What to See in Florence - Top Sights and Attractions

State park in Lane County, Oregon. Darlingtonia State Natural Site is a state park and botanical preserve located five miles north of Florence, Oregon, United States on U.S. Route 101, just west of Mercer Lake and south of Sutton Lake that is dedicated to the preservation of a rare plant.

Darlingtonia californica is a carnivorous plant, commonly known as the cobra lily, which traps insects in its hollow tubular leaves, whose top is flared into a hollow dome with a forked "tongue" that gives the species its common name. In late spring, they bear purple and yellow flowers that rise above the green cobra-like leaves. Darlingtonia are found only in wet meadows and bogs with acidic soils low in nitrogen. The rare, strangely shaped plant is the only member of the pitcher plant family Sarraceniaceae in Oregon.

The park has a short loop trail through a peat bog area overlooking patches of Darlingtonia. It is the only Oregon state park dedicated to the protection of a single plant species.^[3]

Bascule bridge in Florence, Oregon. The Siuslaw River Bridge is a bascule bridge that spans the Siuslaw River on U.S. Route 101 in Florence, Oregon. It was designed by Conde McCullough, built by the Mercer-Fraser Company of Eureka, California, and funded by the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works. It opened in 1936.

The bridge's total length is 1,568 feet (478 m). When open, the 140-foot (43 m) double-leaf bascule provides 110 feet (34 m) of horizontal clearance for boat traffic. The bascule section is flanked by two 154-foot (47 m) reinforced concrete tied arches, identical to those used in the original Alsea Bay Bridge. Four Art Deco-style obelisks house mechanical equipment as well as living quarters for the bridge operator. The total cost of the bridge was $527,000 (equivalent to $9.9 million in 2020).

The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 5, 2005.^[4]

State park in Lane County, Oregon. Jessie M. Honeyman Memorial State Park, also known simply as Honeyman State Park, is in Lane County of the U.S. state of Oregon. It lies 3 miles south of Florence along Highway 101, the coastal highway. The 27,212-acre Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area adjoins the park to the west. Many amenities are available, including over 200 campsites, all-terrain vehicle access, swimming, fishing and sandboarding.

Originally named Camp Woahink, the park was built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), and was later renamed in honor Jessie M. Honeyman (1852–1948) of Portland. As president of the Oregon Roadside Council, Honeyman worked with Samuel Boardman, Oregon's first Superintendent of State Parks in the 1920s and 1930s, to preserve Oregon coastal lands.

Several of the structures built by the CCC, including the camp store, three picnic shelters, and the administrative building, comprise the Jessie M. Honeyman Memorial State Park Historic District. The campground was added in the 1950s. The Lake Woahink Seaplane Base is on Woahink Lake, southeast of the park, and Camp Cleawox, a Girl Scout camp, is across Cleawox Lake and northwest of the park.^[5]