How to Hike to Heceta Head Lighthouse — and Beyond!
From its cliffside perch 200 feet above the Pacific Ocean, 130-year-old Heceta Head Lighthouse is one of the Oregon Coast’s most picturesque and memorable lighthouses. A short hike will bring you from tucked-away Cape Cove Beach to the lighthouse and the phenomenal views surrounding it. If you’re looking for a longer adventure, the trail continues through a coastal forest to secluded Hobbit Beach just north of the headland. Keep an eye out for whales, birds, and seals as you explore this incredible Oregon Coast park. Here is everything you need to know about visiting Heceta Head Lighthouse — and beyond!
Cape Cove Beach
Know before you go
Heceta Head Lighthouse is at the end of a 0.5-mile trail that begins at Cape Cove Beach. Use the large parking lot next to the beach to reach the trailhead. Starting here is the shortest and easiest way to hike to the lighthouse.
Parking at Cape Cove Beach requires an Oregon State Parks Pass. You can purchase a day pass on-site for $5 or use an annual state park pass.
Leashed dogs are welcome on the beaches and trails around Heceta Head.
There are picnic tables and restrooms near the parking area at Cape Cove Beach.
The trek to Heceta Head Lighthouse is a great family-friendly hike. The trail gains some elevation but is wide, even, and doable with a stroller.
You can take a tour of the lighthouse grounds and lower level. The upper level is not open to the public. Look for guided tours from 11 AM - 3 PM in the summer and 11 AM - 2 PM in the winter, dependent on staffing and weather.
About 0.5 miles south of the Heceta Head Lighthouse parking lot on Highway 101, you’ll see a scenic viewpoint that looks like a highway pullout surrounded by a stone wall. It’s worth making an extra stop at this viewpoint, which overlooks Heceta Head Lighthouse and the surrounding cliffs from a distance. The viewpoint is also great for seeing wildlife like birds, seals, and whales.
Instead of starting at Cape Cove Beach, you can reach Heceta Head Lighthouse from the Hobbit Beach Trailhead. It is about 3 miles roundtrip to reach the lighthouse from this trailhead, plus another mile if you continue down to Cape Cove Beach. Parking at the Hobbit Beach Trailhead does not require a pass or permit.
There is a long sandy beach called Heceta Beach in Florence. Although pretty, is about 10 miles away from Heceta Head Lighthouse and would be an unrelated stop.
On the trail to Heceta Head Lighthouse
Distance: 1 mile out and back
Elevation gain: 150 feet
Difficulty: Easy
Pass required: Oregon State Park Pass
Dog friendly: Yes, leashed dogs are welcome on the trails.
ADA access: Mostly limited to the area around Cape Cove Beach. The trail to the lighthouse has a steep grade at times. The viewpoint on Highway 101 would be a great stop for lighthouse views.
The trail to Heceta Head Lighthouse has excellent views of the coastline to the south
The trail from Cape Cove Beach to Heceta Head Lighthouse is a short and sweet trek that has ocean views most of the way. Look for a sign at the north end of the parking lot that will point you to the trailhead. The hike begins on a wide, even, and unpaved path through the woods. Spruce trees line the trail and false lily of the valley (what a judgmental name) and salal fills the undergrowth.
Before long, you’ll return to the ocean views. About halfway up the trail is a large white house. Built in 1893, this house was once the lighthouse keeper’s home and is now a 6-room bed and breakfast. Raised beds growing vegetables behind the house add to the charm of the property. On the other side of the trail, breaks in the trees allow for views of the ocean and the cliffs to the south.
Lighthouse keeper’s house turned B&B
Just past the B&B, there is a little picnic area. It’s worth taking a minute to admire the small cove to the west framed by the cliffs of Heceta Head and sea stacks off Cape Cove Beach, including the aptly-named Conical Rock. Look for wildflowers amongst the grasses here in spring.
Views of the small cove on the way to the lighthouse
From here, it’s not far to reach the lighthouse. Continue steadily uphill for about 0.25 miles and you’re there. While majestic and imposing from a distance, the weathered red and white Heceta Head Lighthouse is a friendly sight up close. Constructed in 1894, the 56-foot lighthouse has the distinction of being the brightest in Oregon.
Heceta Head Lighthouse
Surrounding the lighthouse are some of the best views on the Oregon Coast. You can admire the rugged coastline to the south, see diminutive Cape Creek flow under the Cape Creek Bridge into the Pacific, and watch for whales in the distance. The cliffs and sea stacks around the lighthouse are promising places to see birds.
Views from the Heceta Head Lighthouse grounds
From here, you can head back down the hill or keep hiking. Just before the lighthouse, a set of stairs leads up the headland and toward Hobbit Beach. Even if you don’t do the longer hike out to Hobbit Beach, you can head up the stairs to see the lighthouse and its Fresnel lens from above.
Entrance to Hobbit Beach
Continue to Hobbit Beach
Distance: 5 miles out and back (total)
Elevation gain: 1000 feet
Difficulty: Moderate
Pass required: Oregon State Park Pass to begin at Cape Cove Beach. No pass is required to start at the Hobbit Beach Trailhead.
Dog friendly: Yes, leashed dogs are welcome on the trails and the beach.
ADA access: No
Just before Heceta Head Lighthouse, there is a set of stairs that begin a trail to Hobbit Beach. Soon after climbing the stairs, you’ll see a viewpoint overlooking the lens of the lighthouse and the ocean behind it. From here, you’ll walk through a coastal forest that leads down to quiet and secluded Hobbit Beach. In late spring, look for wild rhododendrons blooming in the woods.
The entrance to Hobbit Beach is one of the most unforgettable on the Oregon Coast. The narrow path just before the beach has walls of earth supported by tree roots that form a sort of tunnel. Moss carpets the tops of these walls, which beachgoers have decorated with shells. A low, thick Sitka spruce canopy covers this tunnel to the beach, making you feel like a hobbit on an adventure as you journey through it.
Hobbit Beach
Hobbit Beach is one of the Oregon Coast’s hidden gems. Expect to see a lot fewer people here than at Cape Cove. Looking south, you’ll see the basaltic headland of Heceta Head. At low tide, you can find intertidal critters here on the rocks at the base of the headland.
A rock in the middle of Hobbit Beach is covered with intertidal life
Walking north, you’ll be able to admire the patterns and contours of the sandstone cliffs along the beach. Look for a wide, low rock formation in the middle of the sandy beach at low tide. It has some excellent tidepools and you can see clams, barnacles, and aggregating anemones here. Take your time at the beach. The hike back is a long trek uphill. Look for a yellow sign with marker 93 on it to return to the Hobbit Trail.
Short-cut option: You can see both Heceta Head Lighthouse and Hobbit Beach with less hiking if you do two short hikes starting from different trailheads. First, start at Cape Cove and hike up to the lighthouse. Then, drive north on Highway 101 to the Hobbit Beach Trailhead and take the 0.5-mile trail to the beach. Unlike the parking lot at Cape Cove, the trailhead parking for Hobbit Beach is a small, non-descript lot on the east side of Highway 101 without amenities. The trailhead will be just across the highway from the parking area. The total distance is about 2 miles if you do both short hikes.
Brandt’s cormorants at Heceta Head Scenic Viewpoint
Wildlife at Heceta Head
The beaches and cliffs around Heceta Head Lighthouse are some of the best places on the Oregon Coast to watch for birds. Look for common murres, cormorants, pelicans, marbled murrelets, bald eagles, vultures, and gulls among others in the sky and on the rocks. Small black and white penguin-like common murres nest on the bare rock around the lighthouse. Take a look over the fence to see if they are nesting there in late spring and summer. You may also see Brandt’s cormorants nesting from around April until August. You can spot these birds by looking for their distinctive blue throats during the breeding season.
Vulture circles over the waves of Cape Cove
Besides birds, the viewpoint at Heceta Head Lighthouse is a great place to watch for seals, sea lions, and whales. Look for seals and sea lions on the rocks and out hunting in the waves year-round. The best times to see whales are during the gray whale migration seasons. Expect the winter migration from mid-December until mid-January and the spring migration from late March through May.
Aggregating anemones at Hobbit Beach
If you visit at medium to low tide, Cape Cove Beach and Hobbit Beach are both good tide pooling spots. Check out the rocky areas on either end of Cape Cove Beach to find intertidal life like clams, crabs, barnacles, sea stars, and anemones. The north side of the beach also has a few small sea caves.
Yachats Basalt at Heceta Head Lighthouse State Scenic Viewpoint
Geology of Heceta Head
Like almost all the headlands on the Oregon Coast, Heceta Head is made of basalt. While it looks a lot like the basaltic headlands to the north, its geologic story is very different. Much of the basalt that covers large parts of Oregon including the northern Oregon Coast came from far-traveled lava flows around 14-16 million years ago. The basalt that forms Heceta Head, known as Yachats Basalt, is much older, around 37 million years old, and erupted locally from a volcano present near the coast at the time.
Millions of years of erosion and uplift from ongoing tectonic activity contribute to the appearance of the headland today. Yachats Basalt is present on the small stretch of the Oregon Coast starting from around the town of Yachats until a few miles south of Heceta Head. It is the same type of rock that forms the impressive features of Cape Perpetua to the north.
A seagull and I admire Heceta Head Lighthouse from the highway pull-off viewpoint
Getting there
Heceta Head Lighthouse is on the Central Oregon Coast about 20 minutes north of Florence and 20 minutes south of Yachats. From Highway 101, look for signs pointing the way to the lighthouse parking lot. The drive from Portland takes about 3-3.5 hours.
Enjoy your trip to Heceta Head Lighthouse!
With love,
Emma
Explore nearby
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References
Muerdter, David. "A Yachats Volcano? Understanding the Geology of the Cape Perpetua Area." YouTube, uploaded by Cape Perpetua Collaborative, 19 Aug. 2020, capeperpetuacollaborative.org/replay-yachats-volcano/.
Miller, Marli Bryant. Roadside Geology of Oregon. Missoula, Montana: Mountain Press Publishing Company, 2014.
