beverly beach state park - yurt camping and exploring on the Oregon coast

Beverly Beach State Park

I've stayed at Beverly Beach State Park with my family twice now. I love this park. It's quite a large campground with tent spaces, RV sites, and yurts available. They also have flush toilets and showers. That helps when you have kids with you! I would recommend booking well ahead of time. If you can get into loop A, do so. It's close to everything in the park, including the bathrooms, beach access, and services such as coffee, ice, and campfire wood sales... because you know you might forget the wood! (We forgot chocolate for the S'mores. Luckily, there is a store at the top of the park entrance where you can buy chocolate.)

The park is heavily wooded. Which is nice to avoid sunburns but it makes for a cooler campground overall. We stayed in a tent in August 2016 (usually the warmest month of the year) and we froze. We didn't pack heavy coats since it was the dead of summer! Dang it! We ended up driving into Lincoln City and buying coats from Goodwill. Luckily, we all found a coat that would work. Our most recent trip was in April 2017 during Spring Break so I knew I wanted to reserve a yurt. If you want to get a yurt over a weekend you'll need to plan far in advance. I'm talking about reserving a year ahead of time. If you want to get a couple days during the week you can probably luck out reserving several months ahead of time.

This was our first experience staying in a yurt and I have to say, it was the best! Yurt living is the life for me! Each yurt has a cute little name. We stayed in the Sandpiper. I was extra glad with our decision to skip the tent this last trip when it started raining! The campsites were all flooding around us but we were dry and warm the whole trip. The yurts have electricity and space heaters. Side note: The little awning will not keep your deck dry. We ended up with puddles in the seats of our camp chairs. Luckily, we were able to dry them overnight with the heaters inside! We will probably always book a yurt while staying at Beverly Beach from here on out.

Some tips to help your yurt stay go more smoothly. 

• The showers are classic camp showers. Why do they always aim the shower head toward the changing area? So you turn on the shower and it shoots out all over the floor in the changing area. EVERYTHING ends up wet. If you head to the showers early you may get a dry stall but as soon as you turn on your water the floor will get soaked. Don't put anything on the ground. Use the shelf and bench. I suggest packing everything in a bag with straps that you can hang. Some people aren't overly considerate and may set wet items on the bench and shelf leaving you without a dry corner. A hanging bag is your best bet to keep your items dry. I also pack a plastic bag for wet items and an extra towel to put on the floor AFTER your shower. Place the towel close to the door to minimize how wet it gets. It gives you somewhere dry to stand while you get dressed. After you're dressed you can immediately drop that towel into your plastic bag. Bring easily to slip on shoes. Then you won't have to sit down or balance and struggle getting socks onto damp feet. You can put on your socks and shoes back in the yurt. This has so far been the best method I've found to actually feel clean after a camp shower.

• If you have air mattresses, bring them. Take the bunk pads off the bed and stow them under, using your air mattresses instead. Our yurt had a full size futon and a bunk with a twin on top and a double on the bottom. The pads seem alright until you sleep on them. They are so firm it's hard to sleep on them. Our bodies all hurt the next morning. Luckily we packed our own mattresses so we swapped them the second night and slept great! You will need all your own bedding.

Some places to explore on your trip! 
Tillamook Cheese Factory

Depending on the route you take to get to the coast and where you're coming from... if you end up close enough to trek through the city of Tillamook you have to stop at the Tillamook Cheese Factory! Cheese samples (including a sample called "squeaky cheese" which is a large cheese curd that sometimes produces a squeaky sound while being chewed) and ice cream made from the local cows. It's too much fun! We also had lunch while we were there. Cheeseburgers and grilled cheese? Yes, please.

Yaquina Bay Historic Lighthouse

There are two lighthouses in Newport, OR. They are both great but this one is free. That makes it the best. This lighthouse is located at the South side of Newport. They used to tell a great old ghost story at the lighthouse and then give you a tour, in which as a child, you just looked for the ghost. But the old ghost story has been laid to rest. You can watch a film in the basement about the history of the lighthouse (which is where they destroyed my children's day revealing the ghost story hoax) and then self-tour the lighthouse (which is very steep in the stairs, so hold onto small children). We were so disappointed in the ghost story reveal. BOO! #bringbackmuriel #revivetheghoststory I'd like to start a movement to bring back the tale of Muriel the ghost! Until then, you can tell the ghost story to your children and skip the video in the basement. Please remember to leave a donation before you go so that we can share this beautiful location for many years to come.

Muriel the Ghost

This legend tells of the ghost of Muriel Travenard. Muriel was born at the end of the 19th century and lost her mother when she was quite young. When she was a teenager her father dropped her off in Newport to visit friends. 

During her visit Muriel and her friends went exploring. The curious teenagers visited the abandoned lighthouse and the surrounding area. Before leaving Muriel went back to the lighthouse to retrieve her scarf and never returned to her friends. 

No amount of calling out got any response, and when her friends went inside the lighthouse, they saw a pool of blood on the floor leading to the closed iron plate. Try as they might they could not pry open the plate.

Muriel's body was never found but a dark bloodstain believed to be hers remains on the floor. Although no one really knows exactly what happened, people reported seeing her ghost looking out from the lantern room or casually walking down the path. Even members of the Coast Guard ANT team have testified to the fact that mysterious things have happened on their watch.

- Story courtesy of Newport Area Guide

The Yaquina Head Lighthouse

This lighthouse is on the North side of Newport and you will have to pay to enter the park. The current price is $7 for a regular passenger vehicle and it is good for 3 days of visiting the park. We were unable to book a lighthouse tour while we were there as they were sold out. You can walk to the lighthouse on your own, which has fabulous whale watching opportunities, but if you want to have a tour of the lighthouse you'd best schedule in advance!

The Newport Bay Aquarium

The aquarium is pretty fun. It's very similar to visiting a zoo only marine animal themed. For a family of six it can get quite expensive to visit so we don't go often. I think I'm good for another decade before I need to go back! If you can afford it you should definitely go. My favorite features are the photo opportunity in front of the diver (TIP: make sure your flash is turned OFF) and the jelly fish are pretty cute. They also have a glass hallway with sharks and stingrays swimming above and under you. My kids loved it!! They would eagerly go back.

The aquarium accepts standard donations but I think a more fun way to donate is through animal adoptions. So fun for kids to get involved in this way. You can also purchase memberships if you live close and can visit often. A membership is a great gift also!

Newport

If you want to go crabbing you can do that off the docks in Newport. We haven't done this but we've watched people pull crab traps up and it's definitely on our to-do list. We love to walk through the bay area and look at the gorgeous boats and laugh at the feisty Sea Lions on the docks. Newport also has tourist shops and local places to visit such as a Ripley's Believe It Or Not museum and an Undersea Gardens (which is mostly a gift shop) where you go downstairs and end up under sea level and can view any present sea life.

The Beach - I mean, obviously

The beach at the campground is pretty awesome. It never seems to be too busy when we're there. You won't find a ton of shells but there are a ton of rocks and fossils. You'll definitely be able to explore the beach and you can see Yaquina Head Lighthouse out in the distance. We've also seen boats close to shore and the Coast Guard flies over quite often. It's a pretty happening place!

The kids favorite thing to do at the beach? Unanimously. RUN FROM THE WAVES! So make sure you plan a lot of time for that as well!

Fogarty Creek State Park

If you want an alternate beach to explore while staying at Beverly Beach State Park we found an amazing beach nearby (head North toward Depot Bay) on this last trip there and the sun actually came out and everything. We will definitely spend a whole day here next time. There is tons of parking, easy beach access, and restrooms. The beach is super chunky/rocky sand that you can find tons of agates in! There are also large rocks to climb and explore. We saw some people clamming and again, since we are not Oregon state residents, we skipped it. We want to go clamming. Someday!

See you at the campground! I'll bring the coffee. If I can remember to pack it.