Alsea Highway 34 – from Corvallis to Waldport, Oregon Coast

Ever wonder whether to take Highway 20 to Newport or Highway 34 to Waldport on the Oregon Coast?

  Highway 20 is an easier drive but Highway 34 is prettier.  (IMO)

Let me take you on a little tour of Highway 34, the Alsea Highway.  (You’ll have to ignore the dirty windshield.)

Out of Philomath

It starts out innocent enough.

Coast Range

The coast is about 60 miles, over the river and through the woods, from Philomath.

Slow vehicles use pullouts

It’s about to get interesting.

Twist-n-Shout

In the old days, when this was a logging road, there were more of these twists and turns.

Old Loggin’ Road

They’ve since straightened out a lot of the curves in the road.

Narrow Bridge

There is one narrow bridge.  The warning is that it is single lane for trucks.  The same goes for large RVs so watch for oncoming traffic.

Straight-a-ways

Take a deep breath and relax where you can.

Town of Alsea

Then there’s the sleepy little town of Alsea.  It has basic needs; small grocery and gas station.

Steep and Twisty

Then you get to the part where the Alsea River is on one side and the mountain is on the other; with hardly a shoulder between.

Entering the Siuslaw National Forest

They keep the roadsides well-trimmed but heavy rains can still drop a tree across the road.

So drive carefully and pull over if you have more than 2 cars behind you…as soon as you can find a pullout.

Blackberry Campground – just 18 miles from the ocean

It’s a beautiful area for camping.

More pullouts on this stretch

During fishing season you’ll see lots of vehicles in the pullouts – they are fishermen.

Fall colors are stunning on the Alsea Hwy