Camping in Florence

Florence is located on the Oregon Coast south of Lincoln City. Florence attracts many people because of their sand dunes and the off road recreational facilities they have established. If you ever drive through this city on a nice summer day you have to stop for a dune buggy ride to experience what the Sand Dunes are really like. If you decide that's not your style, Florence caters to other hobbies, shopping and even put-putt golf.

Quick Tips:

If you like nice campgrounds go to Honeyman State Park. They have showers and nice parks to relax at.

Best Way To Get Around:

Take Quads in the sand dunes. Many mortorcycles get stuck.
A bike is nice to get around with if you're staying at the campgrounds.
Take a car to town if you want to go shopping or see any of the sights.

Every summer it was tradition for my family to go to Florence to ride quads in the sand dunes. The campground that we stayed at had access to the sand dunes, so we could ride whenever we wanted without having to pack up our trailer and to go to another location. The Driftwood II campgrounds are connected in with some other campgrounds, but you can’t ride off-road vehicles to the other campsites. If you want to explore the other camp grounds the best way is to ride a bicycle. I always found walking to the other campgrounds to be relaxing since there was never much traffic on the road. Along the road there are some great bird watching areas.

Driftwood II campgrounds is located on the Siltcoos Beach Access Road and it’s a mile and a half down the road. There are two other campgrounds located off of the Siltcoos Beach Access Road. If you follow this road all the way to the end you can park your vehicle and walk up a trail in the sand to see the ocean, which is always spectacular especially when the sun is setting.

Camping here can be fairly primitive depending on what you’re use to. A few years back they still didn’t have any showers at this location. I’m not sure if it’s the same today or not. They do have restrooms with running water and toilets though. The nearest pay phone was in one of the other campgrounds which is located over a mile down the road. There are a few places in town that offer showers, which is a little embarrassing though, one is a laundromat and another place is a state park. If you require a convenient shower then Honeyman State Park would be more to your likings.

The last time that I stayed at the Driftwood II campgrounds I had an unusual treat. I got to see a baby beaver with its mom. I have never seen a beaver out in the wild before. It was dusk outside and I was walking on a bridge over a marshy area and I heard something in the water and it kind of frightened me, being in a secluded place without anyone else around, I looked over to see a baby beaver on a log with its mom. Of course this would have been the perfect Kodak moment but my camera was back at the campgrounds, I was so disappointed. I was able to watch the beaver though for a few minutes and then finally they both swam off to the other side of this marsh.

I really want to revisit this campground soon, it had so many neat trails and wildlife viewing places, the scenery with the sand dunes and the ocean was always breathtaking and the drive down the coast is always very pretty too. Hopefully the next time that I visit this campground they will have upgraded to showers and more pay phones.