Curiosities of Yachats and Squirty Surprises, Oregon Coast; Video
Published 10/04/2019 at 4:53 AM PDT
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff
(Yachats, Oregon) – Down on the central Oregon coast, not far from that midpoint directly between Brookings and Astoria (namely Florence), Yachats is definitely one of the state's more stunning scenic vistas all wrapped up in one heck of a charmer of a village. Often a place populated by more upscale restaurants and shops – a culinary scene that fluctuates between domination by the haughty taughty and then a wide range of noshing prices – it still remains almost savagely rugged in scenery. No matter the degree of ritziness or downhome vibes in the bricks and mortars, it's the wild breakers and torrent of engaging finds that are the point.
It's no secret Yachats called the "Gem of the Oregon Coast." But the place has its secrets. There's more to this engaging area than meets the eye - even the eyes of many regulars. You need only spend a little more time poking around and you'll find a variety of interesting to oddball stuff: beach-oriented goodies that go well beyond Yachats' already steady supply of craggy, black rock sights and sites.
Much of these visual nuggets and curiosities are found along the 804 Trail. In the manmade realm, check out its funky buildings, often with a new age flavor to them. The trail has the bulk of these. One example is a stunning home made of glass, an ultra-modern construct that almost has a look akin to a secret CIA military installation. In another spot, a large home has contours and a general shape causes it to resemble a sailing ship of old, maybe even echoing a pirates theme of sorts while paradoxically still sleek. Next to it sits a small structure clearly meant as a frame for a wedding ceremony. Apparently, it's been there since the ‘90s or so and locals won't talk about its origins - a mysterious, secretive maneuver.
One of Yachats' highlights is its spouting horn, which sits not far away from all that. A crevice in the rocks here compresses the incoming waves, and if it's done just right the thing fires off in dramatic fashion. Sometimes it's just a couple feet worth of an oceanic squirt; others it's ten feet high or more. Most of the time it makes a remarkable hissing sound and then a serious of huge wallops as the ocean water hits the rocks.
Another smaller and arguably more trippy spouting horn sits at the southern edge of Yachats, tucked away along a bend at Ocean Road. There, it hisses too and tends to soak your gear with mist during most photographic attempts at capture – unless your lens is quite a ways away. This makes the town the only one on the Oregon coast with two spouting horns.
Another curiosity of Yachats is its holes: it's got a few in those rocks. Not crevices, per se, but actual holes where you can look down into other stuff. The most prominent sit at Yachats State Recreational Area, the main access behind downtown.
One awesome feature of the placid place missed its chance at viral stardom: a gargantuan log with a peculiar even anthropomorphic look. It could easily resemble a skull of some giant, mythical beast. The massive log had been on the 804 since at least the ‘90s, if not earlier. But one day a few years back it was swept away by storms – just a bit shy of the rise of Instagram. It made plenty of Facebook posts, however, before leaving town.
Perhaps one of the more obvious oddities of the central Oregon coast hotspot is its ruins. At the big access, you now see a destroyed concrete staircase, looking a little like parts of an old castle. Here, from about the late ‘80s through the early 2000s, a large stairway granted access to this chaotic shore. It too was torn apart by those infamous storm waves and eventually replaced by the more graceful, subtle stairs you now see. Hotels in Yachats - Where to eat - Yachats Maps and Virtual Tours
More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging.....
More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining.....
LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles
Back to Oregon Coast
Contact Advertise on BeachConnection.net
All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright BeachConnection.net Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted