The consensus among RVers is that Oregon has some of the nicest state park campgrounds in the country. As temporary members of the RV community, we’ve now camped in three Oregon parks and I think it’s safe to say that we’ve jumped on the Beaver State bandwagon.

While researching this trip, I became obsessed with reading RV park and campground reviews. I even Googled for specific campsite numbers to see what people had to say about the ones we’d reserved. So here’s my chance to return the favor, with some reviews of our camping experiences in Oregon before we head north into Washington tomorrow:

Valley of the Rogue State Park (Gold Hill, OR): Site F12

It was 95 degrees when we pulled in, the truck had strained over a series of mountain passes on Highway 5, and we were nervous about taxing the engine after what had happened the previous day in Yuba City. So we weren’t exactly in the most relaxed frame of mind to appreciate this pretty and peaceful park. But Valley of the Rogue turned out to be a great place to stay.

Our site was spacious and well-separated from our neighbors. The other loops in the park have sewer hookups, but we didn’t need that on day 2 of our trip and we were glad for the extra space in Loop F as compared to the more tightly-packed campsites in other sections of the park. We plugged in the trailer and fired up the air conditioning.

After cooling off a bit, we tried exploring the park. There’s a trail that runs several miles along the Rogue River to the town of the same name, but the air was too warm for the humans and the asphalt was too hot for Zora’s feet so we gave up on that mission pretty quickly. We also abandoned our plans for a campfire dinner, and settled for another night of cold cuts in the trailer. With our radius of exploration diminished due to the heat, we investigated the showers and toilets in the park—which were clean and comfortable.

Sunset Bay State Park (Coos Bay, OR): Site A26

We’d had it with the heat wave and were up and out early, heading west toward the ocean. The road over to the coast was gorgeous, winding through forests and farmland along the path of the Coquille River before ending at Highway 101 in the pretty but sleepy town of Bandon.

We checked out Bandon Harbor a bit, but quickly ran out of things to do there and decided to have a picnic at Face Rock State Park. Smart choice! We had this beautiful beach mostly to ourselves, and Zora splashed in the ocean while Maureen and I admired the impressive collection of sea stacks offshore. After a windblown lunch on the cliffs overlooking the beach, we were on the road again, up the coastline a bit toward Coos Bay.

Our destination for the night was Sunset Bay State Park on Cape Arago: another nice Oregon campground with large, well-secluded spots. Our site had a significant slope, so we had to bust out the leveling blocks to avoid listing like a drunken pirate.

Here at the seaside, it was finally cool enough to turn off the air conditioning and do some exploring. We hiked a couple miles to the botanical gardens at Shoreline Acres park, which were off-limits to dogs. So Maureen checked out the flowers while Mike and Zora hid out from the park rangers on the trail behind the parking lot. Except for a couple of old ladies sniffing their disapproval of Zora, we successfully avoided the dog police.

We’d had it with cold cuts, and were relieved it was finally cool enough to have our first real campfire! We bought two bundles of wood from the gregarious park hosts (she was exceptionally chatty and he was either deaf or faking it as a survival skill) and grilled up tasty but smoky chicken, with smoky s’mores for dessert.

Cape Lookout (Tillamook, OR): Site D4

We took our time getting ready and stopped at Safeway on the way through Coos Bay, so it was noon by the time we got back on 101 North. The road weaved back-and-forth between coastal cliffs and inland woods, passing through a series of towns with names like Faulkner characters (Florence, Heceta, Yachats).

We stopped in Newport for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at the working harbor, which felt (and smelled) a lot like Princeton Harbor back in Half Moon Bay. Newport has seen its share of marine tragedies, and the people and vessels lost in shipwrecks are memorialized with plaques on the sidewalk. For a small town, there were a lot of names in the concrete.

That brings us to where we are now: Cape Lookout State Park outside Tillamook, OR. This is my favorite park in terms of location and things to do, but the campsites are smaller and more tightly packed than other places we’ve stayed. (This seems like a good time to commend Maureen for her trailer-backing skills; threading the needle into our current site was quite a maneuver–one which she handled flawlessly and to the applause of the other campers around us!)

It’s cool and gray today, which reminds us quite a bit of home. We’re not leaving until tomorrow, giving me plenty of time to write this lengthy post on the iPad, while Maureen does some sketching and collaging–also very reminiscent of our lives at home!