Coastal Giant Tree Forests - Oswald West State Park & Arcadia Cedar Grove

[lcometto]

For giant tree fans like myself, Oregon’s northern coast is truly a wonder; containing record-sized trees set beautiful verdant environments. Here, I chose to photograph two of its best sections – Oswald West State Park and the hidden Arcadia Cedar Grove – as part of a project to document the Northwest’s best giant tree, old-growth forests: http://www.lucascometto.com/cascadia-oregon

Oswald West State Park
A short 10-minute drive from Cannon Beach, Oswald West State Park is a coastal park dominated by old-growth Sitka Spruce forests, which grow near streams that flow into the ocean. The park contains tall ocean-facing cliffs, eroded over millennia by the constant pounding of the ocean. Though many tourists visit primarily to hike the dramatic, cliff-hugging Cape Falcon Trail, several of the park’s flat and accessible southern trails that traverse the lowland forests offer some of the best old-growth hiking in coastal Oregon.

The watershed between Short Sand Creek and Necarney Creek, where these short trails are located, is filled with giant trees contoured into weird and interesting shapes. The whole area is incredibly verdant and brimming with vegetation. The region’s ample precipitation allows small, photogenic plants, leaves, and ferns to dominate the forest floor for much of the year, growing on and around the ancient trees.

Arcadia Cedar Grove
Also near Cannon Beach, a grove of large western redcedars reside in relative obscurity. Despite the widespread logging that has befallen the region, the trees in this recently discovered grove remain intact. In order to protect their wild state, I’ll refrain from providing exact directions but suffice to say, reaching them requires a bit of bushwhacking.

The trees here are hundreds of years old and the grove contains the largest western redcedar in Oregon, the Arcadia Cedar (picture five). The cedar is likely over 800 years old and has been able to survive the many tsunamis that have crashed into Oregon’s coast over the last millennia because of its position high on a hill. The cedar was measured in 2010 by “Ascending the Giants” (an Oregon-based group of tree climbers and enthusiasts), officially making it Oregon's champion western redcedar at 17 feet in diameter, 152 feet tall with a 70-foot crown spread.

Both Oswald West and Arcadia Cedar Grove are absolutely stunning. Not only do they contain precious and diverse old-growth forests, they also have giant trees that are important relics of the Oregon coast’s ancient past.

[markesc]

Nice photos. These are fun places to photo especially when you get in there on those winter foggy days with the long shadows.

[lcometto]

Without a doubt, markesc. That is the best season to photograph these parks. Not to mention the fact that the forests' greenery turns almost neon after it is drenched in winter rain.

[dmthomas49]

There is also the large Sitka Spruce near Cape Meares.
https://tillamookcoast.com/blog/a-tree- ... ka-spruce/

[lcometto]

dmthomas49, yes! I love that tree. I've been there as well!