13 Scenic Oregon Coast Spots That Feel Like Another World

I keep a running list of drives that ruin every other drive for you. The kind where a two hour trip somehow eats a whole day, because you pulled over eleven times and regretted none of it. A truly great coastline does that to me every single time.

The Oregon Coast tops that list. Highway 101 threads past rugged headlands, sea stacks, and towering dunes from Astoria to the California border, and every few miles it hands you a salt-sprayed showstopper. Below are thirteen of the most scenic stops on that drive, north to south.

1. Astoria, Oregon

Where the Columbia River meets the Pacific, Astoria climbs a green hillside in rows of Victorian houses. It is the oldest American settlement west of the Rockies, and the whole town feels like a working waterfront that never quite stopped.

Climb the Astoria Column for a sweeping view of river, bridge, and open sea. Then wander the riverwalk, watch the sea lions bark on the docks, and drive across the four mile bridge for the long look back.

Where: Astoria sits at the north end of Highway 101, where the Columbia River meets the sea, about two hours west of Portland. Worth a stop:

• Astoria Column, 1 Coxcomb Drive, where 164 steps climb to a 360-degree view of river and coast
• The Astoria Riverwalk, a flat waterfront path where sea lions haul out on the docks
• Astoria-Megler Bridge, the four mile span crossing the Columbia into Washington
• Flavel House Museum, 441 8th Street, a restored 1885 Queen Anne mansion

2. Ecola State Park, Cannon Beach, Oregon

Just north of Cannon Beach the crowds thin and the drama climbs. Ecola stretches across nine miles of headland, with viewpoints over surf, spruce forest, and a coastline that folds in on itself. You may know it from the movies.

Scenes from The Goonies were filmed here, and the view takes in Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, the retired beacon locals call Terrible Tilly. Late afternoon light is best, and you will want a jacket, because this headland catches the wind straight off the water.

Where: Ecola State Park, off the signed park road north of downtown Cannon Beach, Oregon.

3. Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, Oregon

Some landmarks earn their fame twice over. Haystack Rock rises 235 feet straight off the sand, a basalt monolith you can walk right up to at low tide. It is the picture people mean when they picture Oregon.

Time it for low tide and the base becomes a living aquarium of sea stars and anemones, with tufted puffins nesting on the rock each spring. Volunteers set up spotting scopes on the sand in summer to help you find them.

Where: Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, Oregon. Park downtown off Hemlock Street and walk straight to the beach.

4. Cape Meares, Oregon

The squat little lighthouse here is the shortest on the Oregon Coast, but the setting steals the show. It stands on a cliff 200 feet above the surf, with a wildlife refuge of nesting seabirds on the rocks below.

A short loop leads to the Octopus Tree, a giant Sitka spruce whose limbs sprawl sideways like tentacles. Watch for tufted puffins in spring and gray whales passing offshore during migration season.

Where: Cape Meares State Scenic Viewpoint, at the end of the Three Capes Loop off Highway 101, west of Tillamook, Oregon.

5. Cape Kiwanda, Pacific City, Oregon

Cape Kiwanda is the sandstone cape, all soft orange curves against a hard blue sea. A giant dune rises beside the water, and yes, you can climb it. Your legs will complain, and the view from the top makes it fair.

From up there you look out at Kiwanda’s own haystack rock and, on the beach below, the dory fleet. Pacific City is one of the last places where flat-bottomed boats launch straight off the sand into the surf.

Where: Cape Kiwanda State Natural Area, Pacific City, Oregon. Park at the beach lot off Cape Kiwanda Drive.

6. Devils Punchbowl, Otter Rock, Oregon

Nature does its best work when it breaks something beautifully. The Devils Punchbowl is a collapsed sea cave, a hollow bowl the ocean pours into and churns through a gap in the wall. At high tide it roars and foams like a cauldron.

Come at low tide instead and you can walk down to the Marine Gardens tide pools nearby. This little stretch near Otter Rock is prime whale-watching territory, so pack binoculars and give the horizon a few patient minutes.

Where: Devils Punchbowl State Natural Area, Otter Rock, Oregon, just off Highway 101 north of Newport.

7. Yaquina Head, Newport, Oregon

Some viewpoints hand you a lighthouse, a beach, and a wildlife show at once. Yaquina Head is that stop. Its lighthouse is the tallest on the Oregon Coast at 93 feet, first lit in 1873 and still guarding the mouth of the sea.

Below it lies Cobble Beach, where thousands of round black stones clatter as the waves pull back. Watch for harbor seals hauled out on the rocks and gray whales passing offshore during migration season.

Where: Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area, off Highway 101 on the north edge of Newport, Oregon.

8. Thor’s Well at Cape Perpetua, Yachats, Oregon

People call it the drainpipe of the Pacific, and once you see it the nickname sticks. Thor’s Well is a gaping sinkhole in the basalt shelf near Yachats that appears to swallow the ocean whole, water pouring downward in a hypnotic spin.

It sits inside Cape Perpetua, home to the highest viewpoint you can reach by car on this coast. Come an hour before high tide for the drama, and mind your footing, because sneaker waves here are no joke.

Where: Cape Perpetua Scenic Area, Yachats, Oregon. Park at the day-use lot off Highway 101 south of town.

9. Heceta Head Lighthouse, Florence, Oregon

If you have ever seen a postcard of the Oregon Coast, odds are this was on it. Heceta Head Lighthouse perches on a green bluff above a curving cove, and it wears the title of most photographed lighthouse in the country with easy grace.

First lit in 1894, its beam is among the strongest on the coast, and the old keeper’s house now runs as a bed and breakfast. Stop at the pullout on the bridge to the south for the shot that lines up tower, cove, and surf at once.

Where: Heceta Head Lighthouse State Scenic Viewpoint, off Highway 101 north of Florence, Oregon.

10. Oregon Dunes, Reedsport, Oregon

Nothing on this coast surprises first-timers like the moment the forest opens onto a desert. The Oregon Dunes roll for roughly 40 miles between Florence and Coos Bay, the largest expanse of coastal sand dunes in North America, with peaks up to 500 feet.

These shifting hills helped inspire Frank Herbert’s novel Dune. You can hike them, sandboard down them, or ride the ridgelines by ATV. Near Reedsport the quieter trails let you stand in soft sand with only the wind for company.

Where: Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, along Highway 101 near Reedsport, Oregon. Start at the John Dellenback trailhead for the biggest sand.

11. Face Rock, Bandon, Oregon

The south coast keeps its best secrets longer, and Bandon is where they start. Just offshore, Face Rock lies on its back and gazes at the sky, a sea stack so clearly a face that a Native American legend grew up around it.

The beach around it bristles with more stacks and spires, glowing at sunset in a way that makes photographers lose track of time. The Coquille River Lighthouse stands watch just north, and the Beach Loop drive strings one sea-stack view onto the next.

Where: Face Rock State Scenic Viewpoint, Bandon, Oregon. Park at the viewpoint lot off Beach Loop Road.

12. Cape Blanco, Port Orford, Oregon

This is the westernmost point in Oregon, a windswept headland jutting into the Pacific where the light stands white against a huge sky. First lit in 1870, it is the oldest continuously operating lighthouse in the state.

The bluff drops to empty black-sand beaches, and the wind here rarely quits. On a clear day you can see for miles up and down a stretch of coast that feels wonderfully unpeopled.

Where: Cape Blanco State Park, at the end of Cape Blanco Road off Highway 101, about nine miles north of Port Orford, Oregon.

13. Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor, Brookings, Oregon

Save the wildest stretch for last. The Samuel H. Boardman Corridor runs 12 rugged miles near Brookings, close to the California line, stringing together sea arches, hidden coves, and cliff-top forest like beads on a wire.

Arch Rock, Natural Bridges, and Secret Beach are the marquee stops, each a short walk from the highway. The turnouts are easy to miss at speed, so slow down and watch for the small brown signs.

Where: Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor, off Highway 101 north of Brookings, Oregon.

Plan Your Own Oregon Coast Getaway

You could drive Highway 101 end to end in a single day, but that misses the point. Give it three or four, let the tide charts set your pace, and pack layers, because this coast makes its own weather from one headland to the next.

Start in the north at Astoria, chase the sunsets south, and finish among the sea arches at Brookings. Pull over often, walk down to the water, and you will be planning your next visit before you reach the state line.

Featured image: David via Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor