Florence & Coos Bay, OR Dunes Questions

I'm an AVID dune'r. There is SOOOO much info to tell.... Spinreel has a nice little shop that rents ATVs and Side by Sides right next to the campground.
Be forewarned - renting is VERY expensive. I took these pics just this last August of their rates. (Wayne - sorry they're bigger than normal, it was the smallest I could make them and still be read-able.)







Do NOT rent the "One Seat Ace" - they are small and very prone to rollover, two of my friends have them. You either need to be an expert rider, or have a lot of money for new plastics.

Campgrounds on the OR coast vary widely - No hookups/dry camping, partial and full hookups.

Sand Lakes near Tillimook for me is a nice place simply because it's the closest, only 4 hours drive for me. Dry camping only, usually very busy because it's closest to Portland, and the smallest of the ORV sand playgrounds. It can sometimes be dangerous just because of the number of people vs. small size.

Coos is awesome - everything you'd want, from mellow trails to hill climbs to go fast straight aways. My best time is 5hrs 58 minutes one way from Tacoma. I was Haulin arse. Norm is 7+. for me.

I go at least 2-3x a year to Coos, Sand Lakes, Florence, etc, and have for the last 10+ years.

If you decide to buy your own quads/atvs down the road - my advise would be to get more HP/cc's than you would if you're a trail rider simply because sand takes more power to move through. Getting stuck at the bottom of a hill or rat hole can suck... been there done that.

Also if you buy - note that not all campgrounds have ride-in ride-out access year-round. Honeyman for instance makes you truck your quads to the nearest sand access a mile down the road during the summer, but allows riding in during off-season. Other campgrounds like Spinreel-II are ride-in/out year round, but are dry camping only.

I have a ton of pics, I'll work on posting them on edit.

We liked Woahink Lake Rv Resort.

I can't recall if they allow fires...

We will be in Florence in early July and Moses Lake in early May and always have a seat available.

We usually stay at the RPI park in South Jetty when in OR. It is also open for non-members. The same is available at Moses Lake or you can boon dock at the dunes. ML can loud at night and dusty during the day, so that comes with the free camping. There are sand camp sites at Forence, but they are not free.

Ed_Gee wrote:

Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli wrote:
Jesse Honeyman State Park
Florence, Oregon

Waxmyrtle USFS Camp Ground
South of Dunes City, Oregon


Port of Siuslaw Camp Ground.
Florence, Oregon

These are two of my favorite campgrounds.
Inside Florence is the Port of Siuslaw Camp Ground right on the river and close to old town. Very handy place to camp with full hookups available..

I would add that if you stay at Honeyman State Park you can have direct access to the Dunes. There are dune buggy rentals avtailable close by adjacent to the Dunes.

Direct access is only from Oct 1 to April 30 but with rentals you ride from the rental lot anyway. This was taken west of Honeyman last April:


I’d recommend avoiding Winchester Bay as those dunes are big. Down by Spinreal they are more suited to beginners and smaller machines. The south end of the Florence dunes are good too. Look for Lagoon or Waxmyrtle mentioned above. I have many fond memories from those when you used to be able to ride ATV’s direct from them.

Here’s one of Winchester dunes:

Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli wrote:
Jesse Honeyman State Park
Florence, Oregon

Waxmyrtle USFS Camp Ground
South of Dunes City, Oregon


Port of Siuslaw Camp Ground.
Florence, Oregon

These are two of my favorite campgrounds.
Inside Florence is the Port of Siuslaw Camp Ground right on the river and close to old town. Very handy place to camp with full hookups available..

I would add that if you stay at Honeyman State Park you can have direct access to the Dunes. There are dune buggy rentals avtailable close by adjacent to the Dunes.

Salmon Harbor at Winchester Bay is a really nice place to camp. Right on the bay. There are a couple of rental places not too far away right on the edge of the dunes. Bit before you go, check age and license requirements for riding on the dunes.

Jesse Honeyman State Park
Florence, Oregon

Waxmyrtle USFS Camp Ground
South of Dunes City, Oregon

Port of Siuslaw Camp Ground.
Florence, Oregon

These are two of my favorite campgrounds.
Inside Florence is the Port of Siuslaw Camp Ground right on the river and close to old town. Very handy place to camp with full hookups available..