In support of its goal to have a light visible along the entire Oregon Coast, the United States Lighthouse Board recommended a lighthouse at Heceta Head due to the ninety-mile gap between lighthouses at Yaquina Head and Cape Arago. In 1862, George Davidson of the Coast Survey named Heceta Head in his honor. Spanish Basque explorer Bruno de Heceta (or Hezeta) y Dudagoitia sailed along the Oregon Coast in 1775 as part of an expedition for the Spanish crown, to explore and bolster Spain’s claims to the coast between San Blas, Mexico, and the Pacific Northwest coast as far north as southern Alaska. Visible for twenty-one miles, it remains Oregon’s most powerful lighthouse beam. The light shining from the 56-foot-high tower flashes a white beam for eight seconds every minute. Two hundred and forty-five feet above the ocean, Cape Blanco Lighthouse towers above the westernmost point in Oregon, north of Port Orford.Ĭlosed to the public and standing 141 feet above the Chetco River in Brookings-Harbor, this is the youngest of Oregon’s lighthouses.Heceta Head Lighthouse stands 205 feet above the Pacific Ocean on a bluff carved out of the west side of 1,000-foot-high Heceta Head, twelve miles north of Florence. Often called the Bandon Light, the Coquille River Lighthouse is staffed May through October and located just north of Bandon. Nearly identical in structure to Heceta Head, but a little taller, the Umpqua River Lighthouse is located near Winchester Bay.Ĭlosed to the public, Cape Arago is the third in a series of lighthouses to occupy this spot and is difficult to find, located just south to the entrance to Coos Bay. Other Oregon Coast LighthousesĬlinging to an island 1.2 miles offshore, Tillamook Rock Lighthouse can be seen from Ecola State Park, south of Cannon Beach. While it is closed to the public, it can be viewed from Highway 101, near mile marker 166. At 56 feet tall, Heceta Head also offers a bed and breakfast in the historic lighthouse keeper’s house, as well as tours and an interpretive center.Ī privately owned lighthouse that provides official navigation aid for the Coast Guard, Cleft of the Rock Lighthouse can be found south of Yachats on the northwest corner of the Cape Perpetua Scenic Area. South of Yachats, perched on a bluff 150 feet above the Pacific, Heceta Head Lighthouse keeps vigil with one of the brightest lights on the coast, casting out 21 miles to sea. The lighthouse is open to the public for tours and features an interpretative center. Believed to be the oldest structure in Newport and the only existing Oregon lighthouse with living quarters attached, Yaquina Bay is still functional, shining a steady white light from dusk to dawn, 161 feet above sea level. It was officially restored and privately maintained for navigation in 1996.
This lighthouse features tours and an Interpretive Center that tells the story of the lighthouse and the surrounding natural area.Ī sister lighthouse to the Yaquina Head Lighthouse, Yaquina Bay sits atop a bluff at the mouth of the Yaquina River. Although the original oil burning Fresnel lens has been replaced by one that runs on commercial power and the lighthouse keeper gone, the 1800s history of Yaquina Head shines on. The lighthouse is free for tours and features a gift shop and interpretive center.Īt 93 feet tall, Yaquina Head Lighthouse is the tallest in Oregon and is still in operation today, on the north end of Newport.
In its heyday, the light from Cape Meares could be seen 21 nautical miles out to sea.
Tall sentinels that once guided stalwart sailors away from rocks in the night, a light in the dark, wrapped in history and ghost stories-there are 11 lighthouses along the 363 miles of the Oregon Coast, each beckoning you home.Īlthough it’s the shortest lighthouse on the Oregon Coast, Cape Meares Lighthouse is no less spectacular than its neighbors, standing at 38 feet high, with an original Fresnel lens made in Paris, France. Among the 11 Oregon lighthouses, five are a short drive from Lincoln City, with stories waiting to be told and histories waiting to be discovered.
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