Editor’s Note: Adventures on the Southern Oregon Coast is the product of the South Coast Partnership which includes the towns from Brookings to Reedsport and all the wonderful fans in between.
Reedsport, Oregon we discovered Winchester Bay and found it to be a vacationer’s paradise, centrally located between a multitude of fun things to do and see. This small fishing village overlooks Salmon Harbor Marina. The town is nestled in the forest at the mouth of the Umpqua River draining into the Pacific Ocean. In Winchester Bay you have direct access to the Umpqua River, the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, the Pacific Ocean, and miles of white-sand public beaches.
The fishing is excellent; few anglers go home from here empty-handed. Species in the area include Chinook salmon, striped bass, steelhead, sturgeon, pink fin perch, and small mouth bass. Winchester Bay has become known as the Crab Capital of Oregon for the delicious Dungeness crab you can catch right off the docks of the marina, and several different species of clam are just a pail and shovel away.
We found great eateries here serving indigenous foods and wine. You can purchase fresh fish like halibut, King Salmon right off the docks when in season, oysters from the Umpqua aquaculture, considered by many to be the best and we agree. We took a tour of the Umpqua Lighthouse overlooking the tallest dunes on the Oregon Coast all the while thinking Wow! What a perfect place.
