Oregon's Best Place To Retire Is A Coastal Beauty With A Thriving City And Endless Outdoor Fun
"It's a beautiful place to live in my opinion. Coastal living with warm summer breezes and lots and lots of rain. Beaches that are still clean, forests and rivers to camp in. I just love my home." So read the glowing words of one resident of a certain county in Oregon on the college and neighborhood information site Niche, a site that ranks said county as the absolute best for retirees in the whole darn state, no less. It goes by the name of Coos County, and it lays claim to one hefty chunk of wild Pacific Coast, swathes of inland forests, snaking rivers and waterfalls, and even one particularly alluring city. Tempted yet?
Coos straddles U.S. Route 101 as it twists and turns its way up the southern Oregon coast. It's anchored by the city of Coos Bay, known for its deep-water harbor, but perhaps better known to travelers as the gateway to Oregon's "Adventure Coast." On one side, the ocean beckons — the coastal state parks here are all rugged rock stacks, bays inhabited by sea lions, and hidden coves with tidepools aplenty. On the other hand, the vast Siuslaw National Forest clambers up the Coast Range in a show of wild Sitka woodlands threaded with hiking paths.
If you're waiting to hear the catch, then here it comes: Coos County is a touch remote. While it's possible to fly straight into the Southwest Oregon Regional Airport (OTH) on flights from San Francisco and Denver, the nearest major international airport is about four to five hours' drive away in Portland. Road trippers, meanwhile, are looking at over eight hours in the car from San Francisco, and nearly seven hours from Seattle.
From coast to mountains in Coos County
Just a quick glance at the map should be enough to show that Coos County is a cracking retirement location for those who love the great outdoors. The U.S. Route 101 that links up the coastline — all 50 or so miles of it — is a route that offers detour after detour. One moment you'll be tempted by a wild beach, the next a stunning headland, the next a gorgeous coastal walk. Then you look east to see that Coos lays claim to portions of not one, but two major forests.
Wave-washed Bastendorff Beach is regularly mentioned as one of the highlights of the region. If you've got the energy, it's a fine place to chase those punchy Pacific waves. If beachcombing is more your thing, then you've found a doozy, for Bastendorff is often uncrowded and hailed by locals as an excellent place for relaxed strolls. Less than 10 minutes' drive south of that is Cape Arago State Park, where the super-short (0.2-mile) North Cove Trail opens up observation points that gaze out to colonies of seals and sea lions on the surrounding rocks.
As if it needs to flex its outdoorsy credentials even more, Coos County also has the dense coastal forests at the Elliott State Forest, a prime hunting and fishing location, less than an hour's drive from the coast. Only a touch further and you'll be at the little-visited Golden and Silver Falls State Natural Area, where under-the-radar hiking paths whisk you through thick woods to two gorgeous cascades.
Cities and towns in Coos County
Coos County is home to the underrated, artsy city of Coos Bay. In fact, it's the biggest town in the county, and a veritable hub of Oregon's South Coast when coupled with North Bend and little Charleston, which sit right next door around the bay. The upshot there is that retirees who pick Coos Bay actually get three towns for the price of one, each with their own unique atmosphere.
There's Charleston, the salty marina community where you go for fishing trips and access to some of the county's top beaches. There's North Bend — famously home to Oregon's quirky Geek-Chic motel, the Itty Bitty Inn — where the walkable Main Street area and its malls sit in the shadow of soaring sand dunes. And then there's Coos Bay itself, which has a rich logging history along a bayside boardwalk, plus a lively downtown area centered on S Broadway Street, replete with surf-and-turf grills, seafood joints, and microbreweries.
On top of all that, it looks as if Coos Bay strikes the perfect vibe for would-be retirees. The family travel blog My Family Travels highlights the area's affordability and its super-friendly locals. Meanwhile, one person on the r/CoosBay subreddit sums up the town like this: "It's definitely a retirement community." For retirees looking for a slower-paced base on the Oregon Coast, Coos Bay and its neighboring communities make a compelling combination.