Video: Oregon Coast's Yaquina Head Natural Outstanding Area, Newport

Published 07/14/2017 at 8:04 PM PDT - Updated 07/14/2017 at 9:05 PM PDT
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Newport, Oregon) – Wandering Newport's Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area is one of the most memorable pleasures of the Oregon coast, coming with a lighthouse, stretches of crazy wave action, trails, sea life, and a variety of rock structures.

Hence this video from Oregon Coast Beach Connection, which shows various aspects of the beloved headland.

Yaquina Head is at least 14 million years old, with its foundation created by lava flows that came as far away as near the present Oregon – Idaho border. Scientists – via archaeology and geology – have revealed that local tribes have lived here for thousands of years. As far back as five thousand years ago, the area was covered in massive dunes and the tide much farther out, they discovered.

Starting with sights at the lighthouse, this ancient beauty is now the oldest still-operating lighthouse on the Oregon coast, first lit in 1873. Just three years before that, the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse was in charge of keeping ships out of trouble. This new construct, towering at 93 feet tall, did a better job, leaving the bay lighthouse only in existence for three years.

On the southern face of this Oregon coast landmark, the video shows glimpses of Cobble Beach, an oddity among beaches on this entire coastline with its large rounded stones that rattle in the tide (nicknamed “magic rocks.”) The video shows some of that area at what is an exceptionally high sand level event, which creates what looks like an incredibly low tide.

It's not. Sand levels are so high they simply keep the tide out much farther than usual, which here has allowed you to glimpse even more of the strange, blackened and jagged rocks normally covered by the ocean.

From there, you also glimpse scenes from Yaquina Head's tiny, rugged coves. Such as at the tip, where special public telescopes help you look for whales, birds and other striking sights. In winter, waves are spectacular here as they wallop the massive structures with ferocity.

You also see the wild and wanton coves of the northern face, which feature tiny, mesmerizing beaches – but you can't ever visit them. This somehow makes them all the more curious.

Quarry Cove is also shown. This was a kind of experiment at first, to see how letting the tide into an old rock quarry would change the landscape, and how sea life would work to claim it. It's been fascinating to watch since the early '90s, as it's now taken over by sand, seals, sea lions, birds and some colonies of tide pool critters. Newport Oregon Hotels in this area - Where to eat - Maps and Virtual Tours

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