Today’s #Photowalk: tour the historic Bayfront of Newport, home to working fishermen, cute shops, waterfront restaurants and local sea lions, then head to the car to catch the art deco Yaquina Bay Bridge, the historic Yaquina Head Lighthouse and then finally the rocky terrain of the Devil’s Punchbowl park.
The walk through town is about 1 mile through town, 1.7 miles if you continue up the hill, and you should, to the Yaquina Bay State Recreation Site. This is where you’ll find a great view of the Bridge, and a second, but closed, historic Lighthouse.
Newport is a 2.5 hour drive from Portland, 1.5 hour from the state capitol of Salem, and the second largest city on the Oregon Coast, with just over 10,000 residents, after Coos Bay.
But much of the city is fast food restaurants, motels, big box retailers and very skippable. You come to Newport to visit the waterfront, see attractions like the Bridge, Devil’s Punchbowl and Lighthouse and visit the Aquarium. That’s where you want to be.
Our Photowalk begins one the SE side of Bay at the Embarcadero, which is a hotel and marina. This will give you a cool view of the boats and bridge behind it.
Continue walking, and the first major stop you’ll want is Pier 5. This is home to working fishing boats, where you’ll get to see the guys who go out to sea for days or weeks at a time, in search of crab and salmon to bring home. These boats are massive.
Keep walking and you’ll pass Pacific Seafood, the major fish distributor in town. Peek your nose in, and you might see them prepping the fish for the restaurants.
Continue, and Clearwater Restaurant is in the center of town. Clearwater is right next to a public dock favored by sea lions to rest and sing away. You don’t want to miss the show–and you’ll want to eat there as well. It’s terrific.
As you continue down the street, you’ll pass many shops selling t-shirts and fish memorabilia, restaurants offering all varieties of fish and multiple art galleries.
At the end of town, walk up the hill to get to the Yaquina Bay State Recreation site, where you can get a great glimpse of the bridge, and walk across it if you like.
Now it’s time for a drive. Get to the car and head over the bridge, where you can visit the Aquarium and get another angle on the bridge. This is where I flew my drone. Then head over to Nye Beach, which is a funky strip of restaurants and galleries. We had sensational pizza at Sorella, which offers $10 pies on Thursdays. Check it out!
Head up a few blocks and you’ll end up in Agate Beach, which at one time was known as a place to find translucent Agate rocks. We didn’t see any during our journey, but we loved the sunset and the location. This was the best spot to grab a killer shot of the Yaquina Head Lighthouse, which is right around the corner.
Next stop is the Lighthouse itself, where there are three different spots to photograph it. Start at the beach itself, then get a shot directly in front of the Lighthouse, and end up hiking up the hill for an overview.
The final stop is the Devil’s Punchbowl, but before you go, check the tide tables. You’ll need low tide to be to walk in and see the unique rock formations. When it’s high tide, the bowl is full up with water!
My friend Rick Sammon recently published a great book about how to photograph the Oregon Coast. Lots of great tips in here. Check it out.
Have fun everyone!
In our next installment, we return to Cannon Beach, up the coast, for another #Photowalk.