Photo: Julie Gentry / Wikimedia Commons, CC0
Yaquina Head is a narrow basalt headland that runs about a mile into the Pacific just north of Newport. It is managed by the federal Bureau of Land Management as the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area, a designation Congress created for it in 1980, and it packs a lighthouse, tide pools and one of the coast’s best seabird views into a short drive.
The lighthouse
The Yaquina Head Lighthouse was first lit in 1873. At 93 feet, it is the tallest lighthouse tower in Oregon, and it still works as an active aid to navigation. Tours of the tower are offered when staffing allows; check with the BLM for the current schedule, since they can fill up in summer.
Tide pools
Two intertidal areas are reachable on foot. Cobble Beach, down a set of stairs from the lighthouse road, is covered with smooth, dark basalt cobbles that clatter in the surf. Quarry Cove, a former rock quarry, was reshaped into accessible tide pools. At low tide, look for sea stars, anemones, chitons and urchins. Stay off the seaweed-covered rocks when waves are running, and leave animals where you find them.
Seabirds and whales
Colony Rock and the offshore rocks host common murres in the nesting season, along with cormorants, gulls and pigeon guillemots. Harbor seals haul out below the headland. Gray whales are often seen from the point in winter and spring, and some stay to feed through summer.
Before you go
There is a per-vehicle entry fee, and federal recreation passes are accepted. The Interpretive Center has exhibits on the headland’s history and wildlife. Plan around a low tide; our homepage tide box uses NOAA predictions for South Beach, a short drive south. For whale-watching tips, see how researchers study whales off Newport.
Dewey Albrecht covers the Port of Newport, commercial and sport fishing and the Yaquina Bay bar.
