Backpack the Oregon Dunes

(actual itinerary will be adjusted to the weather and group)

• Thursday: Arrive to campus in the morning, meet your group and collect any outdoor gear you are borrowing from College Outdoors. Eat lunch on campus, then drive about 3.5hrs to the trailhead on the central Oregon Coast. Camp at the trailhead
• Friday: Hike for 3-4 hours through coastal ecosystems and dunes to campsite 1, next to a freshwater lake.
• Saturday: Day hike to explore the coastline and play on the dunes. It is a lot of fun to jump, roll, slide, and frolic on massive sand dunes! Return to campsite 1 at night to relax with your group and play games.
• Sunday: Hike 3-4 hours to campsite 2, next to a freshwater river. LC Night! Learn about Lewis & Clark from current students.
• Monday: Hike 1-2 hours to the spot where you will be picked up, then drive 15 minutes to Camp Cleawox where you will reunite with the other backpacking group and the Hike & Paddleboard the Oregon Coast groups for hearty food, skits, and games
• Tuesday: Return to campus, clean up gear, move into residence halls and have one last meal with your group!

This section of the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area is one of the largest expanses of temperate coastal sand dunes in the world, and is home to many incredible species of flora and fauna, including the Snowy Plover and coastal strawberries. You’ll hike through the lands of the Siuslaw and Quuiich (or Lower Umpqua) tribes. Their legends of the area describe two young men from the Sky World who laid down blue
clay, tule mats, and eagle feathers to create the land, sands, and trees respectively.

As part of the Siuslaw National Forest, these Oregon Dunes trails weave between stretches of lush forest and vast beaches. You’ll camp alongside vibrant lakes, hike & play on dunes up to a mile long and 500 feet above sea level, and see spectacular views of our Central Coast. Learn to recognize plants like the sweetsmelling Sand Verbena, invasive European Beachgrass, and towering Sitka Spruce. Keep an eye out for bald
eagles, black-tailed deer, sea lions, and northern spotted owls as you explore this Pacific wonderland.  

The first day of your trip you’ll drive about 3.5 hours to the trailhead with the other groups that’ll be in the area with you, and camp at a nearby campground. For four days you will backpack through great dunes and forests with your small group, and camp beside freshwater lakes and rivers. You will be carrying a backpack that will weigh somewhere between 40 and 60 lbs, depending on your equipment and your physical condition. The trails are occasionally steep as you summit the dunes, and are rated easy to moderate with elevations ranging from sea level to ~3,000 feet. On average, the group expects to hike about 4-7 miles per day carrying full backpacks, with options for additional day hikes, and a possible layover day in the middle of the trip. Not everyone in the group will want to hike at the same speed, so we’ll do what is best for the group when it comes to pace, routes, campsites, and day hikes.

We’ll work together to prepare meals, carry group equipment, and perform camp tasks. For sleeping accommodations, we provide your choice of single-person tents, shared tent space, or personal “bivy sacks,” which allow you to stay cozy and dry while sleeping out under the stars. We practice minimum impact camping techniques such as packing out all litter and food waste, not using soap directly in streams or lakes, and not camping on fragile ecosystems. We’ll go over these practices during the trip.

August weather in the Pacific Northwest is usually beautiful, but along the coast the weather can be sunny and 80° F at noon, then be heavily raining by 4 p.m. Nights are generally cool, and the temperature ranges around 40° to 50°. While August is one of the drier months in the Pacific Northwest, it’s possible to
experience significant storms for several days, so participants should bring (or borrow) good rain gear