My new guidebook is now available!
And it's generating some great reviews!
Join me Dec. 16 at 5:30 pm for a virtual talk and Q&A about the OCT for the Santa Barbara CA Library's Trail Talk series; details/registration on my events page at bonniehendersonwrites.com. You'll also find links to podcasts and other interviews with tons of info about hiking the OCT.
Hiking the Oregon Coast Trail (Mountaineers Books: 2021) is designed as a guide for thru-hikers and section hikers, with more emphasis on camping options, boat shuttles, and other details backpackers and inn-to-inn hikers need than you can find in my 2015 guidebook Day Hiking: Oregon Coast. It's packed with information. But the OCT is still a work in progress, with new trail sections opening up and other sections of trail closing due to winter storms, plus details about boat ferries, camping options and other services changing as well. Please continue to visit this website for updates to the information found in Hiking the Oregon Coast Trail.
Use it to plan your 2022 trek. Please don't hike the OCT in winter.
It's true that it rarely snows on the Oregon Coast. Nevertheless I strongly recommend against backpacking the Oregon Coast Trail October through March. Even April and May are pushing it. Here's why:
- Winter sou'wester storms typically start in October and can continue through March (or later): you don't want to be hiking into one on the beach, with sand-laden rain driving at your face, and you don't want to be on a headland when high winds are uprooting and topping huge trees.
- Creeks and rivers that you can step over or wade in summer are too high to cross in winter. This is less of a problem on the North Coast, where most places there are convenient detours you can take to cross on bridges. But south of Florence there are many rivers that simply cannot be safely crossed. This is the main reason to avoid the OCT in winter. Rivers on the coast generally reach summer (low) levels by mid-June.
- Boat ferry services, where they exist, don't usually operate in winter.
- Most private and public campgrounds (including hiker-biker sites) remain open all winter, but a few shut down, limiting your options.
Overview, Updates and Section Hike Suggestions
Introduction to the Oregon Coast Trail
Section 2: Garibaldi to Siletz Bay at Lincoln City
Introduction to the Oregon Coast Trail
The Oregon Coast isn't a wilderness. But hiking the Oregon Coast Trail is an adventure. Read about season, direction of travel, and other quirks and key info.
Section 1: Columbia River to Garibaldi
Section 2: Garibaldi to Siletz Bay at Lincoln City
Introduction to the Oregon Coast Trail
The start of the OCT (yes, you definitely should hike southbound) has beaches, headlands, everything--but limited legal camping presents challenges.
Section 2: Garibaldi to Siletz Bay at Lincoln City
Section 2: Garibaldi to Siletz Bay at Lincoln City
Section 2: Garibaldi to Siletz Bay at Lincoln City
A half-dozen gorgeous headlands, long beaches, camping and lodging options, and limited highway walking if you study the route carefully.
Section 3: Siletz Bay to Florence
Section 5: Port Orford to the border
Section 2: Garibaldi to Siletz Bay at Lincoln City
A great stretch with fabulous views and good lodging and camping, diminished only by a couple of long stretches of highway walking.
Section 4: Florence to Port Orford
Section 5: Port Orford to the border
Section 5: Port Orford to the border
The most remote stretch of the OCT, ideal for backpacking, with a couple of bay mouth crossings--one easy to wrangle, one more challenging.
Section 5: Port Orford to the border
Section 5: Port Orford to the border
Section 5: Port Orford to the border
Amazing views in this least-developed stretch of the Oregon Coast, but limited lodging and some camping challenges, and some long highway hiking.
Photo Gallery
About the Author
Journalist and Avid Hiker
Bonnie Henderson has been backpacking and writing about the Oregon Coast Trail since 2008. She is the author of three guidebooks: Hiking the Oregon Coast Trail, Day Hiking: Oregon Coast, and Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon (with Zach Urness), all from Mountaineers Books. She is also the author of two nonfiction books: The Next Tsunami: Living on a Restless Coast and Strand: An Odyssey of Pacific Ocean Debris, both from Oregon State University Press. She lives in Eugene, Oregon. Follow her work at bonniehendersonwrites.com.