Oregon’s Spectacular Coast Oregon Coast – Images by Lee Foster by Lee Foster The 363-mile Oregon coast is one of the world’s spectacular parks because it is all public land, owned by the people of Oregon. Legislative action in 1913 and in 1967 set aside the coastline for “free and uninterrupted use” of the people. Billboards are controlled, making the appearance entirely unlike the Southern California coast, for example. Oswald West, the governor who defended the public coastline early in the century, tapped a progressive strain in Oregonians that remains alive today. In the past, when Oregon assumed a somewhat smug “Visit But Don’t Stay” attitude of provincial isolationism toward outsiders, the Oregon coast was one of the state amenities that citizens meant to protect. In 1973 the state’s landmark returnable-bottle bill insured that the coast, as well as the rest of Oregon, would remain relatively litter-free. This rugged coast offers unusual diversity to the traveler. If forced to select one superlative element that distinguishes it, a good choice would be the huge dunes in the 32,000-acre Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area, located about two-thirds of the way down the coast. Mile after mile of monumental, shifting sand dunes remind one of Death Valley in California. Aside from the dunes, the Oregon coast offers forests, seashore, beach combing, camping, tide pools, and fishing. There are 74 state parks and recreation areas along the roadway, including some that preserve virgin vestiges of some of the greatest coniferous forest in North America. The parks beckon the traveler to leave the car and actively enjoy the beach, the trails, and the hillsides with a walk. Along the coast you can breathe some of the cleanest air on the planet. Behind the coast rise the cliffs and headlands of the Coast Range of mountains, which increase in elevation as they stretch south, gradually blending with the Cascades. If you have some liberty in determining the month for a trip, September and October are choice times. The coast climate remains mild year-around. Summer is warm and sunny, but the weather of October includes an Indian summer of exceptional color. In winter, bracing storms attack the coast. Appreciators of storms watch these dynamics from snug coastal houses, warmed by wood-stove fires. Beachcombers rise early the following day to inspect what treasures have been deposited. The Pacific Coast Highway 101 (which is also a Scenic Byway) runs from California to Washington the length of the Oregon coast. From the major cities of the Willamette Valley there are arteries leading west to the coast. If you are flying to Oregon, you can start in Portland, although there are some other regional airports, such as Eugene. One appealing vacation strategy would be to rent a car at the Portland airport and spend a week traveling the coast. Travelers come west from Portland, south from Washington, or north from California. Highway 30 links Portland with Astoria. The Sunset Highway, U.S. 26, connects Portland with Seaside and Cannon Beach. Fishing and logging have been the livelihoods that traditionally supported settlers along the Oregon coast. Tourism now edges out the fishing industry. Start at Fort Stevens As an orientation to the coast, start at Fort Stevens State Park and work your way south. Fort Stevens, originally a Civil War fort, becomes a moderate-sized town in summer when its many campsites are filled. If this is your introduction to Oregon’s state parks, you will learn that they are managed to be manicured, well-groomed, an image of nature fully under control. There is a substantial biking and walking trail network at Fort Stevens. Four miles of shoreline at the park offer surf fishing, clam digging, and the material for sand castling. Fort Stevens, which guarded the mouth of the Columbia River, had the distinction of being the only U.S. military installation on the mainland fired on by the Japanese in World War II. A Japanese submarine did little damage, but caused a stir by shelling Battery Russell. An interpretive center tells the story of the fort going back to the Civil War. Out along the water’s edge at Fort Stevens you can look at the forlorn wreck of the four-masted, iron-hulled British schooner, Peter Iredale, which ran aground in 1906. The wreck forcefully emphasizes the importance of lighthouses along this treacherous coast. A parade of ships met an unfortunate fate along here. For example, the Alaskan wrecked off Cape Blanco in 1889, losing 30 lives. In 1881 the Lupatia, a British vessel, foundered at Tillamook, losing the entire crew. Between 1857 and 1895 lighthouse building proceeded. Today there are nine extant lighthouses, with six still serving as navigation aids. (You’ll find lighthouses at Tillamook Rock, Cape Meares, Yaquina Head, Yaquina Bay, Heceta Head, Umpqua River, Cape Arago, Coquille River, and Cape Blanco.) Just inland from Fort Stevens, along the Columbia River, lies the town of Astoria. Astoria has always been marked by a maritime orientation, so it’s fitting that it hosts the Columbia River Maritime Museum, charting Columbia River and general maritime history. Be sure to visit this museum along the Astoria waterfront to learn of whaling, sealing, and fishing. The exhibits on salmon fishing are instructive, from Indian gill netting to the sturdy little boats that individual fishermen used on the open seas. Besides exhibits on the discovery and development of the Columbia, there are displays about larger patterns of sea-going exploration, trade, and warfare. The museum’s assemblage of model ships, one of the best, includes a replica of the battleship Oregon. The largest artifact at the museum is the lightshipColumbia , which served as a visual aid for ships crossing the Columbia bar from 1950-1980. A lightship has been an invaluable resource at the delta of this great river. Over 120 ships have been wrecked here since Captain Robert Gray of Boston was the first to cross the bar, in 1792. He named the river after his vessel, the Columbia. While exploring in Astoria, the vigorous sport fishing and commercial fishing boat traffic on the river becomes apparent. Fish processing plants flourish here. Large ships leave here with agricultural and forest products from all over the Northwest, bound mainly for Asia. Among the agricultural products shipped out are wheat, apples, pears, peaches, and berries. Pleasure boating and fishing are also prominent, especially during the August Astoria Regatta. Easy passage for large commercial boats became a problem in 1980. Mt. St. Helens, which lies northeast of here, deposited so much debris from its volcanic mudflows into the Columbia that shipping came to a standstill until the river could be dredged. The 4.1-mile Trans Columbia Bridge connects Astoria with Megler, Washington. For a panoramic view of the area, drive to Coxcomb Hill, a hilltop in Astoria, to see the 123-foot Astoria Column. Climb all 164 stairs to the top. On the exterior of the column a long frieze tells the story of the discovery of the Columbia and the founding of Astoria. The Astoria column was constructed in 1926 to commemorate events connected with the discovery, exploration, and settlement of the Northwest. The observation platform enables you to see the surrounding mountains, river, and ocean. Vincent Astor, a descendant of John Jacob, financed the column’s construction. The fur-fortune Astors founded this first American settlement west of the Rockies in 1810, when John Jacob sent the ship Tonquin by sea and another party overland to rendezvous at the mouth of the Columbia. John Jacob Astor accompanied the overland party himself, following the Oregon trail, and instructed his men to build Fort Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia in 1811. The plan was to set up a fur- trading post, but the War of 1812 intervened, and the Hudson Bay Company continued to dominate the fur trade. Until the 1840s trappers and missionaries were the main white residents in the region. After 1840 agricultural settlers poured westward. As you climb the hills of Astoria, you’ll note the well-kept Victorian houses that generations of prosperous seafaring families have built and maintained. For a map listing the choicest Victorians, stop by the local chamber of commerce office, located at 111 West Marine Drive. Most of the prominent homes are on Grand and Franklin Avenues. Queen of these is the Flavel House, known as the “house with the red roof.” Flavel House is now the Clatsop County Historical Museum and contains exhibits on the Indians of the region and the contribution of different ethnic groups, such as the Chinese. The houses give Astoria the flavor of an authentic American place. Local families, many of them Scandinavian, celebrate their ethnicity at a June Scandinavian Festival. The other major destination at this northern tip of the coast is the Fort Clatsop National Memorial to the Lewis and Clark expedition. The memorial is on the Lewis and Clark River near Astoria. Fort Clatsop is worth visiting to immerse yourself in the rugged, self-sufficient world of the early explorers. Here the party spent the winter of 1805-1806, which they recorded as “wet and disagreeable,” with only 12 days of sunshine. A replica of the original stockade, with pointed logs, has been created, complete with details of daily life from the skinning of a beaver to the forging of a musket ball. The 50-foot-square fort housed 33 people. Among the exhibits is a 32-foot dugout canoe of the type the party used on the rivers. An informative movie also brings alive the expedition.