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.)
It starts out innocent enough.
The coast is about 60 miles, over the river and through the woods, from Philomath.
It’s about to get interesting.
In the old days, when this was a logging road, there were more of these twists and turns.
They’ve since straightened out a lot of the curves in the road.
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.
Take a deep breath and relax where you can.
Then there’s the sleepy little town of Alsea. It has basic needs; small grocery and gas station.
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.
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.
It’s a beautiful area for camping.
During fishing season you’ll see lots of vehicles in the pullouts – they are fishermen.
Really a beautiful tour, We have driven it a few times and know the beauty of it, So much prettier than Hwy 20. Thanks for giving us back our memories, Jan
Thanks Jan, Glad I could contribute! 🙂
Hey there, I am so glad to have found this post of yours. I was simply looking at Google Maps and wondering why they’re taking me to Yachats via 20 instead of 34 (faster) and wondered if 34 would be more scenic, so I appreciate this detail. My wife is not quite as adventurous but this hardly seems dangerous, just gotta be careful. We’ll be going in late October (2020). Thanks again for this information.