Face Rock State Scenic Viewpoint
Beach Loop Dr
Bandon, OR
A clifftop overlook where a scatter of sea stacks reads like a frozen story, one rock the upturned face of a chief's daughter turned to stone.
Face Rock is the kind of overlook where the view comes with a story already attached. From the bluff on Bandon's Beach Loop you look down on a scatter of dark sea stacks standing in the surf, and one of them, tilted back with its features turned up toward the sky, really does look like a human face gazing at the clouds. Once someone points it out you cannot unsee it, and the old Coquille legend that explains it turns a pretty coastal view into something that lingers.
The walk from the parking area to the railing is short and easy, which makes this one of the most rewarding quick stops on the whole southern Oregon coast. Come for the sunset and the stacks catch fire against the sky; come in winter and the same rocks split enormous storm waves. A steep stairway drops from the bluff to the beach below, where at low tide you can walk out among the stacks and poke through tidepools.
What Guests Love
- Sunsets with the sea stacks silhouetted against the sky, the signature Bandon scene
- Finding the face in the rock and learning the Coquille legend that gives the place its soul
- Tidepooling and beachcombing among the stacks at low tide
- Storm watching in the off-season as big surf breaks on the rocks
Worth Knowing
- The stairway down to the beach is steep and the climb back up is strenuous, so budget your energy and bring water
- The best tidepooling is at low tide, so check a tide table, and never turn your back on the surf since sneaker waves are a real hazard here
- It is windy and often cool even in summer, so bring a layer, and dogs are welcome on the beach
- The offshore rocks are a protected wildlife refuge, so view nesting birds and marine mammals from a distance and do not disturb them
Details
Bandon, OR
Learn about Face Rock State Scenic Viewpoint
The legend of Ewauna
The Coquille people tell of Chief Siskiyou, who came down from the mountains to the coast for a great gathering and brought along his daughter Ewauna, who had never seen the ocean. She thought it beautiful, believing it was the place where the clouds were made. She had brought her pets too, a cat and a litter of kittens, and her loyal dog Komax.
Ewauna was warned to fear Seatka, the evil spirit of the ocean, but under a full moon she went to the beach anyway and swam out with joy, ignoring Komax's frantic barking. Seatka seized her. Komax swam out and bit the spirit's hand, and Seatka flung the dog aside and hurled the cat and kittens far out to sea. The heart of the story is this: Seatka's power lived in his eyes, so Ewauna refused to look at him and kept her face turned up toward the friendly moon.
At dawn her father found her gone, and there in the sea lay the beautiful face of Ewauna, still smiling up at the clouds, having never met the spirit's gaze. All of them had turned to stone. So the stacks below the overlook read as the cast of the legend: Face Rock is Ewauna's upturned face, Howling Dog Rock is Komax still baying for his mistress, and the little stacks offshore are said to be her cat and kittens.
The rocks and the refuge
The sea stacks off Bandon are the eroded remnants of an older coastline, hard rock left standing as the softer land washed away. Along with Face Rock and Howling Dog Rock you can pick out others named for their shapes rather than the legend, like Elephant Rock, whose two sea caves form its ears, and flat-topped Table Rock.
These offshore rocks and the tidal flats around them are part of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge, protected habitat for nesting seabirds and marine mammals. Hundreds of bird species frequent this stretch of coast, so bring binoculars and watch the rocks come alive, but keep your distance and let the wildlife be.
The viewpoint is one bead on Bandon's Beach Loop, a scenic side road off Highway 101 strung with overlooks, and part of the larger chain of Oregon coast waysides that make driving this shoreline such a pleasure. Face Rock is the one people remember.
Down to the beach and the tidepools
The clifftop has picnic tables, restrooms, and a viewing scope, but the real reward for the able is the stairway down to the sand. The descent is steep and the return climb is a genuine effort, so pace yourself, but at the bottom you can walk right out among the sea stacks that looked so distant from above.
At low tide the rocks reveal their tidepools, pockets of clear water full of anemones, sea stars, and crabs, and there is no better way to meet the coast than crouching over one of these little worlds. Check a tide table before you go so you catch the water at its lowest, and always keep an eye on the ocean, because sneaker waves can surge up the beach without warning.
The beach here is also home to Circles in the Sand, where a local artist and his team draw huge walkable labyrinths in the sand at low tide, a single winding path with no dead ends that anyone can walk for free before the tide erases it. It has become one of Bandon's most beloved and only-here experiences, meditative and open to families and dogs alike.
Visiting Face Rock
Face Rock State Scenic Viewpoint sits on Beach Loop Drive in south Bandon, an easy detour off Highway 101 and only a few minutes from town. The clifftop view is free and quick, reached by a short walk from the parking area, so even travelers short on time can pull in, take in the stacks, and drive on the richer for it.
For the fullest visit, time it. Sunset is the signature scene, with the stacks black against a burning sky, while winter brings dramatic storm watching as the surf explodes on the rocks. Low tide opens the tidepools and the labyrinth beach below. Dress for wind and cool air any time of year, keep dogs leashed on the developed areas, and give the wildlife on the offshore rocks the room it needs.
It is the sort of stop that turns a drive into a memory, a quiet overlook where a whole legend stands frozen in the surf, waiting for you to notice the face.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Bandon
Coquille Point
About 1 mile
The mainland unit of the Oregon Islands refuge just up the coast, with paved paths, benches, and stairs to the beach, one of the best spots in town for watching nesting seabirds.
Coquille River Lighthouse and Bullards Beach State Park
About 4 miles
The 1896 lighthouse at the mouth of the Coquille River inside Bullards Beach State Park, reached through dunes and shore pines, with miles of walkable beach.
Bandon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge
About 3 miles
Nearly 900 acres of salt marsh and mudflats along the Coquille estuary north of town, a premier birding site on the southern Oregon coast.
Cape Blanco Lighthouse and State Park
About 28 miles
Oregon's oldest standing lighthouse, from 1870, on the state's westernmost headland high above the Pacific, with dramatic cliff views, about a 40-minute drive south.