This park is located in the beautiful Cape Arago area of the South-Central Oregon coast. The geography of the area is dominated by Coos Bay, a small sound that surrounds Cape Arago by water on three sides. Why this is important is the same reason that another more notable "Bay Area" is infamous, marine inversion layer. Because there's so much cold water around, it cools the air close to the ground, colder than the air above it in the heat of summer. This temperature difference creates a lot of instability and clouds/fog. So, while only a few miles away in the Oregon Dunes or south towards Bandon it's sunny and 80's in August but around Sunset Bay it's cloudy, misting and 68. For you, this might not be a downside at all! If you're in Portland and getting a bit tired of baked lawns and the regular 6 weeks of temps in the 90's brought to us by climate change, the gray skies of Sunset Bay may be just the ticket! For those looking for a more sunny and warm beach experience, the rest of the magnificent Oregon coast may be a better bet.

The park itself is aging but serviceable. At the hight of high season (early August) one of the four men's showers in our loop (one of four) was out of order all week. A day or two seems reasonable but an entire week during the busiest time of the year, you would think fixing this would be a priority.

Oregon's Coast parks are (like the rest of the state) wonderful. This state knows how to do parks! Programs for families, camp hosts who are present and helpful, rangers who are knowledgeable and competent. However, I'd discourage anyone from thinking that highway 101 is a peaceful, wilderness experience. The demise of extraction industries in this country has lead to a head-on collision of urban blight (shuttered mills, dilapidated fishing terminals) and rural poverty. You are much less likely to run into a friendly mom and pop mercantile when you realize you forgot to pack graham crackers for your s'mores; much more likely a loud and greasy pit stop with a beer brawl going on in the back parking lot. Likewise, there is plenty of opportunity for a quiet evening enjoyment of campfire but also a loudmouthed drunk who wondered in from town and is arrested after getting into it with the park ranger.