LONE RANCH BEACH

LONE RANCH BEACH Lone Ranch Beach is located 4 and a half miles north of Brookings. Once there, you will take in the collection of sea stack jutting from an ocean whose color changes from hour to hour as the sun, clouds and lighting varies. This part of the Oregon...

LOEB PARK

LOEB PARK Just a fifteen minute drive north east of Brookings lies one of the most beautiful areas in Oregon. It runs beside the Chetco River which rises inland and flows fifty leisurely miles down to the Pacific and the Port of Brookings Harbor. The gateway to this...

HARRIS BEACH STATE PARK

HARRIS BEACH STATE PARK Your first impression of Harris Beach State Park will be a locale with marvelously varied terrain. You can walk the beach and run from the waves. Climb to the top of a large rock for a great view, while resisting the temptation to add your...

WHALESHEAD BEACH

WHALESHEAD BEACH Whaleshead Beach is one of the most gorgeous locations along the Oregon Coast. Offshore there is a sea stack that looks like the head of a Whale. The sea stack is cut with a rock channel and when a wave hits it, it spurts a spray that actually looks...

CHETCO RIVER

CHETCO RIVER Adventures include fishing for Salmon and steelhead; camping, exploring, picnicking, hiking and swimming along the crystal clear Chetco River and into the Kalmiopsis Wilderness. Here are a few of the great areas to explore in the unspoiled beauty of the...

WINCHUCK RIVER

WINCHUCK RIVER One mile north of the California State Line and six miles south of downtown Brookings, lies the mouth of the southernmost of Oregon's rivers, the Winchuck. The Winchuck courses along the Oregon side of the common border of the two states. Where the...

SURROUNDING AREA

SURROUNDING AREA ROGUE RIVER One of only eight rivers in the U.S. originally designated by congress as a "National Wild and Scenic River", the Rogue River empties into the Pacific in Gold Beach, Oregon. Her headwaters are none other than those of Crater Lake, from...

CHETCO POINT PARK

CHETCO POINT PARK Do you like unexpected treasures? Would you like them to be stunning? Brookings offers the spectacular gem you will always remember. Chetco Point Park is one of the most beautiful locations in Oregon, on the west coast . . . . in the world! Chetco...

CRISSEY FIELD STATE PARK

CRISSEY FIELD STATE PARK Crissey Field State park offers a sandy ocean beach for a peaceful stroll, a run with your dog, surfing and fishing. The picturesque Winchuck River can be accessed via the nature walking trails or the beach access. Native plants, wetlands,...

AZALEA PARK

AZALEA PARK Azalea park is a thirty-three acre park containing ancient native azaleas that were growing here when Lewis and Clark wintered on the Oregon Coast in 1805-06. Azalea Park offers active and passive recreational activities. It lies amongst several...

McVAY ROCK RECREATION SITE

We get so much pleasure from discovering hidden treasures, it is an easy prediction that McVay Rock State Recreation Site will delight you and be one of the best memories of your visit to Brookings.

A Hidden Treasure

McVay is a well-hidden park offering surf fishing, clamming, kelp gathering, whale watching and plenty of space to walk on the beach. There is no fee to use the park. This recreation site boasts a large lawn area great for blanket picnics. If you did not bring food, it’s just as great for lying on the blanket. The park is elevated about fifty feet above the surf. Walking, standing or sitting on the edge gives you a fine spectator’s view of the ocean and surf performing a raucous, energetic dance where no step is ever repeated. You will often have eye-to-eye encounters with a gull or pelican catching the updrafts from the beach. The site is a mostly undeveloped beach access area. The gravel parking area is near walking trails leading down to the beach.

Nature’s Passing Parade

The Pacific Ocean spreads out 180 degrees in front of you, providing an unequal vista for the whale watching that has become an increasingly popular activity for both residents and visitors to Brookings. Each year gray whales pass Curry County while migrating between the warm waters of Baja California and the frigid seas off Alaska. In Brookings there are two major seasons for viewing whales. One runs from as early as October through mid-January when the grays are migrating south to give birth. The other comes from mid-January to as late as April when the whales journey back to the Bering Sea and gorge themselves on shrimp and krill. Because gray whales travel close to the shore, a highland like McVay Recreation Site is a great place to spot them with eyes or binoculars. Observing these lovely, graceful creatures will leave you with the oddly distinct sensation that human beings share the earth with at least one other intelligent species. Overnight camping is not permitted, but try to catch a sunset and the first appearance of some brighter stars and planets. That sight will leave you with the oddly distinct sensation that human beings probably share the universe with a whole lot of intelligent species.

Getting There

Hidden it may be, but difficult to get to, McVay Recreation Site is not. Drive south out of Brookings on US 101 and go right on Pedrioli, the first road south of the last traffic light in Brookings. The last traffic light before the Oregon/California border, as a matter-of-fact. Follow Pedrioli to Oceanview Drive and turn left one and a half miles to McVay Recreation Site.

McVay Rock Recreation Site

CHETCO POINT PARK
MT. EMILY BOMBSITE