Four Things You Never See on the Oregon Coast

Published 02/07/2012

(Oregon Coast) – Thanks to the miracle of optical technology – and the sneaky inventiveness of some Oregon coast regulars who know way too much about the area – there are hidden places along these beaches where you can spot some things not normally seen here. In fact, most have never seen the following tantalizing tidbits of the Oregon coast. (Above: seeing sea lions up close near the Sea Lion Caves, even though they're half a mile away and 300 feet below).

Looking to go where almost no Man has gone before on these beaches? Check out these four things never seen on the Oregon coast.

Sea Cave Revealed. Near Florence, everyone is aware of the Sea Lion Caves – an attraction filled with giant barking, roaring residents in a sea cave several hundred feet below the top of a basalt cliff. You take an elevator down to see these beasties, though they come pounding in from the surf through a giant hole in these cliffs.

Have you ever wondered what that sea cave looks like from the outside? There is a secret viewpoint where, with some optical aid, you can check it out. Look closely and you can see more of the sea lions perched just outside the cave entrance, which appears to be several stories high.

Favorite Beach Revealed. Also outside Florence, Baker Beach is one of the central Oregon coast's hotspots for hiking sandy dunes, miles of flat, sandy shoreline or for horseback riding. The main entrance to the beach is a vast tract of sand, with giant dunes sitting quite a ways away on either side of you. But from another secret, high vantage point, you can get an aerial view of this beachy wonder.

Cannon Beach Views Compressed. What if you could find a vantage point near Cannon Beach where you could see miles of major landmarks - seemingly disconnected - all aligned so that they were clumped together?

Such a place does exist, although Oregon Coast Beach Connection won't tell you where. This special viewpoint also requires use of a zoom lens to get these landmarks in such a position.

Here they are: the big rock of Silver Point is closest; the second sea stack is near Silver Point, which is part of those huge, majestic viewpoints just south of town. Cannon Beach's familiar Haystack is in the far distance, along with its “needles.” The bluff in the foreground is part of Hug Point.

Crazed Yachats Landmark Tamed. Down around Yachats, the big attraction is often Cape Perpetua and its manic Devil's Churn – both a tad south of town. Normally, this huge gash in the basalt channels the energy of the waves into a foamy, dangerous rage. It's known for largely being a constant cauldron of oceanic madness.

But at night, the long exposures required by the camera results in something you never see: the waves have become a soft blur, a gentle, hazy glow of white and blue. It's a bit ghostly, and in fact it is, to some degree, at least photographically, the ghosts of waves.

Add to this place and time of day the post-dusk afterglow that's left over by the day's sunset - visible to a camera for perhaps as long as an hour after the sun goes down – and you have this surreal, swirling scene at the Churn. The waves are still exploding in violent bursts of energy down there, and still making large booming noises as they come trampling in, one after the other. But with the shutter open for four minutes, all that's seen are these fuzzy forms – vague outlines of where the surf often hits.

The bright yellow trees – another really startling aspect to this scene – are the result of lighting from the parking lot above.

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