Depoe Bay Scenic View Area a Stunning, Even Vibrating, Oregon Coast Wild Spot

Published 03/06/2019 at 5:23 AM PDT
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Depoe Bay, Oregon) – Sometimes the best beaches of the Oregon coast are not beaches at all, but large tracts of jagged and blackened rocks that hug the shoreline and cause the waves to crash against them with neverending intensity. No soft sands and lapping breakers. No, in these cases the most spectacular of sights are found where the surf is loud and the beach a primitive, stark construct that’s hard as – well, as rock.

The wild and weird bubble basalts at Depoe Bay are a prime example, and an incredible display of this can be found at Depoe Bay Scenic View Area. It is for all intents and purposes a hidden spot – one that’s tucked away behind a bundle of neighborhood streets. It yields a vast array of freaky finds in terms of rocky landscape shapes and crazed wave action, making for one of the more truly memorable spots along the entire Oregon coast.

Though technically named Depoe Bay Scenic View Area, it’s also known as North Point, a kind of bookend to Depoe’s formidable array of cliff discoveries. At the opposite border of the town lies South Point, another neighborhood hidden spot, but this time with smoother, more sweeping lines.

At Depoe Bay Scenic View Area, there’s a tiny parking spot with an even tinier sign: all behind a grouping of homes found around the northern edge of town. Look for Vista Avenue or Sunset Avenue.

At its southern end, a long, rounded leg-like shape meanders and juts out into the sea, half the time allowing you the opportunity to wander out beyond the main body of this headland. Here, strange plants cling to the smooth surfaces closer to the water, and a large crevice or two results in the sea squirting surprises at you. The other half of the time, the waves are too high to tread this section, and a constant mist sprays across the rocky blobs that would normally allow you entrance.

Remember that long arm-like rock structure that seems to guard Depoe Bay from a distance? This is it.

On more intense days, you can sometimes feel the waves resonate through the rocks here. This is an unforgettable kind of vibration that always causes a dropping of the jaw.

In one spot, there's almost a "sunken room" area, formed by a large indentation in the rock - pictured here. Some parts of the rock even look like steps going and in and out of those place about five feet deep. It's trippy, as if some ancient culture lived here once and had created buildings with basements.

Nearby, the rocks form a roundish area that somewhat resembles a miniature Stonehenge structure (laughably bringing to mind that scene from the "Spinal Tap" movie with the accidentally small Stonehenge stage set).

This isn’t the place to be when it’s stormy, or even that windy, being a small headland. It’s also not the place to take kids – ever. They might dart off towards the plunging cliff and disappear. Dogs probably aren’t a good idea here, either. But you’ll find the picnic bench or two, the wild waves that never give up, and yes the whales sometimes come up close to check you out – all of it an incredible experience that will stick with you.

There's much more information on this spot in the Depoe Bay book, and the Depoe Bay Virtual Tour. - Lodgings in Depoe Bay - Where to eat

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