Bandon, Oregon

Back on the Oregon Coast Highway we headed to the small town of Bandon, Oregon.  Just north of the city we detoured off the highway on to Bullards Beach Road and drove out to the Coquille River Lighthouse.

Coquille River Lighthouse

Coquille River Lighthouse from the beach along thr Pacific

One of eleven lighthouses in Oregon, the Coquille River Lighthouse was active from 1895 until 1939, when Bandon's depressed economy led to low shipping demands that made the lighthouse moot. The 40-foot lighthouse was built in 1895 to help guide mariners across the dangerous bar at the entrance of the Coquille river. Each lighthouse had it's own signature or flashing pattern, and ships were able to identify where they were based once the crew identified the signal. 

Coquille River behind the lighthouse

The Fresnel lens in the Coquille River Lighthouse produced a signature of white light for 28 seconds on, followed by two seconds off. The lighthouse was also equipped with a fog trumpet that sounded for five seconds every half minute, as needed.

Oregon Coast Highway crossing the Coquille River

Next we headed into the town of Bandon, Oregon, where we hoped to see one of the Washed Ashore - Art to Save the Sea Sculpture Exhibits.  All of the sculptures are made entirely of plastic pollution fished from the Pacific and are on display at the Smithsonian's National Zoo. There are seventeen sculptures, from jellyfish to shark. The lesson? The ocean’s deadliest predator is trash.  We found "" just off 2nd Street across from the Bandon Chamber of Commerce.

Henry the Fish - Washed Ashore - Art to Save the Sea

Before heading out of Bandon, we drove along the Beach Loop Road to get a glimpse of Face Rock.  There is an American Indian legend about this spot. Some say they hear a maiden's voice on the wind, and standing on the cliff overlooking the ocean you can easily pick out the face on Face Rock. There is a well-kept trail to the beach, and several rocky inter-tidal areas to explore at low tide.  When we noticed the beautiful yellow flowers clinging to the rock formations we stopped to take a photo only to find a local artist had created beautiful display of "crop circles" on the sandy beach below.  What a treat to find!

Face Rock

Rocks covered with beautiful yellow flowers

Crop Circles or Sand Circles?

Although we were only in Bandon for less than 30 minutes this little town really peeked our interest and we vowed to to return one day to explore more.  

Onward towards Brookings!