SP Campground Review – Bullards Beach State Park, Bandon, OR
Another gorgeous Oregon State Park complete with fabulous beach and cute lighthouse on the S.Coast near Bandon, OR
Note/ Review updated as of last stay May, 2016
Link to campground here: Bullards Beach State Park, OR
Link to map location here: Bullards Beach State Park, OR
- Site Quality = 4/5
Very nice site quality here. You have a selection of either full hookup (30 or 50 amp/water/sewer) or water/electric (30 or 50amp). Sites are flat, paved back-ins with picnic table, fire-pit and good access throughout. Like most Oregon State Parks inner-loop sites (facing towards middle of loops) tend to be at right angles to the road, so they are not really suited for big rigs. Outer-loop sites are more angled and a better choice for the swing-room required by larger rigs. There are 3 loops with and slightly different feel:
-> A & B loops are older, more forested loops with generally good separation and lots of trees/greenery, but can be darker (and support more mosquitoes in summer) especially towards the back of the loops. A-Loop has 30 Amp hookups, B-loop has 50 Amp hookups.
-> C loop is newer and slightly tighter, but more open with some very sunny sites especially in back corner (C48-C52). C-Loop has all 50Amp hookups. - Facilities = 3.5/5
Good facilities here. Large flush toilets and warm showers with good pressure and kept nicely clean. Only ding is showers have those annoying timer-buttons and spray-heads. On-site dump station. - Location = 5/5
Great location here. Campground is set well back from the road with ~1 mile paved bike/hike trail to a gorgeous (and almost endless) beach. You’re also right next to the lovely Coquille River Lighthouse and only 5 miles from Bandon (an excellent little town with another stunning beach). Boat ramp (for river), plenty of picnic areas and horse camp on-site. Lots of space and green. Our kinda place! - Pet Friendliness = 5/5
Great location for doggie. Lots of space to hang out in camp, good hiking and miles (and miles) of free open space to roam on the beach (~1 mile from camp). Poo bags provided on-site.
Overall Rating = 4.4
BONUS ALERT: Miles of gorgeous beach and Coquille River Lighthouse on-site!
Summary: Well this is just another great Oregon State Park! Set only ~5 miles north of Bandon it is a lovely state park with miles of excellent, wild beach and the cute Coquille River Lighthouse on-site. Campsites are well-sized flat, paved back-ins with selection of either full hookup or water/electric (mix of 30 & 50 amp), decent separation and lots of green. A & B loops have more trees/privacy, but can also be a tad moister & darker. C loop is tighter and more open (less privacy), but is also more dry/sunny. The only complaint this place ever seems to get is mosquitoes (and they can definitely get active in the woods on still, humid summer days) so we personally prefer the sunnier sites in C Loop, but all are nice. Location is excellent with ~1 mile pleasant hike to the lovely Bullards Beach, ~5 mins drive to Bandon (which has restaurants, farmers market, shopping, tide-pools, stunning beaches etc.), ~1/2 hour drive to Cape Blanco (in the south) and 1/2 hour to Cape Arago (in the north). This is a very popular park so if you’re planning to stop here, reservations are definitely recommended especially in the “high season” summer months. We enjoyed lots of sun and pleasant days during our stay in July, spent many hours hiking and romping on the gorgeous beach, thoroughly enjoyed the surroundings and would most definitely come back!
Extra Info: Decent Verizon 4G LTE (2 bars) and ATT LTE (2 bars) . Total 185 sites , 104 full hookup (either 30 or 50 amp/water/sewer), 81 electric (30 or 50 amp)/water. Electric/water sites cost $26/night Full hookups cost $28/night, all reservable on-line. On-site dump station.
Video Overview: Want to see it on film? Feel free to click on our short ~8 min video overview here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxWvaIIkQlM
Note/ You can see a picture of each and every campsite at this campground on campsitephotos.com.
Great review. We have never been to Bullards Beach so appreciate your post and comments on the different loops. Hope you are still enjoying Oregon.
We SO enjoyed this campground. It’s yet another lovely OR state park. LOVE the SP system here!
Nina
any chance of getting a spot next weekend there if we just show up since n sites currently reservable?
It’s been booked out almost every weekend here, but Cape Blanco State Park (~1/2 hr south on the coast) is entirely first-come-first-serve (no reservations) so you’ll have a better chance of getting in there. Bonus is that we’re going to be at Cape Blanco then too, so if you show up we can have a glass and a chat. Let me know if you do!
Nina
well we have to find somewhere to stay for that weekend so unless I can reserve something we may drop by early and hope for the best…
I’ll e-mail you our details in case you make it down to Cape Blanco. Cool!
Nina
Ohhhhhhh Nina; We are so wanting to come back up there and stay a while. We are stuck down here in California about ready to go through another stretch of 100* weather…….. Thanks for the reviews…. Pssssst we are still working towards Alaska in 2014….. Lee and Shelia
Hot, hot, hot…you guys definitely need a break on the coast 🙂
Nina
Nina, I’d like to email you personally to pick your brain about some good places near San Diego for our first Christmas on the road. How can I do that? Sue
Sure. There is an e-mail link to contact us at the bottom of our “about us” page. Fire away…
San Diego is a great place to spend winter. We usually knock between Santee Lakes (lots of green & space, but a little further from town) and Mission Bay RV Resort (basically a big parking lot, but in an awesome location right by the water). Both have their charm and we like a bit of each while we’re there.
Nina
You know when we were in Bandon, we drove around Bullards State Park and were kicking ourselves for not knowing/checking about State Parks in general and Bullards in particular. It is quite a big and nice park and better than where we were. As greenhorns we tend to be on the safe side and just go to advertised parks. But we are learning so fast especially here now in Alaska where boon docking with a view is quite a pleasure. When we get back to the lower 48 we will go out of our comfort zone and refer to your park reviews.
Don’t kick yourself too hard. When we first started RVing it took us about 4 months before we “discovered” public parks. Once we did we never looked back. The majority of our RVing is now in state parks, national forests, BLM, etc. We love the green and space!
Nina
Bullard’s Beach is beautiful, as is that entire area. You are lucky to have good weather. The summers can be pretty foggy along the Oregon Coast. Hopefully you will be able to visit Coos Bay. It’s been many years since I lived there, but there was a sea food restaurant called The Blue Heron that had the best clam chowder I’ve ever had! If it is still there and if you like chowder, it would definitely be worth the drive. Enjoy!
Thanks for the tip! We love this area and have spent lots of time exploring around, but for whatever reason we’ve not really seen much of Coos Bay. Will have to check it out!
Nina
How long will you be there. We love the oregon State Parks especially because I get 10 free days per month. We are staying at the Newport Elks, only because we want to visit my wife’s brother. Will be heading down toward Bandon @ the last week of May..\\
God Bless;
Rich O.
We only stayed there for the weekend this time around. We’ve already moved onwards and inland.
Nina
I’m a solo newbie and need input on traveling w/ pets – what do you do in warm months when you need to grocery shop, i.e. errands? The following is really embarassing – if the roads in parks are not marked, what direction do you drive to camping spot?
Regarding the pets, we leave them in the rig with the air-conditioning turned on. This keeps them cool.
As for the direction. Whenever you enter a campground there will always be either a check-in desk or a map. If the road isn’t marked that’ll tell you which way you can drive.
Nina
The family and I stayed here in July of 2018. We have vacationed numerous times in Oregon and this place is by far our favorite. We plan on going back the summer of 2020. The town is neat and very aimed towards us tourists. The Facerock Creamery was our favorite.