Special Ghost Tours of Heceta Head BnB Show Off Ectoplasmic Oregon Coast Lighthouse

Published 10/04/24 at 4:45 a.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Florence, Oregon) – Feel like a bit of ghostbusting – or ghost hunting – this season? How about doing so at a lighthouse on the Oregon coast. Perfect atmosphere: right?

Heceta Head Lightstation and its keepers quarters are showing off their otherworldly side on October 19, 20, 26 and 27, as the Heceta Lighthouse Bed & Breakfast hosts its Ghost Story Tours once again.

On those weekend dates, the tours go 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., with each tour accommodating only 15 people and taking about 20 – 30 minutes. Advanced reservations and a donation of $10 per person are required. $5 parking available at the Heceta Lighthouse State Scenic Viewpoint is available.

You'll hear guides telling you about the myriad haunted tales of the lighthouse keepers quarters, which go back decades now.

What stories? Good question – not even the organizers know, as one told Oregon Coast Beach Connection.

“I'm afraid I don't even know what the stories will be,” she said. “A few of our docents will lead the tour with stories from past guests and staff.”

Photo Neil Elfrink

There will be no parking available at the B&B. You'll have to walk up to the front porch of the Keeper’s House to check in upon arrival.

What is known is that the ghost here is apparently well regarded and has been for decades. She's known as the Gray Lady or Rue, often showing up as an elderly lady or a vague, smoke-like figure that quickly dissipates. Some long-ago tales claim she's the remnant of a secret grave nearby while others have it she is the mother of a baby whose grave sits close to the lighthouse.

Heceta Head Lighthouse is the only one on the Oregon coast that still has its keepers quarters, and it's the only lighthouse-affiliated building here where there's actual evidence of hauntings and not just marketing talk. Tales of ectoplasmic visitations are well known here and the family that runs the BnB saying it's a friendly ghost, and they even consider her part of the family.

Among the legends here is that Rue sometimes appears as a whisp of smoke, including having been seen walking up the steps in that smoke-like shape. Other tales include broken glass that was mysteriously swept into a neat little pile when no one there had actually done it.

Did you know there's a connection here to the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse off Seaside / Cannon Beach? The tale also involves the only time the lighthouse light went out. Surprisingly, One Man Connects Oregon Coast Lighthouses at Heceta Head, Terrible Tilly

Photo Neil Elfrink

Another one is an infamous incident where a group of men were working on the building, and one of them encountered the ghost and ran screaming from the house. Afterwards, he would not step foot in the famed Oregon coast construct.

What about touring the lighthouse itself? That doesn't really go on anymore. However, according to the Heaceta Head Lightstation's gift shop manager Kelly, the first floor of the lighthouse is open to the public from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. each – just like the gift shop and one of the oil houses.

Yet for many years now, the stairs going to the top is no longer open.

“They no longer allow anyone to go up the stairs due to some structural damage found on the free floating iron staircase,” she told Oregon Coast Beach Connection. “You are able to look up to the top from below but no one is allowed on the stairs.”

Email kelly@hecetalighthouse.com with any questions. Get tickets here

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Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast.

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