Cape Lookout Hike
From Portland Hikers Field Guide
- Start point: Cape Lookout Trailhead
- End point: Cape Lookout
- Trail Log: Trail Log
- Hike Type: Out and Back
- Distance: 5.2 miles round trip
- Elevation gain: 450 feet
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Seasons: All year
- Family Friendly: Yes, but the trail is near steep cliffs at the end of the hike
- Backpackable: No
- Crowded: Sometimes
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Hike Description
Cape Lookout is the best spot on the coast for whale watching (without getting in a boat). As the migrating gray whales parallel the shoreline in fall and spring, they need to detour around this 2 mile long peninsula that juts westward into the Pacific Ocean.
Start at the Cape Lookout Trailhead and hike westward through a lush old-growth forest. At a trail junction a few feet from the lot, continue straight ahead. The massive trees here are Sitka Spruce, whose thick limbs are laden with moss and huge primeval ferns. These northwest maritime trees grow only in a narrow strip on the Pacific coast from Alaska to southern Oregon.
The trail is slightly downhill, and often muddy with occasional boardwalks to span the worst sections. After about half of a mile of hiking, you will come out of the trees for a view south near the site of a B-17 bomber that crashed here in 1943. There are reports that some of the plane fuselage is still present in the area, but the underbrush is so impenetrable, it would be very difficult to find. A plaque set in a boulder along the trail records the event. You will re-enter the forest for most of the remainder of the hike until you emerge near the tip of the cape. Hold onto the little ones when you come out of the trees, as you will be walking along the sheer southern cliffs that plunge almost straight down into the ocean 400 feet below. There is a bench and an open area at the tip for enjoying your perch. Return the way you came.
Maps
- Maps: Hike Finder
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Cape Lookout Hike
- 9/10/06 Trip Report by Jane
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Cape Lookout Hike
- (Click here to ask a question or start a conversation)
Guidebooks that cover this hike
- 100 Hikes on the Oregon Coast by William L. Sullivan
- Hiking Oregon's Geology by Ellen Morris Bishop
More Links
Contributors
- CFM (creator)