Bright ideas about lighthouses

Dave’s Detours

By Dave Powell

Central Oregon Coast Lighthouses from north to south starting in Tillamook County:

Cape Meares, the shortest.                 

Yaquina Head, the tallest.

Yaquina Bay, the shortest time in service — about 3 years.

Heceta Head, the most photographed.

What a variety, and all just a short distance from the Oregon Coast Trail.

This is my home turf, I live on Yaquina Head. How close is the lighthouse? I walk 50 feet down the drive, then 30 feet south, to look west and down at Yaquina Head Lighthouse. The Visitor Center is open 10 am to 4 pm daily, and most evenings I check if the lighthouse is still there. Yep, still there. After all, it is celebrating 150 years!

Heading south on Highway 101 before Newport at Lighthouse Drive you could walk the tenth of a mile down to the beach — or it’s Dave’s Detour Time. Continue straight on Lighthouse Drive as Yaquina Head has three detour trails. If you can do only one, I suggest Salal Hill trail, followed by walking to the lighthouse, and possibly a tour (from 1 to 2 pm, then 2:30 to 3:30 pm). After 150 years, the Oregon weather has weakened the structure, so no trips to the top — but weekdays there are tours of the bottom lasting 15 minutes, limited to 10 each time.

Communication Hill Trail is half a mile from Highway 101 on the right side. It’s an out-and-back trail of half a mile round trip through coastal forest. On a clear day it offers views of Cape Perpetua and Mary’s Peak (unless there is a marine layer), I see my driveway.

Returning to the main road go west half a mile to Salal Hill trail. Starting at the small parking lot near the lighthouse, it is also out-and-back covering three quarters of a mile. This trail has the best views. After Salal Hill the Lighthouse and deck is about 250 yards. Slow down, as you make your way around the deck. This is one of the best Oregon sites for whale watching. Look for boats going slowly — they are trailing whales for visitors. Also nesting nearby is one of the largest colonies of Common Murres, and there are other species of seabirds. This year no common murres fledged. Eagles passed overhead, the adults fled, and the gulls said about their eggs, “Mine, Mine!” like in “Finding Nemo.”

Some stats about the lighthouse: construction started in 1871, started operation on August 20, 1873, tallest lighthouse in Oregon at 93 feet with 114 steps, and it has a first order Fresnel lens, which could be seen 20 miles away. Pig oil lamps became electric bulbs, and finally LEDs (Yaquina Head was the second Oregon lighthouse to receive them).

From the lighthouse you can go down to the Cobble Beach, often populated with harbor seals.

Leaving the deck, go east a quarter mile to Quarry Cove Trail, on the right side. You hike a quarter mile down with good views of beach, surfers, paddle boarders, and sometimes you can watch kites being flown. At trail end at the parking lot you can head up/east a third of a mile to exit Yaquina Head and get to ocean beach. Or you could hike down to the quarry cove or up to the upper parking lot. It’s a quarter-mile roundtrip both ways. Either way, both have views for watching real wildlife. You can catch the surfing classes, paddleboarders, kayakers and wind surfers hitting Agate Beach from the parking lots just east of the main parking going to Quarry Cove. You will also catch sight of kites, beach combing and families escaping the heat of the Willamette Valley.

Yaquina Bay Lighthouse is at the top when you leave the beach at BA 60. Built in 1871, it was in service only until 1874. But it now continues in a second service when the US Coast Guard relit the beacon on December 7, 1996. It is open Wednesday through Sunday from noon to 4 pm. Ask about the ghost of the lighthouse.

Final Tally:

The detour of the three trails at Yaquina Head (Salal, Communication Hill, and Quarry Cove Trail out to the lighthouse and back) total just over four miles. Of course, Yaquina Bay Lighthouse is only a matter of yards.