Bonus Days! 2 for 1 special…. Review of Alsea Falls & Mary’s Peak

If you find yourself in Waldport, and Central Oregon Coastal town and you want to take a bypass road to the Corvallis area, I have a couple of stops for you.

Top of Mary's Peak on a HOT summer day

The highest Mountain Peak on the Oregon Coastal Range is Mary’s Peak. It’s about a 40 minute drive from Corvallis or about 40 minutes from Waldport. Near this area is a sleepy little town called Alsea and they have a BLM waterfall/camping area named after the town; Alsea Falls.

To prepare for your day of viewing the coastal range and hiking the falls, pack jackets, rain coats and layer your clothes. Don’t forget your picnic lunch, camera and disappointment. Okay, you don’t be disappointed with the scenery but don’t set your expectations too high.

The day we drove up to Mary’s Peak, it was sunny and hot in the valley with temperatures approaching high 90’s. As we meandered up the windy road and wishing I had taken an anti-sickness motion pill; the clouds rolled in. Or is that called fog when you are above the clouds?? And the higher we got the colder it got, naturally. We parked at the trail head to walk a bit to the highest point to take photos and the first we did when we jumped out the car is put on more clothes. The temperature must have dropped 30 degrees. My husband was smart enough to bring a jacket. Me, who would have thought of bring a winter jacket in the middle of a sunny, summer day to access a short trail head for Ocean views? Not I. Being a little bit quicker on the uptake, I grabbed his jacket and put it on before he could say “what the…”.

We walked up the wide trail, neatly groomed to the picnic table on top of the mountain. The hike up took a mere 20 minutes. The view was of fog. Other people were hiking the numerous trails up there; we however could not manage the cold on that hot summer day. We left.

Alsea Falls was a similar experience. It was still hot. Over 90. We found follow the signs to Alsea Falls. Again, another windy road about 15 minutes out of that tiny town. Another anti-motion sickness pill I wish I had taken.

Once we arrived the falls, I was thrilled to get out of the car and breathe in that fresh mountain air and even more excited when I saw two women walking on a trail in swimsuit and holding swim noodle. Most excellent! A swimming hole; something I didn’t expect.

We found the falls by once again, following the signs. Just a few 500 yards (or so) from the parking lot is the falls. Such a pretty sight with layering colors of blue with the backdrop of the multi colored green trees and moss. We took a gillizaon plus one photo of each other. Such fun! And then we looked for the swimming hole. Never found it. Luckily we stumbled upon a Park Ranger and asked him where to look for the swimming hole. He chuckled a bit and said no such place existed up there. I wondered for a moment where those two women disappear too, but I suppose I didn’t want to know.

We found a perfectly lovely picnic table that my daughter picked out right next to the port-a-potty for lunch. Yes, there were plenty of other tables but she wanted that one.

We ate our watermelon, played a round of Yatzee in the cool temperatures of high 70’s before heading back to the valley to the hot and sun.

In the end, I recommend both these places as an escape from the hot summer sun. But don’t take your water noodles and don’t expect an Ocean view; that’s what beach front hotels are for.