558 N. Main St., Prineville, OR 97754 | (541) 447-6205
The great blue heron stood as still as if frozen in time, and place. Then it began a careful hunt, lifting one leg at a time, almost imperceptible to the human eye. Perhaps it targeted one of the tiny sculpin-like fish darting about in the tide pools.
When it appeared that the big bird spotted its prey, it started to stretch out its long S-shaped neck to a 45-degree angle for a better look out over the water. Just as it prepared for a strike, a wave came up from behind and spoiled the hunt. The heron leaped into the air and the wave washed over the tide pool. The patient hunter started over again.
There are few visitors to the Oregon coast this time of year. I like it that way. Of course the weather isn’t always clear and balmy, so it’s wise to pack warm clothes and rain gear. However, when my wife and I recently spent four days there we had some sunny days that warmed into the 60s.
On most trips to the coast we stay in Waldport, but for this trip we selected Newport as our base camp and did our exploring north and south of there.
Our first stop was Devil’s Punchbowl State Natural Area, located about eight miles north of Newport off the Otter Crest Loop. The punchbowl is an interesting and unique geological feature on a rock headland that was formed when the roofs of two connecting sea caves collapsed.
During winter storms huge waves enter the punchbowl, churning, swirling and spouting spray and foam high into the air. We got to see lots of large waves as two storms were forming just off the coast. Gull Rock, a large rock pinnacle located about a half-mile offshore funnels the waves, making them even bigger.
Gull Rock is one of at least 17 large rock islands that make up the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge, set up to protect birds, seals and other wildlife. We could see hundreds of cormorants and brown pelicans resting on Gull Rock.
The park has three short trails. One starts at the fenced overlook and goes along the edge of the bluff, circling the picnic area. The beach is accessed by two other trails, a steeper set of stairs at the south end of the park across from the restroom and a more gradual path at the north end of the park, which leads to the marine gardens where you can find sea anemones, sea stars, small crabs and fish in the tide pools.
It’s best to visit this section during the low tide. The gardens are a series of sandstone shelves, tide pools and channels. When we walked down the tide was too high to get to the punchbowl but we came back later in the day at low tide. A pair of Harlequin ducks swam among the watery maze of the marine garden and at least six black oystercatchers could also be seen on the rocks.
We lingered on the beach for what turned out to be one of the best sunsets I’ve ever seen. As the sun sank far out in the Pacific, it appeared to set the few clouds on fire. The wet sand reflected like a mirrored image. The white froth of the large crashing waves acted like a night light.
Our next stop was Rocky Creek State Park just a few miles north. We spent some time there watching the huge waves crash against the rocky shore. Some must have been at least 20 feet high and formed the textbook tubes that usually hold surfers. About a quarter-mile off shore a few dozen brown pelicans could be seen diving into the water apparently going after some kind of fish.
We stopped at Depoe Bay to watch the spouting horns splash water up and over the sea wall and onto the sidewalk. Depoe Bay boasts the smallest harbor in the world and it appeared to be one of the more dangerous to get into and out of as well. We watched two Coast Guard boats escort two smaller tour boats back into the bay through the big waves.
The next morning we bundled up and drove about eight miles south of Newport to Ona Beach State Park. We arrived at an empty parking lot my favorite kind. At first glance the park appears to be solely a forested picnic area, but a quarter-mile long trail leads to a fairly secluded section of beach after crossing a footbridge over Beaver Creek.
Once out on the beach we walked south toward Seal Rock, two miles distant. The beach is backed by high bluffs and narrows down as it approaches Seal Rock and should only be walked when the tide is out.
The beach is mostly sandy but there are more rock formations the farther south you go. Many of the rocks, both large and small, contain shell fossils. Agates can also be found, especially this time of year when storms wash them ashore.
High tide was on its way in so we turned around before reaching Seal Rock but stopped for a while to watch several black turnstones, surfbirds and sanderlings resting on some of the rocks. Surf scoters floated a short distance out, ducking under the incoming waves. On the hike back, a few fox sparrows and winter wrens chirped at us from part-way up the bluff.
One of the lone trees on the bluff looked half dead but was actually a Krumholtz. The name comes from the German word krumm, meaning crooked, bent or twisted; and holz, meaning wood. The trees are pummeled from the prevailing wind with rain, snow and ice to become stunted and deformed. The branches grow in one direction: inland.
Seal Rock State Park is one of my favorite parks on the coast and arguably one of the most scenic. A headland juts out into the ocean, surrounded by a ring of small lava islands that often host seals during low tide. The rock islands protect the tide pools from crashing waves and there's usually lots of bird life there as well.
On most of the beaches from here to the Columbia River you can see lava rock from flows that had their beginnings about 15 million years ago in the Hells Canyon area. Huge floods of lava eventually made their way westward through the Columbia River Gorge and south along the Oregon Coast. Geologists think these may have been the largest lava floods in the world's history.
On the drive home we stopped at Cascadia State Park just east of Sweet Home and hiked both of the trails. The shorter trail leads down to the South Santiam River and the other leads .75 miles to Soda Creek Falls, which looked to be over 100-feet high. Ruts from the historic Santiam Wagon Road can still be seen in the park. The route was used by the military in the 1800s.
