Oregon State has nine lighthouses along the coast that guarantee your next trip to the beach will be a memorable one… Let’s start in the north and work our way south exploring the Lighthouses of the Oregon Coast. There is plenty of lodging to choose from nearby in Seaside and Cannon Beach  if you want to stay in the area before your next stop.

The Tillamook Rock Lighthouse or “Terrible Tilly” as it came to be known sits 1 mile west of “Tillamook Head” between Cannon Beach and Seaside Oregon. It was commissioned in 1881 to help guide ships entering the mighty Columbia River and operated until 1957 when it was replaced by a whistle buoy. Sitting on a basalt rock islet, the 62-foot tower displayed a first-order Fresnel lens that sat at 133 feet above sea level. Tillamook Rock Lighthouse is included on the National Register of Historic Places and is the only privately owned lighthouse along the Oregon Coast.

After it was decommissioned, it was sold several times to private investors, and was eventually used as a columbarium, a storage place for the ashes of the deceased. There is no public access but you can view this majestic lighthouse using a trail that runs from Ecola State park near Cannon Beach on the south to Seaside Oregon from the north that takes you around Tillamook Head. Remember, for access to Ecola State park, there is an Oregon State park day use fee or use your annual parking permit or Oregon Pacific Coast Passport.

Next up is my favorite lighthouse, Cape Meares near Tillamook Oregon…

~Thanks & have fun AT THE BEACH!

A little history…

Have you heard the story about how they named Cannon Beach, Oregon? I did some investigation, and yes it’s true… Cannon Beach was named for a real carronade (cannon) that was discovered on the beach. In 1846, the U.S. Navy schooner “Shark” was sent on an exploratory voyage to Oregon to obtain information about the lower Columbia River and Willamette Valley. In September 1846, after several weeks of discovery, the schooner returned to the mouth of the Columbia River for her return trip to the Pacific Ocean. The “Shark” was destroyed after it struck an uncharted shoal while trying to cross over the Columbia River bar. A large piece of the schooner’s deck with the capstan and cannon attached washed up on the beach, and the town’s name is based on this event. The schooner’s capstan and carronade are viewable at the Cannon Beach Historical Society in Cannon Beach, Oregon.

*In February of 2008, two more cannons that are believed to be from the shipwreck of the Shark were discovered just south of Cannon Beach in an area know as Arch Cape!

Haystack Rock…

After a visit to the Historical Society, be sure to visit another attraction that Cannon Beach is famous for “Haystack Rock”. When was the last time you saw a sunset over a 235 foot tall basalt monolith? This ocean front vacation home has an AMAZING view right from your living room! …  

How about searching tide pools for amazing sea life including anemones, sea stars and barnacles? Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach on the northern Oregon coast is protected as a designated National Wilderness Area and is also a part of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge. Please remember to “Tread lightly” while discovering the sea life in the tide pools… they are fragile:)

Info gathered from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Shark_(1821)
http://www.el.com/to/cannonbeach/

~Thanks & have fun AT THE BEACH!