Two miles north of Depoe Bay, Highway 101 crosses a short bridge that crosses over Fogarty Creek State Park. After passing through a forested corridor, the alert traveler sees a sudden quick flash of pristine beach and bay.
Fogarty Creek Offers Wind Sheltered Comfort
The creek, for which the park is named, divides Fogarty Creek State Park into north and south parking areas. There are more parking spaces including R.V. parking in the north side. Adjacent to the parking lots are many picnic tables sheltered from the ocean breezes by the highway berm on the west and ample tree cover overhead. The park includes restrooms, barbecues, trash receptacles and a covered picnic gazebo. The gazebo is available for reservations through the Oregon parks website or by calling 1-800-551-6949.
Fogarty Creek Park is a no fee, day-use park, though there is no overnight camping, there is plenty to do for a day-long trip.
Forest Trails and Footpaths at Fogarty Creek
After parking in the north or south lots, the members of your party who favor the forest are steps away from well maintained asphalt walking paths that wind throughout the park past multitudes of out-in-the-open park tables and into secluded glens with single tables for quiet, out-of-the-way lunching. Other trails lead off into the forest at the edge of the maintained area that warrant exploration by the adventurous and curious.
Other footpaths lead up the hill on the north side of the park past picnic tables and into the woods above the park. Wandering through the forest, with its sound muffling undergrowth, it’s easy to forget you are only a few hundred feet from Highway 101. It’s a great area for adventurous but untrained explorers because it feels like you are in the middle of the wilds, but walk in a straight line in any direction and the lost adventurer will end up on the road into the park, the parking lot, or Highway 101 within minutes.
Fogarty Creek runs through the middle of the park and wooden foot bridges span the creek to allow visitors to walk from one side to the other without difficulty. I suggest if you want to cross the creek, use the bridges not the logs that tend to end up floating in the creek. The logs look big and stable, weighing tons, but they tend to float in even shallow water, and roll when stepped on. Though log rolling may look fun, I discovered it’s not as easy as it may appear, and it’s dangerous.
Out of the Forest and Under the Bridge to the Uncrowded Beach
If you tire of the forests, the extensive trails, and the open grass spaces, the Pacific Ocean waits just a short walk west under Highway 101. When you head for the beach, the first view is a peek framed by the berm and bridge of the highway. As you emerge from under the bridge, the crescent shaped beach unfolds. Atop the cliff to the north sits the Surfrider Resort. If your party becomes too tired to go on, the resort is a two-minute drive from either parking area.
At high tide the beach to the north past the Surfrider resort becomes wave washed, so keep that in mind while you are wandering the beach so you can be on the homeward side before the tide comes in.
There is lots of uncrowded beach to the south. A small island that stands in the way of incoming waves provides a water ballet as waves break into its crevices only to be forced under pressure into skyward shooting jets of sea spray. At low tide, the island is accessible and there are abundant tide pools available to watch the local inhabitants go about their activities. The beach curves along the coastline to the rocky outcropping just a short way north of Boiler Bay.
Fogarty Creek Park Beach Activities
Building sand castles is one of my favorite activities on this beach. The beach slopes easily into the ocean and my grandchildren enjoy challenging the mild waves to catch them as they run into the water as the waves ebb, and back up onto the sand as they return. Kite flying is milder here because it is a protected cove, so younger children can control their own kites where out on the open beach the winds can get strong making it more difficult.
When my grandchildren get tired (naturally they are the ones who get tired) of constructing castles, flying kites and racing the waves, we can head back into the park for lunch or just a rest in the shade surrounded by quiet and serene forest. When we’re finished at Fogarty Creek Park, my next stop is Big Mountain Coffee Roasters just up the highway.
To add another dimension to a coast visit, while in Lincoln Beach head back onto Highway 101 and just up the road is Fishing Rock State Park. It sits high above the water and offers majestic open ocean and coastal views. For another close up experience from the volcanic sea wall, Rocky Creek Park is only five and a half miles south.
Finding Fogarty Creek State Park
Fogarty Creek State Park is located eight miles south of Lincoln City, and two miles north of Depoe Bay right on Highway 101. State park signs clearly mark both north and south entrances and both are on the west side of the highway. Dogs are allowed but must be on a leash.
Jon Thompson - Jon Thompson - freelance article and commercial writer with background in education, business, advertising, sales and emergency ...
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