Cape Kiwanda State Natural Area

Most of the Oregon coast is armored in hard, dark volcanic rock, but Cape Kiwanda is made of much softer sandstone, laid down as ancient sea-bottom sand and then lifted up and left exposed. Because it is soft, the ocean has been able to sculpt it, and the result is a headland unlike any other on the shore: warm gold and rust-red cliffs swirled with layers, hollowed into sea caves, pierced by natural arches, and split by deep, narrow chasms where waves boom in and out.

A ridge of hard basalt along the north side once shielded the sandstone from the full force of the surf, which is part of why the cape survived at all. Even so, it keeps changing. Storms and big waves carve away at it every winter, and a well-known rock formation the sandstone once held has already collapsed into the sea. That softness is exactly what makes the cape so beautiful and also why the edges are dangerous, and why it is a place to admire more than to scramble around on.

Rising behind the headland is the Great Dune, a tall hill of sand piled up over thousands of years on top of the older rock. Climbing it is the classic Cape Kiwanda thing to do, and it is honest work: the sand is loose and steep, so you take two steps up and slide one step back, and by the top your shoes are full. The reward is one of the finest views on the coast, a sweep of open Pacific, the colorful cape below, the dory boats coming and going, and the big sea stack standing alone offshore.

The dune is crowned with tough beach grass and a few wind-stunted spruce trees, and the loose sand on the ocean side makes for a fast, laughing run or roll back down. Families with kids tend to spend as much time on the dune as on the beach itself. From the top you can also look south across the mouth of the Nestucca River and north toward the dark cliffs of Cape Lookout, so the whole shape of this part of the coast lays itself out at once.

A dory is a flat-bottomed, shallow boat that can be launched right off the sand instead of from a harbor. Around the early 1900s, fishermen at Pacific City figured out that the relatively calm water in the lee of Cape Kiwanda let them run these boats straight into the surf, motor out past the sea stack to the fishing grounds, and then ride a wave back in and slide up onto the beach at the end of the day. It is believed to be the only place in the western United States where fishing is still done this way.

Pacific City is home port to a whole fleet of these boats, and on a good morning you can stand on the sand and watch them go, timing the swell, punching through the breakers, and roaring off toward the horizon. Landing is the real show: a boat surfs in on a wave, hits the beach at speed, and coasts up onto the sand. It is a living piece of Oregon coast history happening right in front of you, free to watch, and it turns a walk on the beach into a front-row seat.

Cape Kiwanda sits at the north end of Pacific City, reached off Highway 101 about a half hour south of Tillamook. Parking is right beside the beach, and from the lot it is a short walk across the sand to the base of the dune and the headland. There is no fee to be on the beach, and a cluster of shops and food sits right at the sand, which makes this an easy stop to fit into a coast drive.

Treat the sandstone headland with real respect. The rock is soft and crumbles, the cliff edges are unfenced, and the surf below can send up sudden, powerful sneaker waves, so the safe plan is to enjoy the cape from the beach and the dune rather than climbing out to the edges. Come early or late in the day and you get softer light, thinner crowds, and the best chance of catching the dory boats at work, which is when Cape Kiwanda is at its most magical.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.