Yachats Area Tour

The quiet, unhurried atmosphere of this tiny ocean front resort village offers vacationers a peaceful retreat from the hustle of city life and a friendly alternative to the impersonal quality of a large coastal community.

The uncrowded beaches of the Yachats area are promising for agate and fossil hunting, birding, hiking and strolling, fishing, clamming, kite flying or picnicking. Its basalt headlands meet some of the most dramatic surf action in the world, attracting photographers and storm watchers, especially during the spectacular winter storms that arrive in December, January, and February.

Immediately south of town is  Cape Perpetua Scenic Area. Sites within the scenic area include Devil's Churn, Cook's Chasm, Spouting Horn, and Cape Perpetua Overlook, the highest point on the Oregon Coast. A short walk from the Overlook parking lot to the West Shelter viewpoint rewards the visitor with an unsurpassed panoramic ocean view. Built in the 1930s by stone masons of the CCC, the West Shelter viewpoint today provides an ideal location for whale watching. The U.S. Forest Service maintains the Cape's 26 miles of hiking trails through coastal mature and old growth rain forest, to breathtaking vistas, tidepools and the beach. The viewpoints and trails are open to the public year round. Some of the trails are wheelchair accessible, one is suitable for mountain biking, and all provide opportunities for birding. The Forest Service at Cape Perpetua also offers guided walks and operates a Visitors Center with natural and cultural history exhibits, an interactive children's corner, and a theater with nature films. For more information about guided walks and special Cape events, please visit the Events page of our web site. The Perpetua Center is now available for catered group events (20 to 100 people). For information, see our Group Facilities page.

Heceta Head Lighthouse signals to seafarers from atop a magnificent forested promontory just 14 miles south of Yachats. This working lighthouse, circa 1894, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is one of the most photographed lighthouses in the world. It is open for public tours Memorial Day through Labor Day and again in December when the beautiful Keepers' House is decorated for its annual Victorian Holiday Open House. Travel south an additional mile to visit Sea Lion Caves, home to hundreds of wild Stellar sea lions and the world's largest sea cave.

Enjoy a 9-mile scenic drive up the Yachats River Road and visit the historic North Fork of the Yachats Covered Bridge.  The bridge was built in 1938 with a Queenpost truss, one of the few of this type remaining in Oregon, and was faithfully restored in 1989. If you make this trip in the early morning or evening, you may also see elk grazing in the pasture land alongside the river... the elk serenely share this turf with local cattle and horses. Bicyclists enjoy riding this country road but must take care, as there are no bike lanes.

Back in town, find the historic Little Log Church Museum at the corner of W 3rd and Pontiac streets. Built by community volunteers with local timber hauled down the Yachats River, The Little Log Church was completed and dedicated in 1930. The church and property was sold to the Oregon Historical Society in 1969 when the congregation out grew this site. It became a museum in 1970 and was deeded to the city in 1986. The Little Log Church Museum houses settler exhibits, an extensive shell collection, and works of local artists and authors. It is staffed by volunteers and open to visitors daily except Thursday. The charming building is also available for rent to private parties for weddings and receptions. For information, please see our Group Facilities page.

Watch a sunset along the historic Yachats 804 Trail. This ocean front trail begins at Smelt Sands State Wayside and winds north 3/4 mile where it meets a 7-mile stretch of sandy beach. Along this wheelchair accessible trail, you find Sitka Spruce and Shore Pine forest, ocean front meadows, riparian and wetland areas, and a small pebble beach. There are benches and picnic tables. The trail has recently been extended one mile southward along the village coastline to the Yachats River. On the 804 Trail (South) is Yachats State Recreation Area, located at the west end of 2nd Street. This park offers an excellent view of the Cape, the big mouth of the little Yachats River, and the beautiful Yachats bay. The Yachats 804 Trail is part of former County Road 804, the route used for travel between Yachats and Waldport's Alsea Bay before Hwy 101 was built in the 1930s. Today this footpath provides great places for whale watching, tidepooling, birding and hiking and is part of the Oregon Coast Trail system.

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