Secrets of the Season

Family Fun Nightlife Frivolity Subscribe to BC news RSS Feeds Add BC news to YOUR site

Oregon Coast Lighthouses Celebrated with Special Tours All Month

Florence's Heceta Head Lighthouse

(Oregon Coast) – In an interesting proclamation by Governor Ted Kulongoski, August has been declared “Lighthouse Month” – more than just another slant on tourism, but also a way to pay reverence to the magnificent symbols Oregonians have grown up with.

It’s also a way to spotlight the need for donations for these much loved icons of the state.

Seven of Oregon’s lighthouses are open to the public, often holding special events that involve night tours or period garb: Cape Meares, Yaquina Head, Yaquina Bay and Heceta Head on the central coast; Umpqua River, Coquille River and Cape Blanco on the southern Oregon coast. Each will have its own schedule.

Yaquina Bay Ligthouse: it was only used for three years back in the 1860's

The northernmost lighthouse in the state – Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, just offshore from Seaside and Cannon Beach – is never open to the public as it is a bird refuge now and a place to house ashes of the dead.

But the others won’t remain so mysterious. Heceta Head Lighthouse (by Florence), Newport’s Yaquina Head Lighthouse and the Umpqua River Lighthouse on the south coast are offering night tours – something truly unusual, as these are never open at night.

Yaquina Head’s tours will be Thursday nights, gradually starting a little earlier each week as the sun goes down earlier. There, the men giving the tours will be dressed in 1870 lighthouse keepers' costumes, while the ladies will be in Victorian attire.

Cape Meares Lighthouse: at only 30 feet, it is the shortest on the coast

The next night tour at the Heceta Head Lighthouse happens September 1, starting at 9 p.m. At Yaquina Head, they begin around 7 p.m. on Thursdays, but will get earlier each week. They are free, although the state park day-use fees will be in effect (even though it’s actually at night).

The night tours at Heceta Head will spotlight navigation by the stars, and how seafarers made it in those early days without electronic help, radar, GPS – and even before the advent of lighthouses.

At Heceta Head, there will be guided tours, daily from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with the state park fee.

Special birding events will happen at Heceta Head, where the public can learn about sea birds. These go from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., August , 23, 24 and 25. There is a special birding walk at 10 a.m. on August 17.

Inside Yaquina Head Lighthouse

Self-guided tours can be found at Cape Meares Lighthouse (just west of Tillamook) and at Yaquina Head, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. At the home-like Yaquina Bay Lighthouse in Newport, the self-guided tours happen everyday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Visitors may receive lighthouse bumper stickers and other materials while visiting this month.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse, the tallest on the coast: it was recently refurbished to its original colors from around 1870

There may be a fee for the tours at some lighthouses, while those in the state park system will be charging day-use fees. All will accept donations, which the United States Lighthouse Society says is in great need these days. Coastal weather is hard on these ancient buildings, and they are in constant need of repair because of the harsh elements.

The USLS is asking the public to make donations at the lighthouses or through the society, but they prefer a direct gift to the lighthouses.

Three of the north coast’s four accessible lighthouses have rather intense ghost stories behind them, although the one at Yaquina Bay was in recent years discovered to have come from a fictional short story published locally in the early 1900’s.

Heceta Head is known for its tale of a female ghost who cleans up around the area and has befriended the family who runs the B&B there.

Yaquina Head Lighthouse, the tallest on the Oregon coast, had until recently a legend of a man who supposedly fell to his death on the spiral staircase, after a particularly heavy night’s drinking binge. His spirit was then said to haunt the lighthouse. But that one was debunked in the early part of this decade when a descendent of the man wrote the Bureau of Land Management and explained that he – named Higgins – actually moved to Portland eventually and died there of natural causes in the 30’s.

Visitors are asked to call ahead with each lighthouse and check on the schedule, and at times reserve a spot in a tour or event.

Cape Meares; (503) 842-2244; Yaquina Head; (541) 574-3100; Yaquina Bay; (541) 265-5679; Heceta Head: (541) 547 3416; Umpqua River: (541) 271-4631; Coquille River: (541) 347-2209; Cape Blanco; (541) 756-0100 or (541) 332-6774.

For more on Oregon coast lighthouses, including videos, see www.oregonlightsDVD.com

Inn at Cannon Beach. Beautifully wooded natural setting at quiet south end of Cannon Beach. Great during winter storms with a new book by the fireplace – or when the sun is out for family fun and beach strolling. Handsome beach cottage-style architecture. Lush flowering gardens and naturalized courtyard pond. Warm, inviting guest rooms. Continental buffet breakfast. Warm Cookies. Family and Pet Friendly. Welcome gifts. Smoke-free. Complimentary Wireless Connectivity. Wine and book signing events. 800-321-6304 or 503-436-9085. Hemlock At Surfcrest, Cannon Beach, Oregon. www.atcannonbeach.com.

RELATED STORIES

Prepare for Freaky, Creepy Mole Crabs on Oregon Coast Beaches The little critters make the tideline bubble and feel really weird as they run across your feet

Watching Transformations of Oregon Coast Beaches Seasons change and so do beaches, revealing different sides and a variety of eye-popping sights

Structures Found on Oregon Beach May Be 80,000 Years Old - They are the remnants of a forest apparently 80,000 years old, found at Hug Point

Day or Night Mysteries and Merriment on Oregon Coast It's more than just nightlife that comes to life, but the beaches offer major opportunities

Oregon Coast Travel Site Goes Wireless Provides Lodging Reports - Oregon Coast Beach Connection now has mobile lodging and dining listings, along with weekly lodging availability reports

CONTACT BEACH CONNECTION