Shore Acres State Park

A Pacific Coast Shore must-see

Shore Acres State Park is a little, hidden gem of a place, located in Coos Bays, Oregon. I might have eluded to how much I loved the Rocky Pacific Coast, in a previous post (link to that post), well this park is another example of why I do so much. While out on the coast, enjoying the wrapping coastline, I saw info for this state park nearby, and I was very anxious to get in it. If you do the Highway 101 ride, you’ll definitely have to stop here. Shore Acres State Park was created by Louis Simpson, who owned a lot of lands and had a huge estate in this spot, which reportedly featured an elegant garden. Their families’ descendants originally arrived in the area in the 1850s, and established the neighboring town, but in the 1940s was when Shore Acres took off. They called it their “Shore Acres”, and that named stuck, which referenced their area of land they owned on Cape Arago facing the Pacific Ocean. This family owned just about everything from Cape Arago to North Bend, making their money in the lumber and shipping industries. Their prosperity is what lead to Coos Bay being successful from the 1940s to 70s. The famed garden has fallen apart for a while, and then it was restored and ended up being the theme for this Shore Acres State Park.

Shore Acres State Park is right on the water of the Pacific Ocean, and from many vantage points, you can spot some very pretty scenery inside of the park and the adjacent areas. In my older age (ha ha), I’ve started to really enjoy seeing floral displays, and especially ones that are very well maintained by the time I arrive to see them. The park features many roses up to the high standard of standards of organizations like AARS, which is global. So you will know that park is filled with very well curated flowers and roses, to the highest level of preparation, perfectly laid out and nothing dead anywhere. This is how they hook people like me, who have had no interest in flowers, previously. The other great part about this is that this place has these flowers on display all year around! I don’t know how in the hell they are able to do that, but this place is opened all year around. I go to places, and if it’s the offseason, their flowers halfway dead and not worth continuing the tours. Depending on when you come to this area, you will see a huge seasonal show, including light shows in major American holiday times. That weather out there is just not too hot, not too cold, and they’ve found the best element to keep these flowers perfect all year around. In fact, these flowers come from all over the world.

As a part of this main display, in the back, there was a Japanese rose garden of sorts, which is where I crashed for a second to just relax and take in the experience. There are some little benches you can sit for a second and look out over this pond that everything centers around, in that garden. There you will see Lilly’s primarily. The list of things they have there is roses, lilies, dahlias, rhododendrons, azaleas, tulips, spring bulbs and daffodils, and depending on when you go, you can see any set of these on display. When done with that, you can hike all around the outside of the gardens, see the coast and lookout house there, facing the ocean. There was low tide when I was there so I didn’t see the famous waves smashing on the rocks, but many people come to this spot when the weather is not the best because the ocean is completely wild and it’s a great photo opportunity, from what I’ve seen. I will definitely have to return in Winter!

As always, the finished products can be found on the main site of www.drunkphotography.com.