Cape Perpetua

Yachats, Oregon

Description

"The Cape Perpetua Scenic Area is one of the Jewels of the Oregon coast. A network of trails radiates from the visitors center, offering access to a giant spruce, the Devil's Churn, Cooks Chasm, a spouting horn, Thor's Well (pictured above), and an ancient Native American midden. The center piece is the stone shelter atop 746-foot Cape Perpetua itself. The network of trails allows you to pick how much you want to hike.

Start at the visitor's center (here you will also find parking), for the beginning of a network of trails. For an ocean hike, follow the "tide-pools" pointer on a paved trail, which goes .2 miles and under U.S. 101, then forks. The left fork circles .2 mile for a view of the spouting horn at Cooks Chasm. You'll also walk over midden, a mount of white mussel shells left by Native Americans (possibly as long as 6,000 years ago). The right fork heads out to a .5 mile loop around the Devil's Churn.

For two inland hikes, first follow "Giant Spruce" and "viewpoint" pointers. In .2 mile, the trail splits: to see the 15-foot-thick, 600-year-old sitka spruce, head right down the Giant Spruce Trail .8 mile. To climb the cape, head left at this junction, over Cape Creek to cross two paved roads and climb the switchbacks 1.3 miles up the Saint Perpetua Trail to the stone shelter. View from the top can span 37 miles to Sea, and 104 miles south to Cape Blanco. (It's also an excellent place to whale watch!)

Permits: No / Pets: Yes / Accessibility: There are some paved paths / Parking: Free along the road side (from my experience), $5 a day at the center

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Features

Hiking

Bathrooms

Beach

Dog Friendly

Easy Parking

Family Friendly

Food Nearby

Scenic

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Nearby

Hike the Cooks Ridge Trail at Cape Perpetua Scenic Area

If you've set up camp at Perpetua Campground, head out toward the Cape Perpetua Visitors Center, head east along the Cooks Ridge Trail. After 3.75 miles and 1500ft elevation gain, head south and then west along the Cummins Creek Trail, eventually ending up at the ocean along Neptune State Scenic Viewpoint. Head back to the Visitor Center via the Oregon Coast Trail, which was once a wagon trail ...

Hike the Captain Cook Trail

The Oregon cost is some of the most dramatic coastline in the Western United States, and the Cape Perpetua Scenic Area hosts an array of unique features arches, chasms, and blowholes like Thor's Well. The Captain Cook Trail is a quick way to take in some of the best features of the Scenic Area, all within a short, .75 mile loop trail that goes down from Highway 1 / 101 and out to the coast and ...

Catch the Sunset at Thor's Well

First check out the tide books and find out when low tide is. At low tide, head to Cape Perpetua State park about 2 miles South of Yachats.Park at the Captain Cook Trail Head and head down the trail South to the tide pools. Look for a hole or well in the rock with plumes of spray shooting up with each crashing wave.The sun setting behind plumes of ocean spray shooting from the well makes for so...

Amanda's Trail

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Photograph Neptune State Park Scenic Viewpoint

This state park, just off the 101 near Florence, Oregon, is a cool spot to turn out and check out! Great place to just stop and watch the waves crashing into the rocks as well as all the different wildlife in the area. If you walk further south, Cummins Creek flows into the ocean. Also not to be missed is nearby Thor's Well.

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