In and Around Florence, Oregon

Sea Lion Caves

About 11 miles north of Florence, we came upon the Sea Lion Caves. It is the only mainland rookery of  Steller sea lions.  The caves are home to a herd of about 200 hundred sea lions. These animals occupy the caves mainly in the fall and the winter, but we were lucky to see many of them during our summer visit.

We entered the caves through the gift shop, paid the fee and then walked down a steep hill which revealed  the coastal cliffs along with several kinds of gulls and cormorants that nest here. We then took an elevator which drops about 208 feet.  From there, you step out into the dark subterranean light where you can see hundreds of steller seal lions on the rock shelves amid the surging water.  It was very difficult to take photos, so I apologize for these two which turned out to be the best of many blurry photos.  It was very crowded and they didn’t allow flash and  there was also a huge black webbing where you looked inside the cave.

Siuslaw River Bridge

We finished our visit to the Sea Lion Caves and continued on to Florence.  We stopped by the river to take photos of the Siuslaw River Bridge which spans the Siuslaw River. It opened in 1936. This spectacular bridge is richly ornamented and consists of an unusual combination of concrete rainbow arch spans and a steel bascule span.

We then decided to go into Old Town Florence, and look around the shops.  It was rather early so not everything was open. From there, we went to see the sand dunes.  There was a viewing deck from which we took a few photos.  We did see one young lady sitting down in the middle of a sand dune which seemed a bit weird as no one else was near her.  You can see her in some of the photos.

After viewing the dunes, we continued on to Brookings to check into the Beachfront Inn once more. We were staying there for two days and were excited to see some of the sights we missed the first time.

Check out the next post: Brookings All Around