Things to Do in Florence, Oregon

The dunes start just south of Florence and run about 40 miles to North Bend. They’re the largest expanse of coastal sand dunes in North America, some reaching 500 feet above sea level, and they helped inspire Frank Herbert’s Dune. You can hike, sandboard, ride horses, paddle the dune lakes or take an off-highway vehicle out on the sand.

★ Good to know ATVs can reach the dunes from South Jetty Road in Florence; the Forest Service visitor center is in Reedsport, about 18 miles south.

The 56-foot lighthouse sits 206 feet above the Pacific, 13 miles north of town, and was first lit in 1894. Its beacon is rated the strongest on the Oregon coast, seen 21 miles out. A half-mile trail climbs from the parking lot past the 1893 assistant keeper’s house, now a bed and breakfast.

★ Good to know The ground floor is open daily when staffing and weather allow; a day-use parking permit is required, and the viewpoint is one of the coast’s best for whales in winter and spring.

This privately owned wildlife preserve has been open since 1932 and bills itself as America’s largest sea cave. The basalt cave is more than 12 stories high and about as wide as a football field. It’s the year-round home of Steller sea lions, and you hear them before you see them.

★ Good to know It’s open year-round except Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, and it’s on U.S. 101 north of town, so pair it with Heceta Head.

Honeyman sits in the dunes 3 miles south of town and has the second-largest campground in the Oregon state park system. Cleawox Lake has a sand dune that slopes right down to the water, plus kayak, pedal boat and paddleboard rentals in season. The stone-and-log bathhouse and other buildings were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930s.

★ Good to know A day-use parking permit is required, and expect off-highway vehicle noise from May through September.

Old Town sits on the Siuslaw riverfront, with a boardwalk along the Port of Siuslaw marina and the Art Deco 1936 Siuslaw River Bridge to the west. Mo’s, at 1436 Bay St., serves chowder on pilings over the river. Just west, Exploding Whale Memorial Park at 612 Rhododendron Drive has a picnic shelter and views of the bridge and the dunes across the river.

★ Good to know The park path is open to kayakers carrying boats down to the river.

The museum fills a historic 1905 schoolhouse at 278 Maple St., a block off U.S. 101. Exhibits run from a dugout canoe and Native tools to logging and fishing gear, the old drawbridge control panel and an early telephone switchboard. It also publishes a historic walking tour of Old Town.

★ Good to know It’s open Wednesday through Sunday afternoons, and kids 15 and under get in free with an adult.

This 18-acre site north of town is the only Oregon state park set aside for a single plant: the carnivorous cobra lily. A boardwalk leads into a fen where the hooded, 10- to 20-inch tubes trap insects. The plants flower with purple petals in spring.

★ Good to know It’s a short stop, open year-round, and it fits on the way to Heceta Head.

Sandland Adventures, at 85366 Highway 101 south of town, runs fast sand-rail tours and slower giant dune buggy tours, plus go-karts, mini golf and bumper boats. North of town, C&M Stables leads horseback rides through coastal forest and dunes and onto the beach, including sunset rides.

★ Good to know C&M can’t guarantee beach conditions; if the guides call the beach unsafe, the ride switches to an inland trail.