Actually a road through a private forest area (open to the public with a permit) full of walking trails, mountain bike tracks, elk, bald eagles, hawks, and lots of wildlife!

Early morning on the beach!

The early seagulls get the beach to themselves!

We spent the day finding a new hiking area, private but open to the public with a permit simply gotten. Yakona Nature Preserve. Our new “Happy Place”!

The artful benches throughout the preserve are whimsical and offer wonderful vistas.

New hiking area! Crossing the gravel road over King slough, you can see the tide coming and going. The bay is very shallow here, the slough is almost completely emptied at low tide.

Slough on the left, Bay on the right.

The water moving through the culverts create small whirlpools as it passes either in or out of the slough. In this case the tide is going out!

More exploration. The back way from Newport to Toledo, along Yaquina Bay and Yaquina river.

The clouds reflected on upper Yaquina Bay.

A beautiful weathervane on the roof of a picnic pavilion at Paddle Park on Yaquina Bay road.