Sunset Bay State Park

We lucked out with the quiet and private spot A29. It was peaceful and relaxing and the beach outside the entrance was beautiful. Loved that we had privacy on our driver side and didn’t need to pull down the blinds! Bigs rig’s may find it tough to park. We have a 40’ fifth wheel and it was very tricky to fit in the spot. Luckily we arrived right at check in and the spot across was opened, which we needed to utilize in order to back into our spot.would recommend this for a quiet getaway.

This is a sweet little campground that has the bay in fairly easy walking distance, a State Park with a botanic garden down the road and another state park with incredible sea lion viewing a little farther down the road. Not the nicest or most modern in terms of amenities but nothing to complain about. It has a little learning area/interpretive center but it wasn't open when we were there.

Sunset Bay is shallow, fairly warm (by Oregon standards) and has some great tidepools and rock formations. I can see that it would get quite busy in nicer weather, it was drizzly and foggy most of the time we were there. Highly recommend going to Cape Arago to see the sea lions and seals. And the Shore Acres garden was cool too, as was the viewpoint to the Cape Arago lighthouse. Coos Bay wasn't really all that interesting, a short boardwalk but stick close to the park there's plenty to do.

We stayed here a few years ago - no reservation, just pulled in and grabbed a site. Can't remember how much we paid... had electricity and water. The sites were "ok" - smallish and nothing to write home about, BUT the walking to the bay, the greenery, the creek and a really nice ranger that "allowed" us to let our old Lab off leash for about 15 minutes on the beach when NO ONE was around made it great! A very cool bay - pretty day use area.

We booked a reservation in here a couple weeks in advance for a Monday stay during early October. Online booking was easy enough and we were able to "check-in" online ahead of time so that we could pull right into our campsite - great for social distancing during COVID! It was very crowded and fully booked, so we were happy to have the reservation.

Campsite itself was really shaded with tall old growth trees. There were bushes between each site, so decent amount of privacy but close enough to say "hello" to the neighbors. Nice fire rings built in with cooking grates if needed. Thank goodness, the burn bans were lifted, so we got to enjoy a fire, although the wood bundles from the campground was a bit wet, so hard to get a good fire going. Site A8 was directly across from the restrooms, which were nice and clean.

Where this campground really shines is location. There is a nice walking path that winds down to the day use area and beaches. And the beach was gorgeous. Hardly anybody there at sunset and a great place to dip our toes into the cool water. Beautiful!

Sites are a little close together. Our site was a little off to itself and had a creek running right next to the site. The showers are currently closed due to Covid 19. All the bathrooms were open except loop B. Currently no campfires allied. We have a propane fire pit and that was allowed. And no briquette bbqs. The beach is a short bike ride or walk from the campground. The beach is beautiful lots of room to spread out. The view of the bay is spectacular. Bring your kayak or paddle board they even have a boat launch. No dump station at Sunset Bay but there is one just up the road at the county beach park. Cost $5. Shore Acres Botanical Gardens is just a few miles up the road. If you’re checking weather forecast for your trip Coos Bay or Charleston are more accurate than Banden.

The bay is gorgeous at sunset! There are picnic tables and trails to enjoy. There is a trail that takes you safely from the campground to the day use area. The tide rolls out quite far offering rock hoping. Also saw paddleboards in the bay.
The sites were tight on one way roads. We had to adjust a few times to get our van into our space. We had no Verizon service with our hotspot and booster, so left into town to send messages and take care of tasks. We weren't too excited about the local area.
I hope we come back to enjoy the sunsets.