Things to do with kids near Brookings, Oregon?

August 11, 2007 3:29 PM

Things to do with kids near Brookings, Oregon?

As a "last change at summer" trip, we're heading with friends to the Oregon coast. There'll be seven kids in the 5-9 range. We know nothing of the Brookings area, other than that the tide pools are supposed to be neat. Other than standing in the ocean, what are kid-friendly things to do within an hour or two of Brookings in late August?

posted by dws to Travel & Transportation around Brookings, OR (7 answers total)

In Bandon, there is a rather sad-looking sign for the Game Park. Although it looks like a run-down and seedy place - or did when I went through last - you can play with tiger cubs. Playing with tiger cubs is really fun, they are just like kittens but a 30lb one can knock you right over. The animals look fine and seem to be cared for properly, which is why I don't mind recommending the place unless you have Goat Trauma.
posted by jet_silver at 3:54 PM on August 11, 2007 [1 favorite]

I haven't been there yet, but in a few weeks I'll be driving up the 101 and plan to take my dino-obsessed two-year-old to Prehistoric Gardens, a roadside attraction near Port Orford with lots of dinosaur sculptures made by this one guy. It looks fun. "His two-dozen creations look like pop-art refugees from the Land That Earth Tones Forgot."
posted by lisa g at 4:25 PM on August 11, 2007

Hmm...drive to Redwood National Park and check all the cool stuff out there? It's only an hour drive according to Google Maps. I'm an Oregon native myself but can't say I've ever been around the Brookings area except to drive through and I don't see much of interest near it, though I'm sure naturally speaking it's beautiful.

Other than that, I guess try driving up the 101 and see what you find. In the smaller, less-populated parts of Oregon there tend be enormous amounts of bizarre, tiny museums which are always fun and which I was always dragged to by *my* parents as a child.
posted by nonmerci at 4:58 PM on August 11, 2007

Go on a jetboat trip up the Rouge River, starting at Gold Beach.

Whatever you do, don't let the kids hang out on the rocks in the water when the tide is coming in, even if you are really tempted to get the kids out of your hair for the next 12 hours.
posted by yohko at 11:58 AM on August 12, 2007

The game park in Bandon was really cool when I was like 8.
posted by Matt Oneiros at 2:27 PM on August 12, 2007

i tried googling this but couldn't find anything. i believe it was called the indian dunes and it was just north of brookings. i was there over about twelve years ago and i still remember it clearly, it was so cool. it was right off a highway and you walk thru some trees for a bit, they stop and you find a mini desert with dunes you can run around. the dunes stop and you've got this amazing view of the ocean, no beach though. the dunes end at cliff's over the ocean and an awesome natural bridge to this huge rock in the water. it's really amazing and would be cool for kids, you get a taste for forest/desert/ocean all in one spot.
posted by andywolf at 9:53 PM on August 12, 2007

Response by poster: Following up: The weather during our stay was marginal, so anything involving the beach got dropped. There's a decent playground in town. Brookings has some decent restaurants (including a seafood place near the end of the wharf whose name escapes me).

A trip to the Oregon Caves National Monument took most of a day, and was considered by most to have been worth the time. (If you ever take the tour, the option of the "long way back" is worth the extra 15 minutes.) There's a decent Chinese restaurant on the North end of Cave Junction.

Would we go back? Probably not. We don't regret the trip, but Arcata might have been a much better choice, with more options within reach.
posted by dws at 6:33 PM on August 23, 2007