What a beautiful garden!! So much care and attention put in. It's so peaceful and with the seals…read moreand seal lions barking on the beach you feel as if your in an exotic location. One of my favorite places to view nature. We will be back in November for the lights!

The Christmas lights are absolutely stunning! 300,000 lights what!!?? Absolutely worth a winter…read morevisit. A warmer visit is also very special to see all the plants in bloom.

This is a great urban-type park in the northwestern section of Coos Bay. 120 acres of natural area…read moreencompass the Empire Lakes complex, protected coastal dunes, and forest land. The park has two main entrances, although park trails may be reached from surrounding neighborhoods. The main park entrances are on the north end of Ackerman Street, and on Hull Street off Newmark near Southwestern Oregon Community College and the Walmart. No motor boats are permitted on the lakes so you don't have to listen to roaring engines. However, there is a launch for canoes, kayaks and other non-motorized boats. The City says there are over 5 miles of incredibly well-marked asphalt-paved pedestrian and cycling trails. Watch out for the tree roots though. The Empire Lakes are home to a variety of fish (Bass, Blugill, Perch, Catfish), waterfowl and other birds. On a recent walk we saw: Mallards Double-crested Cormorants Osprey Turkey Vultures Western/Glaucous-winged Gulls Rufous/Allen's Hummingbirds Steller's Jays American Crows Common Ravens Violet-green Swallows Barn Swallows Bushtits (a nesting pair) American Robins Song Sparrows Dark-eyed Juncos (Oregon type) Black Phoebes Common Starlings Facilities are pretty basic, but then there is no use fee either. *** Park history (from bayareablaster.com): Originally known as Empire Lakes Park, John Topits - a former Coos Bay city councilman - proposed building the park back in 1977. John's enthusiasm and guidance were instrumental in making the place it is today. For over 20 years (beginning in 1977), John (and many other volunteers) spent countless hours upgrading, cleaning and maintaining the trails. The local National Guard Unit also donated over 2,500 hours of time in making improvements. This was truly a community effort and it fulfilled a special dream for John Topits. The Topits Family has preserved John Topits's scrapbook. It is available on the bayareablaster.com website.

A very nice park & lake tucked away in an urban neighborhood. Quite honestly, the Mrs & I stumbled…read moreupon it as we drove by. No fees & a nice parking area as you enter off of Hull street, close to Newmark. They don't allow motorized boats, but we spotted a couple of kayaks floating by, with the occupant casting a fishing line out. Beautiful scenery with well maintained, mostly shaded, asphalt trails. Very peaceful & the people we did see on the trail were polite & cordial.

Nice little park with a paved and dirt walking path around the pond…read more Ample parking and handicap accessible around the lake. Even at the start of winter the pond and ducks are a relaxing and calm sight to see. I imagine in the spring when everything is in foliage, it's more crowded. But I look forward to seeing it change throughout the year. They do have porta-pottys but would be nice if they had real restrooms. Across the street is a baseball field. Still didn't see any restrooms. Only had a short time to explore, but look forward to seeing the many hiking trails it offers.

Very small and not well taken care of. A little TLC and this could be much better and there is room…read morefor expansion.

Sweeping panoramic views and crashing waves, makes Cape Arago a cool destination. There's a great…read moreHorticultural Park on the way that should not be missed (Shore Acres State Park). We loved Coos Bay.

Beautiful, well maintained. Was able to catch sight of the bald eagle pair that calls this area…read morehome. Great hiking options.

Spent four nights in Yurt H. It was clean and comfy! The bathrooms were always clean. Note: loop…read moreD showers are locked at 9pm every night. Firewood is $7 a bundle.

Place is beautiful if you go during the non stormy time of year. Beautiful views, love the long…read morebeach and exploring the rock structures.

The number of stellar sheltered harbors on the West Coast is about a handful and a half, border to…read moreborder. Coos Bay is one. The area has quite a few communities beyond the namesake Coos Bay, including North Bend, Cooston, North Bay, and others including Charleston. Charleston is a set of rolling highlands that separate Coos Bay from the ocean. So if you want ocean, go West! There you will find state beaches and the Bastendorff Park of Coos County. There is an overlook of the beach, down the cliff. To get to the beach, walk back down the road. There is a children's play structure, parking and a grassy area at the overlook. Continue up the hill for RV-type camp spots with water and power hookups and a bathroom structure. The individual camping areas are shaded, and carved from the brush, providing some privacy from adjacent campers. The group area is at the top of the hill and largely unshaded, grass covered and sunny when it's clear. Though there is not a view of the ocean from there or any of the camping spots, it can be heard. It's the gem of the park camping areas, with its own bathroom shower structure, clean and with a huge supply of hot water. There is also an electric cooktop, sink and kitchen counter under a roof with picnic tables for your group. Each camping spot has a fire grate, but bring your own cooking grate with a finer mesh to hold whatever you are grilling. Great and unobtrusive park staff. We had a great get-together here to honor a local fisherman friend lost at sea with 3 generations of families participating, from up and down the Western states, Coos style. We are all Oregonians. As a Portlander I honor all the people all over the state. I understand that they cut trees, graze cattle, grow crops, mine, fish, hopefully over the long term. We are all in it together. I like to support the small businesses when I get a chance to visit too. Like in Coos where fishing has had some tough times with the closure of the Sacramento River salmon seasons and some slim fish runs for the Klamath basin. Sounds like those fish are back strong this year. So thinking of all you in Coos, and encourage Yelpers to visit the Southern Oregon Coast and the small towns supporting its awesome oceanfront!

So majestically beautiful. Very cute little town that's worth the stop. Only spent a few hours but…read moreit was enough to check out the beautiful scenery.

What a fun experience here with some friends for the weekend! The dunes are massive and so…read moreexpansive! This is definitely a great stop for weekend fun! Most of the campers seemed thoughtful and having a good time especially with atvs and side by sides all over the place!

Fun stuff. You can do almost anything and has something for anyone at any age with any interests.read more

Stayed for RV camping. Clean restroom and showers, park is clean and very quiet, a lot of space…read morebetween sites. The beach is just down the street.

This beach has beautiful views of sand and sea and Lighthouse beach which is beautifully backlit on…read morea sunny day. This is our favorite walking beach. Sunset is our favorite for beautiful sunsets.

Awesome campsite. Will definitely return. No sewer clean outs. But can get a truck to come pump…read moreyour tanks.

In past years I would give them a 5 star review, but not this year. We have been camping at Riley…read moreRanch for over 10 years now. We always have such a wonderful experience. This year, not so good. The camp host in loop D was rude. Accused our group of doing things that we were not. Stated to one of our group guests that he was glad we were leaving the following day. We played games, but were respectful and were quiet at 10, which is the quiet time rules. We felt like he was picking at us about every little thing. We have never been treated his way in past years. That host has to GO! We are not young party animals. We 50+ year olds with no young kids or yapping dogs and definitely not a rowdy crowd. Thumbs down to loop D camp host!!!

Beautiful, lush landscape. Well maintained trails that wander through forest and marshlands and…read moreinclude boardwalks and viewing platforms. The interpretive center was closed when we were there on a Monday but the hiking was well worth stopping at this wonderful place. A previous viewer said that the trails were poorly marked. I felt that the trail markers were clear. There is also a nice map at the research center kiosk.

Blah, I wish this place was better. Trails are EXTREMELY poorly marked, so we wound up spending…read moreabout 30 minutes on the "10 minute loop" because of signage issues near the bat houses. Also, for some insane reason they had heaters going in the bathrooms when it was like 60+ degrees outside.