I am not normally super spontaneous but on Friday afternoon I looked at the weather in Cannon Beach and decided yep, we’re going camping. I have both of my kids this weekend so it was a great opportunity for a family trip. As much as I wanted to throw my hammock and a couple tents in the jeep and head out on an adventure, I needed to accommodate the vast requirements of 2 teenagers. One who does not particularly like camping, especially if it’s in a tent so I wanted to find a cabin. With such a late booking I knew not to get my hopes up.
I headed over to The Dyrt and started my search. Looking up "Cannon Beach" with the cabin filter on I was able to see a few campgrounds there, I saved them to my list and started making calls to find an opening. I lucked into“Sea Ranch” and although I must have driven by this location dozens of times, It is kind of in a hidden spot right when you get into Cannon Beach’s north end. The manager who answered the phone was straight to the point but friendly. I booked 2 nights. She let me know check-in was at 7pm but if we were running late to just call and we’d be fine. She also went over a covid symptoms check and let me know the park rules. I rushed to pack all of our stuff and get on the road to make it in time to check in!
After a mildly congested drive out to Cannon Beach, we pulled off the 101 into town. Sure enough, we were late. I called and it was no issue. The map only showed the address so we had a couple turnarounds to find the entrance. It’s tucked away behind a park and a bridge and easy to miss off the road. We pulled up to the building and got our key as well as a portable heater which was a surprise(with such a warm weekend we didn’t end up using it). The campground is fairly small and the sites follow suit setting close together and not overly private. I am not sure this would be my first choice for tent camping. Although some of the sites towards the back of the campground are a bit more spacious and wooded and have nice trees for hammocks, if that’s your thing. I was relieved to see the cabin we were staying in was off the beaten path. Parking was a breeze and we parked right next to our weekend shelter.
The cabin was small, cozy, and clean. The kitchen area had plenty of cabinets to store stuff and decent counter space. A microwave and small refrigerator were also helpful. The small bathroom housed a mid size shower(with enough hot water for 1 shower) and full size toilet. The beds were pretty comfortable and the futon was in good enough shape. A large patio and fire pit outside gave us plenty of room outside. Lot’s of trees around gave nice shade and lot’s of small animals were around, chipmunks, bunny rabbits and various birds.
The campground also looks like it has some nice features that weren’t available due to COVID. A large general store, a horse ranch, ice and firewood. Still open was a building that housed bathrooms and showers, RV features including a sanitary dump and water. It also looked like there was a big sink area to clean dishes and whatnot. A large dumpster was also near this building for dumping trash. All in all this is a gem located a couple blocks from the beach and downtown Cannon Beach.
I would 100% stay here again and have added it to my saved campsites list.
