Sunset Bay State Park

We stayed two nights at Sunset Bay in late March 2015. It's on a dead-end road about 20 minutes south of Coos Bay. Good location if you're headed out to Cape Arago, but no view as such from the campground. Campground was full (spring break) but portions of the C and D loops were blocked off and not available at all.

We tow a pop-up tent camper with a Subaru Forrester and even so, it was difficult to park it as many of the slots are angled in the wrong direction or with very challenging trees or obstacles in the way. Some rigs pulling 20 foot trailers took 45 minutes to get into a spot which was at least entertaining to watch (but not so much to listen to or smell the diesel fumes). People will full size RVs should explore other options!

The restrooms were okay. No hot water in the restroom sinks. Most of the other Oregon State Parks have been much nicer. Cold showers on the women's side, hot on the men's side. There are two other shower areas but we didn't check them out.

There's a slow moving creek that goes right through the whole park, so in the summer I'd expect there to be a LOT of bugs.

There is NO cell phone reception at all, so make the trip back to Coos Bay for great beer and pub food at 7 Devil's Brewing. Or head 5 miles south to the end of the road at Cape Arago, hike down to the south beach and check your email there!

I agree with other posters who said this place was tough to get into - the sites are either the wrong angle or they're at a 90 degree angle with obstacles on the other side of the road, making it super tough to get into these spots, and we're towing a small 18ft trailer.

That said, the sites themselves are great. Large camp area with lots of privacy because of all of the trees and shrubbery. The walk down to the beach is nice and well-marked. I thought the bathrooms were clean and well-maintained. The staff working here is SO NICE and very helpful. The location of this campground makes it a great "central" location if you want to go to Bandon and explore the town, check out the lighthouse south of Bullards Beach or go into Coos Bay and enjoy the 7 Devils Brewery.

If you stay here, don't miss the botanical garden at Shore Acres State Park or watching the sea lions from the cliffs, just a short drive up the road.

There was no cell service here for us (AT&T).

Small, crowded, not much privacy per site, and absolutely no dump station at all. A few sites have sewer hookups but not many and the rest of us are left to drive 22 miles to the next state park to dump (that’s literally the advice the rangers give). And while the showers looked good, there was no hot water 1 of the 2 times I tried to use them.

The beach is small here, especially compared to the parks up the coast. If you like beach walking, go find the county park/beach up the road 2 miles (back towards Charleston). It's also the closest place to pull in any AT&T signal (I had "no service" the entire time I stayed at Sunset, despite a cell phone booster setup in my rig).

The big attraction isn’t the park, it’s the botanical gardens just south of it, better known as Shore Acres State Park (day-use only). It’s an amazing place, from the ragged cliffs showing the underlying geology of the place to the extensive gardens and pond.

The small town of Charleston has a few stores (selling mostly seafood, oysters, and deli-style items). A bit further of a drive is North Bend, where you’ll find a Walmart, multiple gas stations, and a good laundry a few blocks west of Walmart on the same street.

A little crowded - campsites were very close together, and there were giant holes in the median greenery, allowing one to look directly into other campsites. The parking spaces were paved and level. Water spigots and electrical hook ups were available in the campsite. 5- 6 toilets and 6 showers available in each loop of the campground. Generator noise hours was strictly enforced. We woke up in the middle of the night and the campground was silent, except the calls of the seals in the ocean. Very clean, but a little too busy for us.

Loved this campground! We stayed in a 'tent' site as all the hook up sites were filled, and it turned out to be just perfect for us. We drive a Class B, total 19.5 ft in length, and had no trouble whatsoever getting into and out of our campsite. I guess the hook up sites are kind of small for big rigs, but there was plenty of space for us in our tent site, and plenty of privacy, too. There were clean heads with showers in each loop, and our showers were hot every time and every day. It's a short walk out to the small beach, and there are lots of trails that lead up to the bluffs overlooking the ocean. The interpretive staff runs programs for kids and offers short talks/walks on geology and the local botany.Shore Acres State Park with its beautiful botanic gardens is a mile up the road.

Our biggest issue was getting enough sunlight on our solar panels through the beautiful forest, so one day we just drove over to the beach parking lot and hung out there while we charged up completely. Another issue for some folks might be the lack of cell reception - closest place we could get a signal was over in Coos Bay. The campground is slightly off the beaten path, about 10 miles from the freeway, but that was an easy drive.

Overall, we thought this was a great place to spend a few days.

The bay is gorgeous at sunset! There are picnic tables and trails to enjoy. There is a trail that takes you safely from the campground to the day use area. The tide rolls out quite far offering rock hoping. Also saw paddleboards in the bay.
The sites were tight on one way roads. We had to adjust a few times to get our van into our space. We had no Verizon service with our hotspot and booster, so left into town to send messages and take care of tasks. We weren't too excited about the local area.
I hope we come back to enjoy the sunsets.

Sites are a little close together. Our site was a little off to itself and had a creek running right next to the site. The showers are currently closed due to Covid 19. All the bathrooms were open except loop B. Currently no campfires allied. We have a propane fire pit and that was allowed. And no briquette bbqs. The beach is a short bike ride or walk from the campground. The beach is beautiful lots of room to spread out. The view of the bay is spectacular. Bring your kayak or paddle board they even have a boat launch. No dump station at Sunset Bay but there is one just up the road at the county beach park. Cost $5. Shore Acres Botanical Gardens is just a few miles up the road. If you’re checking weather forecast for your trip Coos Bay or Charleston are more accurate than Banden.

Sites are close together. No Verizon coverage.

We booked a reservation in here a couple weeks in advance for a Monday stay during early October. Online booking was easy enough and we were able to "check-in" online ahead of time so that we could pull right into our campsite - great for social distancing during COVID! It was very crowded and fully booked, so we were happy to have the reservation.

Campsite itself was really shaded with tall old growth trees. There were bushes between each site, so decent amount of privacy but close enough to say "hello" to the neighbors. Nice fire rings built in with cooking grates if needed. Thank goodness, the burn bans were lifted, so we got to enjoy a fire, although the wood bundles from the campground was a bit wet, so hard to get a good fire going. Site A8 was directly across from the restrooms, which were nice and clean.

Where this campground really shines is location. There is a nice walking path that winds down to the day use area and beaches. And the beach was gorgeous. Hardly anybody there at sunset and a great place to dip our toes into the cool water. Beautiful!

We reserved A12 as a stated 40’ site, was actually 35’ not leaving us any room for our TV. Reserve your site, arrive, make a loop and make sure your site will accommodate your setup. Pretty tight loops as well requiring a good spotter.