Hiking the Oregon Coast Trail -- Getting to 300 miles the hard way

1 July 2020

With summer here, we headed to the coast with Katie for a planned hike along the Oregon Coast Trail (OCT).  The key word in that sentence is "planned".  Things don't always work out as planned, even when hiking.

Time to hike some of the Oregon Coast Trail

Our original plan was to hike from the Whaleshead Beach Day Use Area south to the Lone Ranch Beach Day Use Area and back - a nice 10.4 mile hike along the coast.  After parking at the upper trailhead at Whaleshead Beach, we hiked the OCT connector trail down to the day use area.  Since no one has been maintaining the OCT, at least half of this short hike was in grasses and bushes up to our chest - couldn't even see Katie half the time.  We did emerge from the jungle at the day use area but that should have been a warning sign to us of things to come.

View of Whaleshead Beach - Whaleshead rock is to the right

The next 1.2 miles of the OCT is a hike along the Whaleshead Beach which today was very windy even at 10:00 am.  It was still very beautiful and we enjoyed the sound and sight of the ocean.  After about 1.2 miles the beach comes to an end due to rocks and the OCT heads uphill to the ridges above the beach.  However, that portion of the trail had been wiped out by rains or a landslide.  There was an improvised faint trail heading up (and we do mean up) so we attempted this faint trail but it became a very dangerous situation for man, woman and dog. Rather than risk body and limb, we slowly decended back to the safety of the beach.

The OCT trail is just right of center as it heads up the ridge - very steep

Memorial at the House Rock Viewpoint

House Rock - actually looks more like a house from the beach area.

Ok, so part 1 of our hiking plan failed.  We hiked back along the windy beach (now hiking into the wind)  and back to our car (not along the connector trail) via a gravel road.  We then drove south to the House Rock Viewpoint and decided to hike the OCT south from there to Lone Ranch Beach.   This worked for about a mile when the unmaintained and faint trail pretty much disappeared.  We could have scouted around and maybe picked up the trail, but we didn't want to become the 6 o'clock news "missing hiker" story, so we once again turned around and found our way back to the viewpoint and car.  So part 2 of our hiking plan failed.

View at Lone Ranch Beach

Coastal Daisy

More beautiful coastal flowers

Panorama of Lone Ranch Beach

So it was time for the final "safe" option of driving to Harris Beach State Park where we hiked the Sunset Point trail, through the campground, and along the connector trail to the day use area.  The ocean and beach were beautiful and we took time to sit on a few benches along the trail and just enjoy the sights and sounds of Oregon's beautiful coast.

Glenn and Katie enjoing the view along the Sunset Point Trail

View from bench on Sunset Point Trail

View of South Beach at Harris Beach SP

Even though our day did not go as planned, we still enjoyed seeing the coast and got in 8 miles of hiking anyway which put us over the 300 mile mark for the year - the hard way.

Trekking Together
Glenn and Carol

Oregon Coast Trail: Whalehead Beach to Indian Sands

June 19, 2017

Since our recent camping trip was to Harris Beach State Park, we decided to do a couple of day hikes on the Oregon Coast Trail (OCT) in the Samuel Boardman State Park area.

Our first hike began at the Whalehead Beach Picnic Area which is accessed via a short rough gravel road from Highway 101.  We later realized that there is a parking area immediately off the highway that also allows access to the OCT.  The picnic area though is a nice place to begin and end the hike as there are tables with an ocean view, lots of beach to enjoy, and a bathroom facility.

Oregon Coast Trail

 From the parking area we began hiking the OCT uphill surrounded by high shrubs and crossed the access road.  We met and briefly talked with a hiker who had begun hiking the entire OCT a few days earlier and was taking a morning break to make entries in her journal.

Tiger Lily

Sticky Monkey

The OCT headed up through forested hills and made us feel like we were hiking in the Redwoods.  Large trees and many ferns lined our path along with some wildflowers like Tiger Lilies and a new wildflower to us, Sticky Monkey as the locals call them.  The name alone makes this flower a favorite!  We crossed over various small creeks and runoffs, some with waterfalls, and at one point hiked a short segment with a creek right next to the trail.  We stayed on the trail but Katie hiked the creek.

People trail to the left, Katie trail to the right.

We finally reached the junction with the trail from the Indian Sand parking area and continuing on the OCT reached Indian Sands.  One moment you are in wooded forests and then suddenly you are out in the open with deep sand.  This area was created by the erosion of the sandstone cliffs by wind and rain.

One of the original OCT markers

Indian Sands

OCT continuing past Indian Sands

We continued on past Indian Sands for a short distance to see a couple of beautiful coves and could have continued to the Thomas Creek Bridge, but instead we turned around and came back to Indian Sands for a break and to do some sightseeing. The clouds had been around during our forested hike, but once we arrived at Indian Sands the blue skies appeared and we enjoyed the views of the beautiful Oregon Coast.

Sea Fig

Arch rock at south end of Indian Sands (you can hike out on it)

Artwork on the sandstone cliff area

Our return trip was along the same trail but now views of the coast were enjoyed since the clouds were gone.  Once back at Whalehead Beach, we hiked down to get some pictures of Whalehead Rock.  We had hoped to hike along the beach area too, but the wind was in full force and hiking while being pelted by sand did not sound appealing.

Whalehead rock and beach

Our entire hike with some roaming at Indian Sands was just under 6 miles.  If you park at the Indian Sands parking lot, the hike is only a mile at most.  Either way, if you get the chance, be sure to check out this beautiful and unique area of the Oregon Coast.

Trekking Together
Glenn & Carol