Go Quest

Low-tech coastal treasure hunts yield big rewards for all ages

Story & photos by Gretchen Ammerman

Oregon Coast TODAY

Like many kids of her generation, my niece spends a lot of time staring at screens, streaming videos and even looking ridiculous as she fights virtual gorillas while wearing her VR headset.

So, when I plopped down a mere $12 for a set of activities that require no Wi-Fi connection or streaming service, I had very low expectations.

But it turned out to be some of the best money I ever spent.

Quests, set up by Oregon Sea Grant, help you to explore some of the hidden, and not-so-hidden, parts of the Oregon Coast. Using clues, you can explore places like the Eureka Cemetery in Newport where one of the deceased was buried with a flag presented to her by Abraham Lincoln, likely turned to dust by now but still cool.

Each time you solve a clue, you will get a letter to put into a grid, which ultimately spells out the final clue to a hidden stamp and stamp pad. It’s like getting a stamp in a passport. And my niece, well, she loved it.

Taking anywhere from 20 minutes to well more than an hour, there are quests in the book that take you to the top of the hill over the Yaquina Head Lighthouse, all over the town of Toledo and down the Newport Bayfront. We giggled about the antics of the sea lions that I usually regard as simply an enjoyable background noise; boarded the train cars at the Yaquina Railroad Museum; and got completely lost at Big Creek where I got cocky and didn’t follow the clues because I “know that place like the back of my hand.”

The best part, for me, was when we returned home and niece Anevay began designing a quest of her own because she enjoyed the experience so much.

“Kids are fun to quest with but are not required,” Oregon Coast Quest Coordinator Cait Goodwin said. “We have a lot of retired people that do them too; it’s multi-generational fun.”

Goodwin said many people find out about the quests by word of mouth or by stumbling upon a guide book at one of the places that carry them, a list of which is available at seagrant.oregonstate.edu/education/quests. The website also has other very helpful information, including instructions in Spanish to help bilingual questers get started and updates on changes or damages to clues.

“It’s a good idea to check the updates page before you head out,” she said. “Although getting lost is part of the fun.”

In the seven quests we completed in two days, only once did we throw in the towel, but were able to describe the final spot where we searched for the stamp book so well that the person at the Yaquina Head Lighthouse, a place that hosts two hunts, gave us our stamp anyway.

“Re-reading is the key,” Goodwin said. “That’s one of the reasons it's good to have more people in your group. Sometimes people will miss the subtle wording in a clue, and another in the group will catch it.”

Program managers use the log books and a bit of creative accounting to see how much traffic each quest is getting. So Goodwin encourages questers to sign the log books found with the stamps and ink pads.

“We see about 1,000 signatures every year, and we use those to either count or guess the size of each group,” she said. “It’s an imperfect science, that’s why it’s nice to get the number in the group. We also love for people to leave comments so that people can look back at other groups’ comments which is fun, too.”

Another thing that makes completing more than a few of the searches worthwhile is that almost every one of them is created by a different group with a different style. For example, some of the clues are spelled out entirely in poetic form.

“Each one has its own flavor,” Goodwin said. “It’s just a really fun way to explore and learn more about an area while also getting out, stretching your legs and enjoying some of what Oregon has to offer. Plus, if you do more than 10, you get an Oregon Coast Quest patch!”

The Oregon Coast Quest Book is published every two years. The current edition is the 2023-24 cycle. For bookstores, updates and changes and more information, go to seagrant.oregonstate.edu/education/quests.