"Small Beach Access Park along Highway 101" Hug Point State Park by glabah

There are dozens of state parks along the Oregon Coast. Some of these are substantial affairs with extensive beaches, many trails, campgrounds, cabins, yurts, and many other facilities.

Some of these, however, are tiny places that are little more than dots on the map, and are little more than a spot beside the road.

Hug Point leans towards being a dot on the map. The beach is small, and there are several spits of land nearby north and south that act as obstacles to walking the entire beach, especially at high tide. The only restrooms here are a set of pit toilets.

Yet, it is a spot off of highway 101 that has dense enough forest to block the traffic noise a bit, and it is after all beach and ocean access. It also helps that Highway 101 makes a bit of a curve here, so that the highway is not extremely close to the beach.

Parking Area and Short Trail to Beach

Other than what is available on the beach itself (which isn't much at high tide), the only trail that is in the park is a short and steep connector between the parking lot and the beach. There is a wooden staircase of sorts at the bottom of the trail to provde that one last bit of incline downward.

The rocky peninsula that walls off the north side of the beach has a cave carved into it by the wind and waves. It isn't much of a cave, as you can see from the photo, but it is at least a unique feature of the park beach.

Looking Southwest, it is possible to see some of the rock formations that make the beaches of Oregon a very hazardous location.

• Pros:It is a beach along Highway 101, but Highway 101 is far enough away to be downed out by the wind and waves.
• Cons:Other than the small section of beach, there really isn't much here.
• In a nutshell:Another of many examples of the dozens of varied state parks along the Oregon section of Highway 101.