Harris Beach State Park

Harris Beach State Park is a state park located in Brookings, Oregon. The park is not particularly big, being under 200 acres, but includes over a mile of beach.

There are at least 21 state parks along the Oregon Coast (and many more State Recreation Areas or State Scenic areas), and Harris Beach is the first one after entering Oregon along US Highway 101. It is also a notable location because while most of the southern Oregon coast is rocky, Harris Beach, as its name suggests, is a beach. It actually combines aspects of both, as its landscape includes rocks, arches and tidepools, with dramatic and majestic scenery, with a more typical beach experience with level sand, fun for casual beachcombing or long walks on the beach.

One thing that could be a plus or minus for a visitor is that the park is very full-featured. Since Brookings (with about 13,000 people) is the largest city in a few dozen miles in either direction, and since Harris Beach is one of the smoother places to visit the ocean along that route, it is a stopping point for many tourists. It has camping, bathrooms and showers available, and is close to the highway, so it is not a place to experience solitude. (It is probably a calculated move to have a tourist-friendly park in Brookings, so that people stop and camp and spend money there, rather than over the border in California).

Personally, when I look at pictures of Harris Beach State Park, I am literally stunned by how beautiful it is, and how many different landscape features are available for exploring so close together. It looks like something out of a painting. This is especially ironic to me, because I lived in Brookings for six months, and visited the park on several occasions. But at the time, I was blind to its beauty. Brookings is the definition of "A nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there", because while it is beautiful, it is also isolated with limited opportunities. And I was there in 2013, having a difficult year. So for me, it is odd to look at this beautiful, fascinating location, and remember being miserable. But of course, that was just me. If you are ever travelling up Highway 101 near the Oregon border, stop in and enjoy the beauty of nature, like I was unable to.