55 Best Sights in The Oregon Coast, Oregon

Said to be the westernmost point in Oregon and perhaps the windiest—gusts clocked at speeds as high as 184 mph have twisted and battered the Sitka spruces along the 6-mile road from U.S. 101 to the Cape Blanco Lighthouse. The lighthouse, atop a 245-foot headland, has been in continuous use since 1870, longer than any other in Oregon. Hughes House is all that remains of the Irish settler Patrick Hughes's dairy farm complex built in 1860. The lighthouse and Hughes House are open in summer only. No one knows why the Spaniards sailing past these reddish bluffs in 1603 called them blanco (white). One theory is that the name refers to the fossilized shells that glint in the cliff face. Campsites at the 1,880-acre park are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Four cabins are available by reservation.

On the northern tip of the Three Capes Loop, this small but spectacular park and vista is the site of the restored Cape Meares Lighthouse, built in 1890 and open to the public May through September (the grounds are open year-round). It provides a sweeping view from a 200-foot-tall cliff to the caves and sea lion rookery on the rocks below, and this is a great perch for seeing whales during their migrations. A many-trunked Sitka spruce known as the Octopus Tree grows near the lighthouse parking lot.

The parking lots at this scenic area are more than 200 feet above sea level. At the south parking vista, you can see up to 43 miles north to Humbug Mountain. Looking south, you can see nearly 50 miles toward Crescent City, California, and the Point Saint George Lighthouse. A deep forest of Sitka spruce covers most of the park. The 1½-mile hiking trail makes for a gorgeous outing, especially at sunset

The headquarters of Astoria's historical society, the graciously restored Queen Ann–style Flavel House offers a glimpse of what life was like for the wealthy in the late 19th century. The organization's other sites include the Heritage Museum ( 1618 Exchange St.), which occupies a 1904 Colonial Revival building that originally served as city hall and now contains two floors of exhibits detailing the history of the early pioneers, Native Americans, and logging and marine industries of Clatsop County, the oldest American settlement west of the Mississippi. Artifacts include finely crafted 19th-century Chinook and Clatsop baskets, otter pelts, a re-created Prohibition-era saloon, and historic logging and fishing tools. There's also the small but engaging Oregon Film Museum ( 732 Duane St.), housed in the old Clatsop County Jail, which celebrates the state's long history of filmmaking and contains artifacts from and displays about prior productions. The building featured prominently in the cult classic The Goonies. The museum also showcases such classics as The General, The Great Race, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Paint Your Wagon, Animal House, Free Willy, Kindergarten Cop, and Twilight. And the Uppertown Firefighters Museum ( 2968 Marine Dr.) is filled with old equipment, including hand-pulled and horse-drawn fire engines, and a collection of photos of some of the town's most notable fires.

Although it's just over an acre, this beautiful, volunteer-run botanical garden makes for a relaxing, colorful, and fragrant encounter with nature—it's hard to believe you can find such a quiet spot just a block off Lincoln City's busy main drag. Visit with the artfully arranged rhododendrons, magnolias, Sitka spruce, and flowering perennials, or take a guided tour. You're also welcome to come enjoy a picnic lunch on the grounds. There's a cute on-site gift shop that's open March through November. Although admission is free, the garden thrives thanks to donations.

A few miles north of Florence, you'll find this interesting example of the rich plant life found in the marshy terrain near the coast. It's also a surefire kid pleaser. A short paved nature trail leads through clumps of insect-catching cobra lilies, so named because they look like spotted cobras ready to strike. This 18-acre park is most interesting in May, when the lilies are in bloom.

The Queen Anne–style mansion helps visitors imagine what life was like for the wealthy in late-19th-century Astoria. It rests on parklike grounds covering an entire city block and has been gorgeously restored, with its three-story octagon tower visible from throughout town. It was built for George Flavel, an influential Columbia River bar pilot and businessman who was one of the area's first millionaires. Visits start in the Carriage House interpretive center.

Bird-watching and viewing the tidal pools are the key draws here, but hiking and picnicking are also popular at this park along U.S. 101. Wooden footbridges wind through the dense forest and tall cliffs rise above the beach.

This earthen fort at Oregon's northwestern tip was built during the Civil War to guard the Columbia River against attack. None came until World War II, when a Japanese submarine fired upon it. The fort still has cannons and an underground gun battery, of which tours are available in summer (call for details). This 4,300-acre park has year-round camping, with 174 full hookup sites, 11 cabins, and 15 yurts. There are also bike paths, boating, swimming, hiking trails, and a short walk to a gorgeous, wide beach where the corroded skeleton—or the tiny bit that remains of it—of the Peter Iredale pokes up through the sand. This century-old English four-master shipwreck is a reminder of the nearly 2,000 vessels claimed by these treacherous waters.

Drive or walk over the rickety-seeming (but sturdy) bridge onto historic Pier 39, which juts out into the Columbia River on the east side of downtown, to visit this small but interesting museum that occupies the oldest extant cannery building in Astoria. It was once operated by Bumble Bee Seafood, and some 30,000 cans of salmon were processed here annually during the plant's late-19th-century heyday. Exhibits and artifacts, including three vintage gill-net boats, some wonderful old photos, and equipment and cans tell the story of the town's—and facility's—canning history. Also on the pier is Coffee Girl café and Rogue Ales Public House.

Interactive and interpretive exhibits at Oregon State University appeal to the kid in everyone. More than just showcasing sea life, the center contains exhibits and tide-pool touch tanks, and it holds classes that teach the importance of scientific research in managing and sustaining coastal and marine resources. The staff regularly leads guided tours of the adjoining estuary.

The long stretch of white sand that separates the Pacific Ocean from the town of Manzanita is as loved a stretch of coastline as the next, its north side reaching into the shadows of Neahkahnie Mountain, right where the mountain puts its foot in the ocean (the mountain itself, which makes for a great hike, lies within Oswald West State Park). The beach is frequented by vacationers, day-trippers, kite flyers, and dogs on its north end, but it extends a breezy 7 miles to the tip of Nehalem Bay State Park, which is accessible on foot over sand or by car along the road (the auto entrance is off Gary Street at Sandpiper Lane). At the south end of the park's parking lot, a dirt horse trail leads all the way to a peninsula's tip, a flat walk behind grassy dunes—you can book horseback excursions from Oregon Beach Rides, which has a stable inside the park. Cross to the right for a secluded patch of windy sand on the ocean, or to the left for a quiet, sunny place in the sun on Nehalem Bay, out of the wind. Amenities: toilets. Best for: sunset; walking.

This relatively small, sandy cove is a great stop at the midpoint along the Three Capes Loop. It's especially popular with beachcombers and kids for both its shallow, gentle surf and the low-tide bowls and tide pools. When the water recedes, a tunnel appears through the north rock face, allowing passage to a second, rocky cove. There are a few fun, casual spots for ice cream and light bites steps from the beach. In summer, the small parking lot fills quickly, and a walk through the hilly side streets is sometimes required. Amenities: none. Best for: walking; partiers.

The natural forces that created the towering sand dunes along this section of the Oregon Coast are explained in interpretive exhibits. The center, which also sells maps, books, and gifts, is a good place to pick up free literature on the area.

In Tillamook's 1905 county courthouse, this extensive, three-floor museum is an intriguing, old-fashioned hodgepodge of Native American, pioneer, logging, and natural history exhibits, along with antique vehicles and military artifacts.

Atop the bluff that is Port Orford Heads, a trail loops the rocky outcropping between the Pacific and the Port Orford Lifeboat Station, taking in the hillside below, from which crews once mounted daring rescues on the fierce sea. From May through September, the lifeboat station and adjoining museum is open for free tours Wednesday–Monday, 10–3:30. Their motto? "You have to go out . . . you don't have to come back."

As you round a bend between Port Orford and Gold Beach, you'll see one of those sights that make grown-ups groan and kids squeal with delight: a huge, open-jawed Tyrannosaurus rex, with a green Brontosaurus peering out from the forest beside it. You can view 23 other life-size dinosaur replicas on the trail that runs through this property that's been delighting visitors since 1955.

In 1880 a sea captain rowed a small skiff into a fissure in a 300-foot-high sea cliff. Inside, he was startled to discover a 125-foot-high vaulted rock chamber inhabited by hundreds of massive sea lions—the largest bulls weighing 2,000 pounds or more. Now one of the coast's favorite, if quite touristy, attractions, the caves are reached by an elevator near the cliff-top ticket office and kitschy gift shop; viewing is from behind a wire fence. This is the only known hauling-out area and rookery for wild sea lions on the mainland in the Lower 48, and it's an awesome sight and sound when they're in the cave, typically only in fall and winter (in spring and summer the mammals usually stay on the rocky ledges outside the cave).

The first thing you hear at this small but fun 1930s-era aquarium is the clapping and barking of the dozen-or-so harbor seals just inside the door (which you can feed). Located on the 1½-mile beachfront Promenade, the aquarium has jellyfish, giant king crab, octopus, moray eels, wolf eels, and other sea life swimming in more than 30 tanks. The discovery center draws curious kids and grown-ups alike for its hands-on touch tanks of starfish, anemones, and urchins, as well as for a close-up exploration of the most miniature marine life. No restrooms on-site.

This nearly 7,000-acre reserve's fragile ecosystem supports everything from algae to bald eagles and black bears. More than 300 species of birds have been sighted at the reserve, which has an interpretive center with interesting nature exhibits, guided walks (summer only), and 11 nature trails that give you a chance to see things up close.

In the world's largest wooden structure, a former blimp hangar south of town displays a fine collection of vintage aircraft and vehicles, mostly from around the World War II era, as well as a vast trove of artifacts and memorabilia, including war uniforms, photos, and remains from the Hindenburg. The 20-story-high building is big enough to hold half a dozen football fields.

Some of the highest sand dunes in the country are found in this 50-acre park between Florence and Coos Bay, near the small town of Reedsport. The first Umpqua River Lighthouse, built on the dunes at the mouth of the Umpqua River in 1857, lasted only four years before it toppled over in a storm. It took local residents 33 years to build another one. The "new" lighthouse, built on a bluff overlooking the south side of Winchester Bay and operated by the U.S. Coast Guard, stands at 65 feet and is still going strong, flashing a warning beacon out to sea every five seconds. The Douglas County Coastal Visitors Center adjacent to the lighthouse has a museum and can arrange lighthouse tours.

The "walk-through safari" on 21 acres has free-roaming wildlife (it's the visitors who are behind fences); more than 450 animals and about 75 species, including lions, tigers, snow leopards, lemurs, bears, chimps, cougars, and camels, make it one of the largest wild-animal parks in the United States. The big attractions here are the young animals: bear cubs, tiger cubs, whatever is suitable for actual handling.

The public beach in downtown Yachats is more like the surface of the moon than your typical beach. A wooden platform overlooks the coastline, where the waves roll in sideways and splash over the rocks at high tide. The beach is paralleled by an upland walking trail and dotted with picnic tables, benches, and interpretive signs. Visit to spot the sea lions that frequent this stretch of coast. Or join the intrepid beachcombers who climb the rocks for a closer look at tide pools populated by sea urchins, hermit crabs, barnacles, snails, and sea stars. Amenities: parking; toilets. Best for: walking; sunset.

The state's oldest wooden lighthouse was only in commission for three years (1871–74), because it was determined that it was built in the wrong location. Today the well-restored lighthouse with a candy-apple-red top shines a steady white light from dusk to dawn. Open to the public, it's the only Oregon lighthouse with living quarters attached.