Poking Around Beneath an Oregon Coast Lighthouse

Published 12/07/2010

(Florence, Oregon) - Heceta Head, just north of Florence, boasts what is often called "the most photographed lighthouse in the world." Beneath it lay a whole bevy of beachy wonders, including a nifty secret cave. There’s more to this place than that lovely lighthouse – a lot more.

Secret beach full of critters near Heceta Head

While no one really knows what is the most frequently photographed lighthouse on this planet, there’s little doubt this one is especially photogenic. It’s often viewed from the overlooks a few miles south, around MP 179 and 178, where you can also peek down at a crazed wilderness of secret beaches inaccessible to Man, and the hordes of sea lions that have formed a colony in this area.

The park that allows access to the lighthouse is called Devil’s Elbow State Park. Ironically, this was the site of a bad horror film made in this area in the 80’s, which among other locations featured this beach. It also had a name of “Devil’s Beach” or something similar in the flick.

The beach itself is rather small and cove-like, with Cape Creek cutting through part of it. From some angles, if you exclude the headland from view, the three sea stacks jutting out from the headland make the place easily mistaken for Oceanside, to the north.

An interesting note about the headland and those sea stacks is the first rock structure and the headland were actually connected. Somewhere in the early part of the century, state officials became concerned about the alarming frequency of people who got in trouble traipsing around this area between the first structure and the point. The area was eventually blasted with dynamite to disconnect the two structures and keep people from getting stranded and hurt.

Bounce around the tideline, close to the edge of the headland, and given the right tidal conditions, a fascinating cave becomes apparent. It’s not very big, but intriguing. But most of all, if the tide is anywhere near it, you don’t want to venture in, as ocean waves frequently wash into the sea cave.

Sea stacks near the edge of the headland, along with a mystical imprint leftover by humans

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