Top 10 Lighthouses in Oregon
Oregon's coastline is 580 kilometres of concentrated drama: headlands of basalt dropping into the Pacific, sea-stacks and arches offshore, estuaries blocked by shifting sandbars, and a relentless swell that arrives unimpeded from thousands of miles of open ocean. The Oregon coast was among the last sections of the Pacific Northwest to be settled by European Americans, and the need for lighthouses came almost simultaneously with the rush of maritime traffic that followed the California Gold Rush of 1848 and the establishment of Oregon Territory. The bar crossings — the passages over the shallow sandbars that block most Oregon river mouths — were particularly lethal: the Columbia River bar, just north of the Oregon line, earned the name "Graveyard of the Pacific" for the hundreds of vessels it wrecked. Oregon's nine active lighthouses are among the most scenic in the United States, set against forested headlands and dramatic cliffs. Seven are managed for public access by Oregon State Parks or the US Forest Service. Open the map to trace the coast from the Columbia to the California border.
1. Heceta Head Lighthouse, Lane County
Heceta Head Lighthouse is widely called the most photographed lighthouse on the Oregon coast and is a strong contender for the title on the entire Pacific seaboard. The white conical tower, built in 1894, stands 18.6 metres tall on a cliff 56 metres above the Pacific, with a first-order Fresnel lens still in use — one of the few on the Oregon coast — whose beam is visible for approximately 21 nautical miles. The light character is a white flash every ten seconds. The tower and the adjacent Victorian keeper's quarters — a red-roofed building now operating as a bed-and-breakfast — sit in a cove surrounded by the headland's forested slopes, and the classic view of lighthouse and sea with the rocky arch of Sea Lion Point in the background is one of the iconic images of the Pacific coast. The lighthouse is within Heceta Head Lighthouse State Scenic Viewpoint; the tower is open for tours on most days from May through September.
2. Yaquina Head Lighthouse, Lincoln County
Yaquina Head Lighthouse is the tallest lighthouse in Oregon, standing 28 metres tall on a basalt headland extending into the Pacific north of Newport. Built in 1873, the white conical brick tower replaced an earlier lighthouse on the bar of Yaquina Bay that proved too low to be seen from offshore. The light character is a white flash every four seconds, visible for about 19 nautical miles. Yaquina Head is designated an Outstanding Natural Area by the Bureau of Land Management, which manages the site. The lighthouse is open for tours on most days in summer and on weekends year-round; the adjacent interpretive centre covers the history of the lighthouse, the natural history of the basalt headland, and the tidal pools at Cobble Beach below, which are among the most accessible and richest on the coast. Stellar sea lions and Steller sea lions haul out on the rocks offshore.
3. Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, Clatsop County
Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, decommissioned in 1957, stands on a basalt sea-stack about 2.5 kilometres offshore from Tillamook Head — and it stands there still, stubbornly defying the Pacific. Built between 1880 and 1881 in conditions that killed a surveyor before construction even began, the lighthouse was among the most technically difficult construction projects ever undertaken on the American coast. Workers blasted the summit of the rock flat, built a masonry fog signal building and a square keeper's block, and topped it with a 12-metre tower. The light was visible for about 21 nautical miles. The structure withstood extraordinary Atlantic storms; in the winter of 1934, a storm threw boulders over the lantern gallery 37 metres above the water. The lighthouse is now privately owned and operated as a columbarium (a repository for cremated remains). It is visible from Ecola State Park and from commercial whale-watching boats out of Seaside or Cannon Beach.
4. Cape Blanco Lighthouse, Curry County
Cape Blanco Lighthouse, built in 1870, stands on Oregon's westernmost point, a 66-metre headland of white limestone whose colour gives the cape its Spanish name. The white conical masonry tower is 20.7 metres tall; the light is 60 metres above sea level and visible for about 22 nautical miles across the most exposed section of the Oregon coast. The light character is a white flash every twenty seconds. Cape Blanco is also the southernmost staffed lighthouse station in Oregon; volunteers from the Oregon State Parks system operate the tower for tours on Thursday through Monday from April through October. The keeper's dwelling from the 1870s is among the best-preserved historic lighthouse residences in the Pacific Northwest. The surrounding Cape Blanco State Park is excellent for winter storm-watching: the cape faces southwest into the prevailing Pacific weather.
5. Coquille River Lighthouse, Coos County
The Coquille River Lighthouse at Bandon is one of the most accessible and best-preserved decommissioned lighthouse stations on the Oregon coast. Built in 1896 at the south jetty of the Coquille River entrance, the octagonal brick tower stands 12 metres tall on a stone foundation; the light was visible for about 12 nautical miles across the river bar and the approaches along the coast. The lighthouse was decommissioned in 1939 when an automated offshore light replaced it. Bullards Beach State Park now surrounds the site; the keeper's quarters have been demolished but the tower and fog-signal building have been restored by the state parks programme. The tower is open for self-guided tours during summer, and the site is visible from the road through the park, set dramatically against the river mouth and the sand spit beyond.
6. Umpqua River Lighthouse, Douglas County
The Umpqua River Lighthouse stands on a bluff above the north bank of the Umpqua River entrance near Reedsport, replacing an original 1857 structure — the first lighthouse built on the Oregon coast — that was destroyed in a flood in 1861. The current tower, completed in 1894, is 28 metres tall and painted in white with a distinctive red lantern house. The light character is a white and red alternating flash, visible for about 16 nautical miles; the red sectors warn of specific hazards at the river mouth. The lighthouse is managed by the Douglas County Parks department and is open for tours Thursday through Monday from May through October. The keeper's quarters house a museum; the whale watching platform nearby is one of the best on the coast during the grey whale southward migration in December and January.
7. Cape Meares Lighthouse, Tillamook County
Cape Meares Lighthouse, built in 1890, is the smallest lighthouse tower on the Oregon coast, standing just under 11 metres tall. However, the elevation of the basalt headland at 60 metres above sea level gave the original first-order Fresnel lens a range of about 21 nautical miles — one of the most powerful lights on the coast despite the short tower. The light was replaced by an automated structure in 1963, and the original tower and lantern are preserved as a state park. The first-order Fresnel lens, one of the largest lens types and remarkable in its brass and glass construction, is still displayed in the original lantern room. Cape Meares Lighthouse State Scenic Viewpoint, part of the Three Capes Scenic Route, is open daily; the short walk from the parking area passes the Octopus Tree, a massive Sitka spruce with candelabra-form branches, before reaching the lighthouse.
8. Yaquina Bay Lighthouse, Lincoln County
The Yaquina Bay Lighthouse at Newport is not, despite its name, the primary lighthouse of the bay (that role went to Yaquina Head when it was built in 1873), but it is the oldest surviving lighthouse structure in Oregon. The two-storey wood-frame building with an integrated lantern tower was built in 1871 and served as the active light for only three years before being replaced. It was then used as a keeper's residence and was subsequently rescued from demolition in the 1930s. The lighthouse is managed by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department as part of Yaquina Bay State Recreation Site. It is one of the few lighthouse buildings in which the original dwelling and light tower are integrated into a single Victorian structure; the interior has been restored to its 1870s appearance and is open to the public daily.
9. Warrior Rock Lighthouse, Columbia County
Warrior Rock Lighthouse at the northern tip of Sauvie Island in the Columbia River is the only river lighthouse in Oregon's active network. The small white cylindrical tower, rebuilt in its current form in 1930, stands about 8 metres tall and marks the narrowing of the river channel at Warrior Rock Point, where vessels navigating the Columbia must avoid a hazardous shoal. The lighthouse is reached by a 5.5-kilometre walk along the forested bank of Sauvie Island, a flat island in the Columbia that is managed as a wildlife refuge for waterfowl. The walk passes through cottonwood forest to the gravel bar at the river's edge, where the lighthouse sits against the backdrop of the Washington shore and the distant Cascades. The lighthouse is active; the surrounding wildlife area requires a daily recreation permit.
10. Cape Arago Lighthouse, Coos County
Cape Arago Lighthouse stands on a small island connected to the headland by a suspension bridge, south of Coos Bay. The current white cylindrical tower, built in 1934, is the third lighthouse on this site; the original 1866 structure was replaced when erosion undermined the headland, and the second 1908 tower was similarly threatened. The current tower stands about 13 metres tall on the island at roughly 30 metres above sea level; its light character is a white flash every six seconds with a range of about 16 nautical miles, marking the approach to Coos Bay, the largest harbour on the Oregon coast between the Columbia River and San Francisco Bay. The island is closed to the public, as the suspension bridge crossing is restricted, but the lighthouse is clearly visible from the Cape Arago State Park viewpoints a short distance away.
Planning Your Visit
Oregon's coastal lighthouses are spread along Highway 101, which runs the full length of the coast. A thorough lighthouse road trip requires at least four to five days; a focused visit to the central coast between Newport and Coos Bay can be done in a long weekend. Summer (June to August) offers the most predictable weather and the greatest number of open lighthouse tours, but the coast is busy. September and October are excellent — lighter crowds, dramatic storm-watching opportunities developing, and most lighthouses still staffed. Winter brings the powerful storms that defined this coast's maritime history and are best witnessed from the warm interior of one of the lighthouse keeper's cottages now available as accommodation. For the complete picture of Oregon's lighthouse distribution from the Columbia bar to the California line, Open the map.