Ona Beach (Brian Booth State Park) (61 miles from Corvallis)

Ona Beach is our favorite coastal picnic spot; although a bit far, this makes a nice day trip to the beach. Spring and fall, before and after summer when upwelling fogs and winds can make walking on the beach less enjoyable (and when the Oregon coast is packed with tourists), are good times to visit.

Picnic area: The large picnic area offers many semi-private tables are scattered around an open field; some are set beside Beaver Creek, which flows past the park to the ocean. There is no covered shelter, so check that the weather is clear before coming. If there is a cool breeze, often the case during summer, some tables offer a windbreak beside a stand of firs.

Restrooms: A large restroom with flush toilets and running water is in the middle of the picnic area.

Hiking: Paved paths lead to a wooden bridge over the creek, and onto the sandy beach. Walk left (south) on the beach to an interesting area of eroded sandstone and cobbles (see photo). Just across Highway 101 from Ona Beach is Beaver Creek State Natural Area, which has a welcome center, an observation deck overlooking a marsh, and 5 miles of hiking trails in the forest. Canoes or kayaks can also put in here for a relaxing paddle in the creek and wetlands.

Pets: Dogs should be leashed in the park and on the beach.

Birding: Shore birds abound. Gulls like to bath in the freshwater of the creek as it empties into the sea. During spring and fall, migratory sandpipers, plovers, whimbrels, curlews and Brant geese stop by to feed or rest on the beach. A bald eagle may fly by.

Getting there: Go west out of Corvallis toward Philomath on Highway 20. Follow Highway 20 through the coastal range to Newport. At Newport, turn left (south) at the light on Highway 101. Go south about 10 miles, just past the sign for Brian Booth State Park (the new name for Ona Beach State Park), turn right into the large parking lot for the picnic area and beach.

If you have time after visiting Ona Beach/Beaver Creek, travel 14 miles north on Highway 101, through Newport, to Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area (turn left at a traffic light on a hill just past Agate Beach). A fee of $7 per car is charged by the Bureau of Land Management which manages the site, or one can buy an annual Yaquina Head or Federal Parks Pass. There is a historic lighthouse on the basalt headland at Yaquina Head, open for tours on Thursday-Tuesday during the spring and summer months. A visitor center in a former rock quarry offers guidebooks and displays on the lighthouse and on the seabird rookeries on the rocky outcrops around the headland. Harbor seals haul out on rocks just off Cobble Beach, a sheltered beach covered with a thick layer of basalt stones worn smooth by the surf. At low tide, pools along Cobble Beach can be explored for sea stars, anemones, and other rocky intertidal creatures. During whale migration season in early spring and late fall, Yaquina Head is one of the best spout-spotting places on the Oregon coast.