Cape Lookout
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
- Start point: Cape Lookout Trailhead
- End point: Cape Lookout
- Hike Type: Out and Back
- Distance: 5 MILES"MILES" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property. round trip
- Elevation gain: 800 FEET"FEET" is not declared as a valid unit of measurement for this property.
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Seasons: All year
- Family Friendly: Yes, but the trail is near steep cliffs at the end of the hike
- Backpackable: No
- Crowded: No
Contents |
Hike Description
Cape Lookout is the best spot on the coast for whale watching (without getting in a boat). As the migrating grey whales parallel the shoreline in fall and spring, they need to detour around this 2 mile long peninsula that juts westward into the Pacific Ocean.
Start at the Cape Lookout Trailhead and hike westard through a lush Old-growth forest. The massive trees here are Sitka spruce, whose thick limbs are laden with moss and huge primeval ferns. These NW maritime trees grow only in a narrow strip on the Pacific coast from Alaska to southern Oregon.
The trail is slightly downhill, and often muddy with occasional boardwalks to span the worst sections. After about 1/2 mile of hiking, you will come out of the trees for a view south near the site of a B-17 bomber that crashed here in 1943. There are reports that some of the plane fuselage is still present in the area, but the underbrush is so impenetrable, it would be very difficult to find. A plaque ??set in a boulder?? along the trail records the event. You will re-enter the forest for most of the remainder of the hike until you emerge near the tip of the cape. Hold onto the little ones when you come out of the trees, as you will be walking along the sheer southern cliffs that plunge almost straight down into the ocean 400 feet below. There is a bench and open area at the tip for enjoying your whale watching perch. Retrun the way you came.
Maps
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Regulations or Restrictions, etc.
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Trip Reports
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Related Discussions / Q&A
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Guidebooks that cover this hike
100 HIkes on the Oregon Coast by William L. Sullivan
More Links
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Contributors
- cfm (creator)