Oregon Coast363 miles of public shoreline, 9 lighthouses, and Haystack Rock — the country's longest publicly accessible coastline

The Oregon Coast is 363 miles long and entirely public to the line of vegetation — a guarantee that didn't exist until 1967, when Cannon Beach motel owner William Hay fenced off a stretch of dry sand and reserved it for guests. Republican Governor Tom McCall flew two helicopters to the beach with surveyors and reporters in May 1967, generating enough media outrage to push House Bill 1601 through the legislature. McCall signed the Beach Bill on July 6, 1967, declaring all wet sand within 16 vertical feet of the low tide line state property and granting public easement up to the line of vegetation. Fifty years later, in 2017, Oregon celebrated the law's golden anniversary with statewide events.

U.S. 101 — the Pacific Coast Scenic Byway, designated an All-American Road in 2002 — runs the full length, from the Astoria-Megler Bridge at the mouth of the Columbia River to the California border at Brookings. Driving end to end takes 10–12 hours nonstop and a week with real stops. Each segment has its own personality: the North Coast (Astoria to Tillamook) is forested and dramatic — Haystack Rock, Ecola State Park, the Three Capes Loop, the Tillamook Creamery; the Central Coast (Lincoln City to Florence) is sandy and aquatic — Depoe Bay (Oregon's whale-watching capital), Newport's bayfront, Yaquina Head Lighthouse, Cape Perpetua's Thor's Well; and the South Coast (Coos Bay to Brookings) is rugged and quiet — Bandon's sea stacks, Cape Blanco's 1870 lighthouse, Samuel Boardman's overlooks, Harris Beach tide pools.

Plan five to seven days for the full drive. Camping is available at nearly every state park — most coastal parks have hiker/biker sites that are first-come and walk-in only ($8 per person). The Oregon Coast Trail (OCT) runs the full coastline mostly on the beach with some U.S. 101 shoulder gaps; about 40 miles are unconnected. Tide pools at Cape Perpetua, Yaquina Head, and Harris Beach are world-class — check tide tables (low tide of 0.0 ft or lower is when tide pools open up). Whale-watching: 200 gray whales stop migrating at Oregon and stay year-round; the Whale Watching Spoken Here program stations volunteers at 26 viewpoints during the late-December and Spring Break holiday weeks. Bring layers — coastal summers run 60–70°F.