Chapter 1 Florence, Oregon at South Jetty Campground, Thousand Trails

On Monday, March 24th we finished packing the trailer, did our workouts, and took the dogs on a 2-mile walk before heading out for the beginning of our ‘freedom tour’ of America as Dave fondly refers to our mammoth road trip. Destination: Florence, Oregon. Our first leg of the journey is only 120 miles, but we wanted to check out the Thousand Trails campground in Florence (we’ve not been to this one) and break up the distance to Eureka, California where we plan to visit my niece, Sunshine. We had bought a used membership to Thousand Trails about two years ago in preparation for Dave’s impending retirement and dreams of being able to travel more in our trailer.

It was a pleasant drive to Florence. Dave downloaded the trip wizard app for this and future long trips, and it took us off the freeway on state highways that were a bit more scenic and shortened the distance by about ten miles. The trip wizard not only lets us know where we can get fuel, food and RV parks, but it also tells us what roads we can and can’t go on with our RV. I would highly recommend getting that app or one like it before embarking on any long road trip with a large RV. There are definitely roads that you don’t want to get stuck on!

We arrived at the campground around 1 p.m. and were set up about 30 minutes later. Dave had to back in, which isn’t his strong suit, but it was a nice large area, so he did great! Way to go Dave! We didn’t do much that first day—we set up the trailer and took a walk around the campground, which is absolutely beautiful, by the way. We’re surrounded by large evergreen trees that are so dense it feels like we’re in the middle of the forest. We didn’t get a full hookup here, although we did get 50 amp for our electrical hookup. We didn’t have to pay extra for the 50 amp at this campground, which you do have to do at many of the Thousand Trails. Another thing that’s different about this campground is they assign you a spot. All the other TTs we’ve been to have been first come first serve, so it was nice to know we’d have a spot that would fit our size (37 feet) when we got here.

Looking at the weather forecast, we saw a big storm moving in on Wednesday, so we spent Tuesday exploring the area. With only one real day to explore we decided to drive through old town Florence just to get a feel for it and go on to the main activity for the day. With Florence so close to home, we decided we could come back sometime in the future and spend more time exploring the town. The main attraction for the day, though, was hiking on the Hobbit Beach Trail which leads to—wait for it—Hobbit Beach!

This is a ‘hidden’ beach about .4 miles down the trail. The sign says it’s a half mile, but we used our Garmin to clock it. One thing to note: the parking at the trailhead is minimal and even on a Tuesday in March, there was no space to park in the designated area. Many people were parking along the highway, which is what we had to do as well by the time we got there. Walking along the busy highway with three dogs made me extremely nervous! It did happen to be the beginning of spring break, but I would recommend either getting there early or later in the afternoon if you want to park at the trailhead. You can access the

Hobbit Beach Trail from either the Heceta lighthouse, approximately 1.5 miles from the Hobbit Beach trailhead, or at Washburn State Park 1.4 miles in the opposite direction.

The beach was very busy, so we didn’t stay too long. Both Zoe and Maggie go crazy with all the people and activity, so it’s not that fun with them in those conditions. It was a pretty little beach though, and the trail leading to it had a magical feel. There was an area towards the end that felt like you were going through a tunnel and gave the feeling of being in a Hobbit house, which might be where the name comes from. People had lined the walls on either side with shells from the beach, which gave it a unique feel as well. Another thing to note on this trail was the trees covered in dangling moss and the giant rhododendrons. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen them so large!

At the beginning of the trail, it splits, with on side going to the beach and the other to the Heceta lighthouse. We decided to hike the other direction since the Hobbit Trail was so short. The other direction was equally enchanting, with a lush green forest floor, towering trees and spectacular peek-a-boo vistas of the ocean far below. We read that the elevation gain on this trail is 600 feet, and it was definitely a lot of up and down! Many places in the trail had stairs to make the climbing easier. The lighthouse itself was small but picturesque and the view from there was gorgeous with the waves crashing against the rocky cliffs below. There’s also a nice view of a historic car bridge. Perfect spring weather and a beautiful hike made for a terrific day!

With two more days to be in this location and a storm front moving in, we hunkered down for the remainder of the time here, outside of a little grocery shopping and taking the dogs for runs or walks. We had a couple evenings out by our portable firepit which I always enjoy. It was a good stay, and we’ll definitely return to this area in the future! Tomorrow we leave for northern California.