We spent the night in the Astoria, Or. Safeway with permission because every campground between Florence, Or. and Astoria, Or. was full. It worked out well, the view was great, the sea lions were bellowing in the distance, and we bought some goodies for dinner at Safeway. Steak, salad makings, bread, and apple pie with ice cream. Our camp spot frustration had taken a huge turn for the better. The Safeway turned out to be one of the nicer places we camped during this trip. Who would have thought that. This video shows a quick look around the area where we camped at Safeway. We also drive through town at 6X speed and most of the Astoria at 6X speed. You get the steel girder span of the bridge at normal speed. I think the Astoria-Megler Bridge is just under 5 miles in length. The bridge connects The Coast Highway 101 between Oregon and Washington.VIDEO: Astoria Oregon Bridge Crossing.

Not sure why, but when we traveled across that bridge pulling our 5er it was a white knuckle adventure for me. My wife said, "Oh look, a ship is about to go under us", but my eyes didn't venture off line much at all. We were up there! :)

Good vid. Thanks for posting. We talked with a couple that bicycled across it. We also found a dump station real close to the entrance that came in handy. That area for us perfect for RVing. Lots to do and see.

Cool video. Great music. Thanks for posting that.

What a fantastic area to explore, as I did last October!! I ended up spending almost 3 weeks boondocking, while kayaking, hiking and motorcycle riding from the coast to Mt. St. Helens. Loved all the areas to explore and the generous and welcoming people!Glad you had a great time too. Loved crossing the bridge, even with the ongoing painting of it. b

Fun Video..thanks. You were lucky. You got a nice calm day to cross the bridge. Try crossing the bridge when the wind is howling (which it often is)...talk about "white knuckles."

VIDEO: Crossing the Astoria Bridge and the Columbia River.

21 Replies

Mr_Biggles
Explorer
Sep 21, 2015
Just spent 3 weeks in Oregon between Astoria and Coos Bay. I booked the various State Parks back in January. Fort Stevens was nice , but Sunset Bay was my favourite. The weather was good for all our bridge crossings.
D_E_Bishop
Explorer
Sep 21, 2015
Nutinelse2do wrote:
D.E.Bishop wrote:
Cool video, you got some great shots. I remember our first time crossing with the DD's age 4 and 5. It was before ATMs and we were almost out of cash and kept talking about the TOLL bridge and the DDs heard that as TROLL bridge. They had more cash on hand than we did and we had to explain TOLL to them. That was our second camping vacation and our first to Washington state.

It's still a favorite story for get togethers.

When did they start a toll on the bridge? There wasn't one a couple months ago.

My comment was "BEFORE ATMS", It was a long time ago, the DD's are grown professionals today, they were 5 & 6 back then.
spacedoutbob
Explorer
Sep 21, 2015
Nice video, I crossed the bridge from the North driving back to California back in 1997. I spend 6 hours at the Maritime Museum in Astoria. Very nice drive and area the visit.

Bob in Calif.
Eric_Lisa
Explorer II
Sep 19, 2015
JoeChiOhki wrote:
Yay, big reason why I haven't taken an RV to the Oregon coast in the summer for ten years, now. Its a crowded hell-hole half the time.

LOL! A buddy of mine tried to get to Seaside over Independence Day weekend this year. Four hours on Hwy 26, and didn't move an inch. It wasn't an accident or anything like that, it was just too many people.

Now all that said... We have enjoyed many September camping trips to the Oregon coast. There are still some people, and the businesses are all still open. The amount of kids is greatly reduced due to school starting, so it is generally a more relaxed crowd. Reservations are recommended for a September weekend, but we have had good luck rolling in during the week without. With a TC, a dry camping site really isn't that big of an issue, especially if the trip is transient from day-to-day.

-Eric
Camper_Jeff___K
Navigator
Sep 19, 2015
JoeChiOhki wrote:
Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli wrote:
We spent the night in the Astoria, Or. Safeway with permission because every campground between Florence, Or. and Astoria, Or. was full. It worked out well, the view was great, the sea lions were bellowing in the distance, and we bought some goodies for dinner at Safeway. Steak, salad makings, bread, and apple pie with ice cream. Our camp spot frustration had taken a huge turn for the better. The Safeway turned out to be one of the nicer places we camped during this trip. Who would have thought that.
This video shows a quick look around the area where we camped at Safeway. We also drive through town at 6X speed and most of the Astoria at 6X speed. You get the steel girder span of the bridge at normal speed. I think the Astoria-Megler Bridge is just under 5 miles in length. The bridge connects The Coast Highway 101 between Oregon and Washington.
VIDEO: Astoria Oregon Bridge Crossing.

Yay, big reason why I haven't taken an RV to the Oregon coast in the summer for ten years, now. Its a crowded hell-hole half the time.

If it weren't for the fact that I suspect you were making a drive up the 101 on that trip, you could have gone east and joined us out on the Columbia River outside of Portland :p.

It'd be interesting to see the Amerigo.
Several times coming home from Florence, we've gone up into the coastal mountains and stayed at USFS sites with much less crowding. A lot of hotels along the coast offer overnight RV parking with power and water. We stayed in Tillamook for $20.00 one night. We later found we could have overnighted free at the Blue Heron Cheese Factory. The Astoria Safeway was really not bad. Get up and get a Starbucks. Like to see anybody do that at a campground!
JoeChiOhki
Explorer II
Sep 19, 2015
Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli wrote:
We spent the night in the Astoria, Or. Safeway with permission because every campground between Florence, Or. and Astoria, Or. was full. It worked out well, the view was great, the sea lions were bellowing in the distance, and we bought some goodies for dinner at Safeway. Steak, salad makings, bread, and apple pie with ice cream. Our camp spot frustration had taken a huge turn for the better. The Safeway turned out to be one of the nicer places we camped during this trip. Who would have thought that.
This video shows a quick look around the area where we camped at Safeway. We also drive through town at 6X speed and most of the Astoria at 6X speed. You get the steel girder span of the bridge at normal speed. I think the Astoria-Megler Bridge is just under 5 miles in length. The bridge connects The Coast Highway 101 between Oregon and Washington.
VIDEO: Astoria Oregon Bridge Crossing.

Yay, big reason why I haven't taken an RV to the Oregon coast in the summer for ten years, now. Its a crowded hell-hole half the time.

If it weren't for the fact that I suspect you were making a drive up the 101 on that trip, you could have gone east and joined us out on the Columbia River outside of Portland :p.
garryk6
Explorer
Sep 18, 2015
downtheroad wrote:
Fun Video..thanks.

You were lucky. You got a nice calm day to cross the bridge. Try crossing the bridge when the wind is howling (which it often is)...talk about "white knuckles."

I would love to cross that bridge again with just the truck and camper... The last time I crossed that bridge I was pulling our 30' TT behind our Excursion. The wind was howling and the waves were crashing, and the rain was pouring... I was very white knuckled, even to the point that my lovely wife and our 4 kids were stone silent... I don't plan on pulling a large trailer over that bridge any time soon....

Garry in Kodiak, AK
TCBob
Explorer
Sep 18, 2015
Bought groceries at that Safeway last weekend with our TC. We had stayed at Clatskanie (cool little town on Columbia).....City campground night befor. The city campground was really gravel parking lot, but it had electric to recharge everything and showers for $10/night. Stopped briefly at that Safeway on our way down Oregon coast. Bet that was great "in town" boondock site!
Eric_Lisa
Explorer II
Sep 18, 2015
Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli wrote:
We spent the night in the Astoria, Or. Safeway with permission because every campground between Florence, Or. and Astoria, Or. was full....

Did that, done that. On the WA side of the bridge is Megler which isn't much more than a wide spot in the road nowdays. It does, however, have a rest area, Yes, we have crossed from Astoria with the camper to stay there overnight, and then return to the Oregon side for the next day. Decent as far as rest stops go - on the water. Near a highway, but not a freeway, so it isn't any more noisy than the Safeway in Astoria on Hwy 101 would be.

-Eric
Nutinelse2do
Explorer
Sep 18, 2015
Camper_Jeff_&_Kelli wrote:
Nutinelse2do wrote:
D.E.Bishop wrote:
Cool video, you got some great shots. I remember our first time crossing with the DD's age 4 and 5. It was before ATMs and we were almost out of cash and kept talking about the TOLL bridge and the DDs heard that as TROLL bridge. They had more cash on hand than we did and we had to explain TOLL to them. That was our second camping vacation and our first to Washington state.

It's still a favorite story for get togethers.

When did they start a toll on the bridge? There wasn't one a couple months ago.

There's no toll anymore. The remnants of the toll booths are still visible in the road including the roof. You can see it in the video as we just start up the bridge. I think the tolls ended in the 1980's.

Interesting. Good to know. Didn't even notice it. Probably too much in awe of the frighters and bridge. Did you go to Fort Columbia? Great place