Harris Beach State Park

There are so many nice things about Harris Beach. The flowers in May were beautiful. It was a short walk to the beach. The sites were clean and tidy. It is close to Brookings so it is easy to run in to town if you forget something, or want to eat locally. We had some wonderful produce from a farm stand near the edge of town.

We loved having the ice cream truck drive through the park each night.
Cell phone service was good.
We enjoyed site C-1 as there was no one to the south of us, yet we had views of the ocean. We have also stayed at !-24, and it also had a lovely view of the ocean.

We had a "one log fire" right on the beach at night, and it was like we were the only ones there. I imagine that after school gets out for summer vacation, there would be many many more people.

We reserved this prime spot only a week ahead of time in early August (there must have been a cancellation) and could not believe our good fortune when we pulled in to Harris Beach SP. We had a prime spot closest to the beach overlook.

Highly recommend A Loop (avoid anything too near the noisy playground), especially along the edge overlooking the beach far below (sites A 10, 12, 18, 20, 23, 24, 25). Each of these full-hookup sites are very roomy and sited to take advantage of the extraordinary views to the west. Loops B, C and D are in the trees, tighter together and closer to Hwy 101. Harris Beach is also a busy day-use park so be prepared for lots of beach traffic on the weekends.

Brookings is an easy, level mile and a half walk from the HBSP. We walked to town each night for a cold beer and dinner (the Vista Pub is terrific). We recommend driving a few miles south of town to McVay Rock State Park (day use) to watch the seals and giant brown pelicans. The Redwood Nature Trail is well worth the 8-mile drive along the north shore of the Chetco River (turn east on the north side of the bridge in Brookings).

Next time we'll bring our bikes!

The location of this park is phenomenal, a super short walk to a fantastic beach full of sea stacks, tide pools and sandy beaches, just breathtaking. The spot we had was a bit of a challenge to back into, and some may be very hard, so keep that in mind while selecting. The rates are incredibly cheap for full or partial hookups, we had electric and water, there is a dump station though. My only complaint is that there are a lot of kids here, I mean a lot. Our site was close to the playground, so all day long you hear screaming kids. There is even an ice cream truck that comes through, don't come here expecting peace and quiet. Even with that I would totally stay here again, but pick a site away from the playground. Cell service is fantastic, you could easily work from here. Brookings is a very short drive and has fantastic restaurants and a Fred Mayer.

I was headed south from Newport, OR to San Francisco, via bicycle. This would be my last stop in the Beaver State, and I was lonesome for some company after days on the more-trafficky-than-you-think Highway 101. RVs and motorists zipped by me all the day long, I was saturated in stink and sweat, and hadn't seen another cyclist yet.

As I pulled into this campground, not bothering to check the ocean scene first, I was astounded by the abundance of bikers in the hiking/biking reserved spots. I prepared my tent, sorted my head and went to find some firewood. Upon returning, my fellow bikers approached.

They began to speak...

German.

The communication barrier was at least laughable. We made ridiculous hand signals and gestures with our eyes and arms, and then with a final "what I'm doing now means it's time to go back to our tent and drink beer", they were off.

I fled to the beach. Immediately, my t-shirt wished it could have read "astounded". The tide was right and I climbed a massive boulder, lit a smoke, cracked a beer and looked out over the ocean, the sun disappearing, the ant-sized people gathering their beach chairs and frisbee to call it a night. A spirituality hit me there which lasted for days on down the coast, and though I'd already realized how tremendously grandiose the coast of Oregon was, it wasn't until that night that I realized it fully.

This is one of maybe five perfect places on the OR coast that you can camp in an RV (though I wasn't at the time), and combined with the decent little nearby town of Brookings, a highlight of the state.

My wife and I have stayed here a couple of times in a tent and RV. The spots closer to highway 101 are a little louder. The beach and rock formations here are great to explore.The park is well taken care of and clean. Summer can be hard to get a spot.

Update -
Enjoyed another great stay here in our RV. Park is still very clean and well maintained.