Bandon: Coastal Splendor in Oregon

Ready for some spring scenery? Check out the beaches in  Bandon, Oregon, which are guarded by monolithic sea stacks that pose for sunset photographs. The most famous is Face Rock State Scenic Viewpoint; standing on the cliff overlooking the ocean, you can easily pick out what appears to be a face.

Planning a visit? Stay at Robbin’s Nest RV Park.

Along the wooden boardwalk, you can enjoy fresh seafood from the Bandon Fish Market and many local eateries, or you can catch your own from the crabbing pier. In recent years, the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, with five widely acclaimed courses, has made the tiny Pacific Coast town an international golf destination.

Lord George Bennet of Ireland founded this seaside town in 1873 and named it after his village back home. He also introduced gorse bushes, a thorny, oily plant, from his native land, which ignited in a 1936 forest fire and burned the entire Bandon commercial district. A lone brick chimney survivor now presides over the quaint shops and galleries of Old Town.

A more welcome horticultural introduction was the cranberry and Bandon now is the Cranberry Capital of Oregon with over 95 percent of the state’s bogs in production. The three-day Cranberry Festival in September has celebrated the round-up of the tart berries since the 1940s.