Cape Lookout Hike

Overview

Cape Lookout is the best spot on the coast for whale watching (without getting in a boat). As the migrating gray whales parallel the shoreline in fall and spring, they need to detour around this two-mile long peninsula, the remains of an ancient lava flow from the Columbia River Basalts of the Miocene epoch. There are views south and north taking in long stretches of beach, and the highest cliffs on the cape tower more than 800 feet. You be hiking through a lush, wet (and muddy) coast forest of Sitka spruce, western hemlock, salal, and large leathery polypody ferns. In addition to the possibility of spotting gray whales during their migration periods, there is a good chance of seeing sea lions, seals, and various seabirds, such as murres, pelicans, scoters, and gulls. Orcas and dolphins have also been seen from Cape Lookout. Start at the Cape Lookout Trailhead, and hike westward through a lush old-growth forest. At a trail junction a few feet from the lot, continue straight ahead (the trail on the left leads to South Beach). The massive trees here are Sitka Spruce, whose thick limbs are laden with moss and huge primeval ferns. These northwest maritime conifers grow only in a narrow strip on the Pacific Coast from Alaska to southern Oregon. The undergrowth consists of salmonberry, salal, sword fern, evergreen huckleberry, and red huckleberry. The trail is slightly downhill, and often muddy with occasional boardwalks to span the worst sections. After about half of a mile of hiking, you will come out of the trees for a view south of the sweeping expanse of beach that extends to Sand Lake; farther south are Cape Kiwanda, Cascade Head, and Cape Foulweather. The viewpoint is 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 reenter the forest for most of the remainder of the hike. The

Trail Stats

Photos

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