Along Oregon's Coast
From Astoria to Bandon
Photos ©Daniel Mosher Long
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CAPE DISAPPOINTMENT STATE PARK is not in Oregon, but it is 2 hrs and 15 minutes from Portland. It is on the Washington coast, northeast of Portland and not far from the town of Astoria (see below) on the Columbia River. Located in Ilwaco, Washington, Cape Disappointment State Park is a 2,023-acre park with the Pacific Ocean to the west and a view of the mouth of the Columbia River. This little beach is called Waikiki Beach. The park has trails, a light house, military bunkers, and a Lewis and Clark Center.
Astoria, Oregon - a day trip from Portland area
Astoria, at the confluence of the Columbia River and Pacific Ocean, is 1 hr 45 minutes northwest of Portland.
We rented a VRBO apartment on the pier for three nights in 2021, with Riley, Jessica and Aidan.
We could watch the barges and other big boats on the river from our bedroom window.
It was during a 116 degree "heat dome" heatwave. One day we went to the Columbia River Maritime Museum in town to stay cool. It was well worth the trip - Columbia River Maritime Museum
Lots of good shops, restaurants and breweries in town. The movie The Goonies was filmed in Astoria.
Astoria Column, Astoria
Standing above Astoria on Coxcomb Hill–600 feet above sea level to be exact–the Astoria Column affords an unrivaled view of Young’s Bay, the Coast Range, the mouth of the Columbia River, and in the distance—the Pacific Ocean. While the city of Astoria is home to approximately 10,000 people, it’s estimated that 400,000 more visit the Astoria Column each year. Modeled after the Trajan Column in Rome, the Astoria Column features a hand-painted spiral frieze that would stretch more than 500 feet if unwound. The monument was dedicated in 1926, and has since undergone several restorations. The concrete and steel structure is part of a 30-acre city park. It is 125 feet tall and has a 164-step spiral staircase ascending to an observation deck at the top.
I took this photo from the top of the Astoria Column.
The Astoria-Megler Bridge, which was formally dedicated in 1966, stretches 4.1 miles from Astoria, Oregon, across the mouth of the Columbia River, to Point Ellice, Washington.
The bridge's main span is 1,232 feet in length, the longest "continuous truss" in the nation. This is a very long bridge.
Clatsop Spit and Fort Stevens State Park are not far south of Astoria (about 20 minutes) and about 1 hr & 45 minutes from Portland (Fort Stevens). Clatsop Spit extends to the west and north of Point Adams. To the south is Clatsop Beach, the general name given to the 18-mile-long beach extending from Point Adams to Seaside, Oregon. Clatsop Spit and parts of Clatsop Beach are located within Fort Stevens State Park. The barnacle-covered skeletal remains of the 1906 shipwreck of the Peter Iredale is still clearly visible and easily accessible at Clatsop Spit in the park. It was here that I made one of my favorite beach photographs. Not far from the shipwreck is an observation tower at the South Jetty which allows visitors to see where the Columbia meets the ocean.
Today, Fort Stevens has grown into a 4,300-acre park.
Fort Stevens State Park has a network of 9 miles of paved bicycle trails and 6 miles of hiking trails through spruce and hemlock forests, wetlands, and dunes.
Fort Stevens was once the primary military defense installation in the WWII era three-fort, “Harbor Defense System” (along with Forts Canby and Columbia in Washington). The fort saw service for 84 years, from the Civil War to World War II.
On the night/morning of June 21–22, 1942, the Japanese submarine I-25 surfaced off Fort Stevens and fired 17 shells from her deck gun, making Fort Stevens the only military installation in the continental United States to come under enemy fire in World War II. No injuries were reported, but the Japanese sub damaged the fort's baseball field. Oppenheimer's nephew was stationed at the base, and well, the rest is history.
Overlooking Indian Beach while hiking the Clatsop Loop Trail in Ecola State Park
Ecola State Park
Wrapping around Tillamook Head, between Seaside and Cannon Beach, Ecola State Park stretches along nine miles of coastline. Ecola Point’s trails lead to views of Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, rocky shores and ocean expanses.
Clatsop Loop Trail traces the route used by an expedition party from Lewis and Clark's "Corps of Discovery" led by Captain Clark who visited the area of present day Cannon Beach in 1806 in search of a beached whale that the local Native Americans had discovered.
The 2.5 mile Clatsop Loop Trail starts at Indian Beach and ascends through a temperate rain forest of tall spruce and ferns to Hikers’ Camp and just beyond, a ledge with a grand view of the coast and Tillamook Rock Lighthouse.
Just off this part of the trail we discovered the remains of a mossy WWII era battery.
Ecola State Park is 1.5 hours from Portland, about 45 minutes south of Astoria and about 10 minutes north of Cannon Beach.
Ecola’s trails offer cliffside viewpoints of secluded coves, forested promontories and even a long abandoned lighthouse. The park’s network of trails include an 8 mile segment of the Oregon Coast Trail, and a 2 1/2 mile historical interpretive route called the Clatsop Loop Trail - that's the trail we hiked.
The photo opposite is of Crescent Beach taken from the Crescent Beach Trail. Both of these photos (top and right) were made a short walk from the park's various parking lots and trail heads. Good views don't require a long hike.
Cannon Beach is about 1.5 hours west of Portland. It is one of Oregon’s most popular seaside towns. It has a year-round population of just 1,700 people but sees upwards of 750,000 visitors annually. The actual beach is 4 miles long, sandy and pristine – devoid of seaweed, rocks and litter. Haystack Rock, a 235 foot sea stack, towers over the beach. It’s the third largest coastal monolith in the world. It is usually covered with birds, including puffins. National Geographic listed Cannon Beach as one of the 100 most beautiful places in the world in 2013.
Scary old man chasing children on Cannon Beach.
People rode rental fat-tire bikes on the beach, which looked like lots of fun. Cannon Beach allows “open containers” of alcoholic beverages (which is rare) and the beach does not close at sunset (also rare).
The sunsets were spectacular. After dark, small, quiet groups of beach goers lit campfires all over the beach. Something else that is not commonly permissible. Cannon Beach is laidback.
Cannon Beach and Ecola State Park have appeared in several films, including The Goonies (1985), Free Willy (1993), Twilight (2008), Hysterical (1983), and Point Break (1991).
Beach cave at Short Sands Beach.
Short Sands Beach is also known as Shorty's Beach.
Five miles south of Cannon Beach you will find Short Sands Beach at Oswald West State Park (2,484 acres of forest and beach). It is a popular destination for surfers. “Sheltered by a cove blanketed with thick, wet forest and edged with volcanic basalt and sandstone cliffs (this) is one of the most popular surfing destinations in Oregon.” Short Sands Beach is known by the locals as Shorty’s Beach. To get to the beach, you have to hike through the woods for a half-mile.
Cape Kiwanda State Natural Area is a state park in Pacific City, under 2 hours from Portland.
The cape consists of towering sand dunes, almost 250 feet high, that you can climb for spectacular views of the waves crashing below and, in the distance, the monolith that is Haystack Rock.
Yes, Cape Kiwanda also has a “Haystack Rock.” A mile offshore, this sea stack rises 327 feet – 40% taller than Cannon Beach’s Haystack.
Cape Kiwanda is flanked both to the north and the south by wide stretches of sandy beaches. On the beach we watched dories – flat bottom fishing boats – gun their outboard motors and “sail” full-throttle right onto the beach as if participating in some sort of military invasion.
250 foot high sand dune at Cape Kiwanda
The Ghost Forest is about 2 hours from Portland.
Neskowin
Ghost
Forest
The Ghost Forest is the remnants of a Sitka spruce forest – remnants in the form of massive stumps protruding from the sand.
Scientists believe that the ghost forest was likely created when an earthquake abruptly lowered the land next to the beach and a tsunami buried the trees in mud. Some of the stumps are 2,000 years old.
The tree covered Proposal Rock can be seen in the background.
Neskowin Ghost Forest
Here is the best part: the stumps were hidden under sand until they were unearthed when turbulent storms swept away parts of the beach during the winter of 1997–1998.
We walked among the stumps and photographed. It was gray and overcast and the beach was nearly deserted.
Another sea stack called Proposal Rock flanked this beach. What is Proposal Rock famous for? Take a guess.
Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area
Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area is about 2 hours and 20 minutes south of Portland and a half hour north of Yachats. In case you are wondering, “Outstanding” is actually part of its name. Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area extends a mile out into the Pacific and sports a 93-foot-tall lighthouse. Cobble Beach below the lighthouse is made up of tennis ball sized smooth, rounded stones which makes the walking… interesting.
The Overleaf Hotel.
Coastal erosion along the beach north of the Overleaf Hotel.
Yachats is about three hours from Portland. The Overleaf Lodge and Spa, a 54 room boutique hotel, is located in the quiet coastal town of Yachats. The hotel sits within spitting distance of the rocky coast. The view of the ledges and crashing waves from the hotel balconies are mesmerizing.
We have stayed here twice, in 2018 and 2019.
One can walk to dinner along a seaside trail called the “804 trail.” Much of the town’s coastline is dominated by black basalt rock, the consequence of lava flows some 50 million years ago. The result is rough and rugged shores, where waves crash and spray unpredictably, crafting odd formations like nearby Thor’s Well and Devil’s Churn. Yachats does not have sandy beaches. Visit Yachats
Cape Perpetua is located about 2 miles south of Yachats and 3 hours from Portland. At its highest point, Cape Perpetua rises to over 800 feet above sea level. From its crest, an observer can see 70 miles of Oregon coastline and as far as 37 miles out to sea on a clear day.
The Devil’s Churn, Thor's Well and Cook's Chasm are part of the Cape Perpetua Marine Reserve and Marine Protected Areas.
The Devil's Churn - a long crack in the coastal rock that fills with each ocean wave, occasionally exploding as incoming and outgoing waves collide.
We also explored Cooks Chasm and Thor’s Well (and the Spouting Horn “blowhole”) - during high tide, water from the ocean rushes into rocky holes in the coast to create natural fountains of spray and ocean mist.
And we had to stop and hike up to the 1894 Heceta Head Light, a lighthouse about 13 miles north of Florence, said to be one of the most photographed lighthouses in North America.
Shore Acres State Park
Shore Acres State Park is about 1 hour and 45 minutes south of Yachats and 30 minutes north of Bandon. Once the grand estate of timber baron Louis Simpson, Shore Acres features a formal garden inspired by his original garden, with plants and flowers from all over the world. It also features trails along a coastline with unusual rock formations.
Bandon Beach is 230 miles (4 or 5 hours) south of Portland. Definitely not a day trip. Bandon is closer to California than it is to Portland – just 100 miles north of the California border. Bandon is a sleepy seaside town, with a population of about 3,100 people, still relatively undisturbed and not over-touristed. The beaches are quiet and unspoiled. The biggest draw to these beaches, besides the peace and quiet, has to be the spectacular rock formations that abound. Bandon is home to Wizard's Hat, a sea stack in the shape of, well, a wizard's hat. Photographers visit Bandon to photograph the rock formations, especially at sunset. In addition to the sea stacks located off shore, there are many that are accessible along the sandy beaches. There are sea caves, driftwood accumulations and tidal pools full of multi-colored sea life. The town of Bandon offers restaurants, shops and galleries etc.
The sea stacks on Bandon Beach are otherworldly.
I desaturated these photos that are part of a triptych I shot on the beach.
The edited photos remind me of Tolkien's Mordor - maybe it's because of of the "Wizard's Hat" sea stack on the right.
We rented this three bedroom cottage overlooking the beach.
It had a rickety, lopsided wooden stair case to the sand below.
Bandon has some hotels. It also has cottages that can be rented via AirBnB and VRBO.
Bandon is about 25 miles south of another popular Oregon coast town, Coos Bay.
Bandon has a famous golf course named Bandon Dunes Golf Resort. The town is also one of the country's top cranberry producers.
But otherwise, it feels a bit "undiscovered" or blissfully "under-developed."
The north end of Bandon Beach has fewer sea stacks and is a repository for an impressive amount of drift wood.
"Washed Ashore" artist Angela Haseltine Pozzi has created sculptures made from garbage she found on the beach. These sculptures are on display throughout Bandon. How cool is that?
Floras Lake State Natural Area - also known as Floras Lake State Park, is a little-visited, remote piece of the Oregon Coast. It is 15 miles south of Bandon. It features a freshwater lake and a coastal beach with a natural sandstone arch.
View of the beach from our cottage - great place to stay if you fancy sunsets.
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