Bastendorff Bog Trail – February 14, 2026 – Friends of the Umpqua Hiking Group

Hike coordinator: Lane Harris

Narration by Lane Harris

We’ve had a good long stretch of dry weather lately. If it could just hold on for a little while longer, I was thinking, I’d be very happy. However, I was constantly being reminded during each weather forecast that Saturday was gonna be a wet day for everyone. Well, that just figures. So, I resigned to the fact that it was just going to be another very rainy hike.

When Saturday morning arrived, I was impressed when I realized there were nine of us heading over to brave the elements. Additionally, we were meeting Rachelle and Traci from the coast, as well as Angie and Darko from Eugene. What is wrong with these people?!

Anyway, it turned out that the weather was not as bad as I was expecting, and in fact, I felt lucky that it was good as it was. With just a light rain falling, I figured we’d probably stay fairly dry on today’s hike.

After wringing out the all water from our pant legs from the stream crossing at the very beginning of the hike, we commenced the hike proper. Ok, so we’d get a little wet. The beach walk was just a warmup to the short climb up a hill to reach the forest. I pointed out the alternative route, which consisted of a rope to help yourself down, or up, depending on which direction you’re traveling. Amber and Abigail were particularly intrigued by this option, but we ended up not coming back this way. Maybe another day, ladies!

I was soon leading the group through the crazy maze of trails in the forest, and we eventually reached what I considered the highlight of the day, Yoakam Point. Upon reaching an intersection above a gaping chasm below, there are two, thin stretches of land branching out in front of you. Taking the path to the right, we worked our way out to the tip of the northern point where we took in a fabulous view of the sprawling ocean. To the north, we could look back at Bastendorff Beach.

We had our fill of those northern views, so a handful of us decided to venture out onto the southern branch of land. The journey to the southern point involves going through shrubbery while bent over, as there’s just no other way to do it. And the tiny bit of real estate at the tip was a reminder to be extremely careful out here! But we were rewarded with another spectacular view, this time to the south. The Cape Arago Lighthouse was visible, even with the light rain coming down.

We all regrouped and headed back into the woods. The forest here makes me think of what Sherwood Forest must be like. The large trees beneath the cavernous canopy above exuded the feeling that Robin Hood and his merry men could be setting up camp right around the next corner.

At this point, it was time to make our way across the highway and hit the actual Bastendorff Trail. This part of the trail displays an amazing example of a coastal forest. The trail here is gentle as it winds its way through the woods, and we caught the skunk cabbage just starting to come up after a long winter.

The trail began to descend down to Sunset Bay campground, where we took advantage of the facilities. Then, it was across the road again to the day use area where we stopped to enjoy the beach views and had lunch. I had parked my truck here in case we needed to shuttle people back to the start of the hike. Good thing I did, as Rachelle and Traci were needing to get back and opted not to hike the trail back. After dropping them off, I waited for the others to emerge from the forest to finish out this hike.

All in all, this was a good day, and for most of the attendees, this was their first time hiking the ‘bog. Maybe next time we will do it without a stream crossing and during nicer weather. Then again, it’s those factors that can create some memorable experiences.