and the tide pools are wonderful (make sure to go during low tide for best accessibility).  There is an area that is accessible for wheel chairs so all can enjoy being close to the ocean and tide pools.  One caveat is that the non-handicap accessible walk down to the tidepools is a bit of a hike.  There are many stairs and then when you reach the bottom you will be walking among small round rocks that are difficult to walk on.  Be careful!   The lighthouse can be toured during summer months.  This is also a great place to whale watch!

Agate Beach Recreation Site--beach access and a trail head for the Ocean to Bay Trail.  The trail head is located on the East side of the parking lot.  This trail is a beautiful one filled with lots of greenery, wooden bridges and is protected from the wind.  Bike accessible....but inexperienced bicyclists may need assistance in loose gravel.


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