Cape Kiwanda's Colossal Sand Dune: Wild Oregon Coast Rides and How It's Changing

Published 04/17/25 at 5:49 a.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Pacific City, Oregon) – Like a mix of Mad Max and a sports enthusiast's dream, one structure looms high over Pacific City. Really high. Dare to climb it and you'll slowly, achingly trudge up a couple hundred feet to the top of this sandy colossus, where ragged, wind-sheared coastal trees stand bare and look a bit post-apocalyptic.

Towering over Cape Kiwanda is perhaps the tallest structure to extend upward from any Oregon coast beach. The headland’s dune was measured by DOGAMI / State of Oregon geologists in 2009 and lidar records show it topping at 228 feet high (and with the canopy it can extend to 255 feet high). If you want to get real nerdy about it, much of Cape Kiwanda's ledges clock in around 44 feet off the sand.

Indeed, the Mad Max vibe may not be entirely far off: the lofty spot and the cape are falling apart at an ever-increasing rate. The science of this place - the southernmost cape along Oregon's Three Cape's Loop – is intriguing. See Cape Kiwanda, Oregon Coast: Complete Travel Guide, Hiking, Recreation, Safety, History

Kiwanda Tide Pools, Structures To Previous Tour Spot
To Next Tour Spot Top of Cape Kiwanda

From the top of Cape Kiwanda's dune, there's a special kind of recreational madness that takes hold here. It's a kick to watch.

There's plenty up here who simply stand in awe and reverence at the ocean vista. Yet there's likely just as many who engage in some sort of sand-sliding behavior. This can either be the simple act of sliding down on your butt to even rolling yourself down this gargantuan hill – though that probably can't be recommended. Some grab boards of various types and actually go “sandboarding” down that hill.

Lidar courtesy DOGAMI, showing top of Cape Kiwanda at 228 feet

That's what can be such a hoot to check out: many times it's something kind of makeshift they're zooming down on.

Who could resist that rocketing down that steep slope, anyway? It's the grind up those 228 feet that's leg cramp-inducing just thinking about.

The other big surprises of the Oregon coast landmark lie in its science and why the icon is crumbling.

First, all that sand comes from wind blowing it up here.

Back in 2023, a major sinkhole developed on the north end of Cape Kiwanda, and it quickly kept growing until more than one chasm developed. At that time, state geologists Laura Gabe and Jonathan Allan investigated and soon released a rather remarkable paper on it. Sinkhole Dangers Grow 

One of the first surprises you learn from that paper is for some two million years sand has been collecting on the cape and surrounding north coast, and Kiwanda used to be much larger. There was actually a time when it and Haystack Rock offshore were connected.

It seems some of the oldest sands are piled up here, according to Allan and Gabe.

The cape itself was formed over millions of years starting roughly 15 million years ago. Geology of an Oregon Coast Icon: Sweeping Cape Kiwanda

Chunks of Kiwanda have been falling off for decades, actually, caused by erosional waves and parts of it being undercut. Yet the rate is increasing a little, and even the dune may be going bye-bye.

Photo Kinney / Oregon Highway Division

Gabel and Alan pointed to a 1974 photo taken by Kinney/Oregon Highway Division which shows the tuft of vegetation in a thick, circular pattern at the top.

Fast forward:

Gabel's photo in 2011

“Since 1939, vegetation around central Cape Kiwanda decreased by ~66% from 4.6 to 1.6 hectares (11.5 to 3.9 acres),” Gabel and Alan wrote. “Conversely, vegetation at the far western end of Cape Kiwanda does not appear to have changed significantly over time.”

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