Driftwood Beach State Recreation Site - Distinctive Wonder of Waldport, Central Oregon Coast

Published 01/08/2019 at 4:23 AM PDT
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Waldport, Oregon) – Just south of Seal Rock and between there and Waldport, there’s apparently not much. Just trees and highway. (See the complete photo spread below)

Or is there? This chunk of Oregon coast 101 wrangles and wriggles its way between the two towns with primarily nothing but primeval forest and lush greenery on either side. Apparently only a smattering of businesses and maybe one beach access dot the seemingly endless road.

It’s that single access that’s the key. Here, we’re talking about Driftwood Beach State Recreation Site.

Suffice it to say this spot is aptly named, with an enormous sandy beach often quite populated with large chunks of driftwood. The parking lot high above the beach makes for a great viewpoint if you don’t feel wandering down the entirety of the trail to the bottom. There are picnic tables and some restroom facilities there as well

In the midst of this forest sits the eye-catching, undulating architecture of the Triad Gallery building – a landmark since at least the early ‘90s. That’s a mere quarter mile from the entrance to Driftwood Beach State Recreation Site. This rolling, winding and almost alive building is made of cedar and is a product of architect Glen Howard Small. It is an unusual structure, even for a large city, and most certainly so for something in the middle of a kind of coastal nowhere. But its curvaceous design and ethereal beauty somehow echo - indeed intentionally mimic - the ocean waves and the mountains to the immediate east. At one time, for many years, actually, its dazzling esotericism was accentuated by the presence of a neon horse sculpture in the front. It is now a real estate firm.

Once on these soft sands, you’ll find harder-packed sand near the tideline, while the landward gets rather dunes-like.

Two miles northward, if you’re hiking the Oregon Coast Trail, you pass nothing but more sand and fancy homes until you reach Seal Rock. It’s three miles southward until you reach the final edges of the spit at Alsea Bay and the middle of Waldport. Lodgings in Waldport - Where to eat - Full Waldport / Driftwood Maps and Virtual Tours

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