10 min
Overview
This short excursion allows you to view the impressive Cape Creek Bridge near a sharp inlet known as the Devils Elbow, stroll a small sandy beach and explore its tide pools and headland caves, and then hike up through spruce woods to visit a recently restored coastal lighthouse. The Heceta Head Lighthouse shines the brightest beam on the Oregon Coast, and it was also the last lighthouse built in the system. Its completion in 1894 filled the gap between the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse and the Umpqua River Lighthouse in Reedsport. Note that the Heceta Head Lighthouse State Scenic Viewpoint is the former Devils Elbow State Park. From the parking area, walk out to the beach, and stroll to your left. You can hike up Cape Creek to view or pass under the Cape Creek Bridge, a 1932 structure designed by noted engineer Conde McCulllough. The bridge is constructed of reinforced concrete and is 620 feet long, with a single span of 300 feet arching over the creek. The two-tiered support design is modeled after a Roman aqueduct. From this side of the beach you can get a good view up to the Heceta Head Lighthouse and the lighthouse keeper’s house, now a B & B. Next, hike the shoreline to the basalt cliffs of Heceta Head, and explore the small caves at its base. Conical Rock, composed of volcanic breccia and part of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge, can be seen just offshore, and there are a few tide pools that are worth exploring here at low tide. Return to the parking area and take the trail, an old access road, that leads up past the restrooms. On your left is a willow wetland, but soon you enter a woodland of Sitka spruce carpeted by false lily-of-the-valley and salal. Reach the assistant lightkeeper’s house, built in 1893. This was originally a duplex for the two assistant lightkeepers and their families. The original chief lightkeeper’s house also once stood in this picket-fenced yard, but when the light was electrified, three keepers became unnecessary, and the house was sold as surplus and demolished in 1940
Trail Stats
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50 m
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Photos
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