Tour the over 100-year-old Heceta Head Lighthouse (hecetalighthouse.com). While there, you can walk on the beach, enjoy a picnic, hike on trails and view wildlife, such as migrating gray whales in.
Take the entire family to see sea lions in their natural habitat in the Sea Lion Caves (sealioncaves.com). Walk down a trail to see the seals in the cave during the fall and winter or see them on the rocks just outside the cave in spring and summer. Sea Lion Caves is open every day, except Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Admission fees apply.
Visit the Siuslaw Pioneer Museum (no website; 278 Maple St.; Florence; 541-997-7884) and learn about Florence by viewing its historical artifacts and photographs. Group tours for 10 or more people are offered. At the time of publication, the museum is open Tuesday to Sundays and children under 16 are admitted for free.
You'll find dozens of campgrounds in Florence where you can enjoy a family camping trip. You can camp by a lake, river or by the dunes. Different kinds of campgrounds are found in the Siuslaw National Forest (fs.fed.us). You can camp in an off-highway vehicle or primitive campground or in one of 40 developed campgrounds. Off-highway vehicle sites are found in the forests' Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area. Activities in the forest include riding off-road vehicles, hiking, beachcombing, wildlife viewing and fishing.
With 17 lakes and rivers in and around the area and its location along the Pacific Ocean, it's no surprise that a long list of water activities for the entire family are available in Florence. Such activities include: kayaking, skim boarding, snorkeling, swimming, surfing, water-skiing, wave-boarding and windsurfing.
Take in the view's of Oregon's coast while horseback riding along Baker Beach Trail, Dry Lake Trailhead and Horse Creek Trailhead. Open year round, Baker Beach Trail is considered an easy to moderate trail and is also suitable for hikers. Dry Lake Trailhead and Horse Creek Trailhead are coastal horse trails that are considered easy to moderately difficult.
For a cultural activity, take your family to see a production at the Florence Events Center (eventcenter.org). Not only does the center have events for adults such as musical concerts and dance performances, but events and shows for kids as well. The "Siuslaw K-5 Talent Show" is and annual talent show for kids held in April that features dances, magic acts, songs and skits. In 2011, the Florence Events Center featured "Seussical Jr.," the children's version of the Broadway musical "Seussical."
