Portland Hikers Archive

Ecola Point to Indian Beach 2/11/07

Re: Ecola Point to Indian Beach 2/11/07

Re: Ecola Point to Indian Beach 2/11/07

pcauldwe:

Yesterday the boy and I (he's 11) set out from the parking lot at Ecola Point (at Ecola State Park, just North of Cannon Beach) and headed for Indian Beach (also in the State Park). 
We had good weather at the beginning, high clouds and a few sun breaks, but quite windy.  It had been a while since I'd done this particular hike, but I remembered it being short and steep, and indeed it was.  It's about 1 1/2 miles each way, with about 400' of elevation gain.  This is not a hike I would recommend for young children, at least at this time of year.  It was quite muddy, and on the steeper parts it was quite trecherous.  There are also some very steep dropoffs.  I think we made it out with only one fall apiece, but you could really take a nasty spill if you weren't very cautious.  I wished after about the first 100 yards that I'd brought trekking poles. 
The views were totally worth the mud, however.  There are 2-3 places where you are directly out along the cliff edges, and the views along the coast and out to the Tillamook lighthouse were fantastic.  In better weather, Indian Beach is a nice spot for lunch, and at a reasonable tide had plenty of open sand for kids to play in.  You can also drive around the headland to the beach, rather than taking the hike, so shuttling is also a possibility.
We started getting a few sprinkles on the way back, and just as we were within sight of the car, it started pouring down rain, and blowing so hard that water was blowing up off the parking lot and into the sides of my trail runners (which had been dry up to that point). 
I wouldn't class this as a "family" hike, since it is pretty steep, and the dropoffs would be scary with children < 10 or so, but for adults it's an nice high-easy or low-medium hike. 
Unfortunately I failed to bring the camera, so I didn't get any pictures of the ocean, which would have been nice.

Thanks for sharing this.  Good thing the wind and rain waited until you were nearly back to your car!  On summer weekends those parking lots get so full that the park rangers actually keep counts of the parking spots and allow cars in one-by-one as spaces get freed up.  I'm guessing the traffic wasn't quite as rough that day?

Re: Ecola Point to Indian Beach 2/11/07

Patrick, here's a photo I took last May near Indian Beach. Actually I think the photo was taken between Indian Beach and Ecola Point but I think it will give everyone an idea of the rugged coastline that you enjoyed.

Another really nice short hike at Ecola State Park is the trail down to Crescent Beach which lies to the south of Ecola Point. I recall the hike down to Crescent Beach being family friendly but recent storm erosion may have changed that. If you go on a weekday during the non-tourist season, you will probably have the whole beach to yourself. A September weekday when the coast weather is generally good is the perfect time to enjoy Crescent Beach:

The trail head to Cresent Beach is located near the restrooms at the Ecola Point parking lot.