In 1806, Captain William Clark and 12 members of the Corps of Discovery traveled through the park in search of a beached whale near present-day Cannon Beach. After scaling the north slope of Tillamook Head and reaching one of its viewpoints, Clark described the vista as “… the grandest and most pleasing prospects which my eyes ever surveyed…” It was then that Clark and the other members of the expedition viewed burial canoes of the Kilamox (Tillamook) Indians. The present-day park falls within Tillamook’s ancestral lands and archaeological sites nearly 1,000 years old have been found.

This will be your best view of Terrible Tilly (Tillamook Rock Light), 1.2 miles in the distance. The construction of the lighthouse was commissioned in 1878 by the United States Congress and took more than 500 days to complete. Tillamook Rock Light was officially lit on January 21, 1881. At the time, it was the most expensive lighthouse to be built on the West Coast. Due to the local erratic weather conditions and the dangerous commute for both keepers and suppliers, the lighthouse earned the nickname “Terrible Tilly” (or “Tillie”). Over the years, storms and the sea have damaged the structure, shattered the lens, and eroded the rock. The light was decommissioned in 1957, and has since been sold several times to private buyers. It remains privately owned today.

The sightseeing continues with another chance to stop and take in the beauty of the rugged and rocky Oregon coast and its beaches. Keep an eye out for surfers hoping to catch the next big wave, migrating gray whales, or bald eagles patrolling in the sky above.

The Tareen Filgas Foundation’s mission is to protect birds and their habitat. Destruction of native habitat and the introduction of invasive plant species has resulted in decreased numbers of native birds, such as the endangered Snowy Plover (less than 2,000 breeding plovers remain in the Pacific coast population). In combination with the Audubon Society, the foundation has established and funded “Plover Patrol” for the North Coast to monitor Snowy Plover nesting sights and populations. Please respect the sensitivity of these natural areas and the mission of the foundation and stay on the designated route.

Time for a change-up on viewpoint scenery! These views sweep to the east and south, showing off the undulations of the Oregon Coast Range.

The Oregon Coast Range is divided into three separate sections: North, Central, and South. Where you will be riding is part of the northern section. It is the younger of the three sections, formed during the Eocene age some 40 million years ago. Due to its geological makeup, it is hypothesized that some portions of the northern range were in fact islands during parts of the Eocene age. Can you imagine all of the land before you under an ocean save for those taller peaks?

Folklore has it that “Klootchy” is the misspelled and mispronounced name of Antoine Cloutrie, a timber cruiser (a person who measurers forest stands for such things as average tree sizes, volume, and quality) from the late 1800’s. Klootchy is now the name of a creek that runs into the Necanicum River.

The park was once home to a giant Sitka spruce measuring 200 feet tall with a 17-foot diameter and a circumference of 56 feet. The spruce was officially the largest tree in Oregon and one of the largest trees of its species in the country before a windstorm finally destroyed it in 2007. Today, the park is now a gateway for the new Klootchy Creek mountain bike trail system.

The Necanicum watershed supports the endangered coho salmon, coastal cutthroat and steelhead, as well as a handful of other fish species, such as sculpin, flounder and perch.

Unfortunately, “human activities such as timber harvesting, mining, water withdrawals, livestock grazing, road construction, stream channelization, diking of wetlands, and urbanization have damaged this critical habitat. As such, the coho numbers are quite small. Surveys from 1990 to 2000 indicate that only about 600 fish now use the river. Coho salmon prefer streams with a high degree of structural complexity, including the presence of large woods, flood plains, braided channels, beaver ponds, and occasionally lakes.” [Wikipedia]

Efforts to reestablish the native habitat are underway along some portions of the watershed. To learn more about these efforts, visit The North Coast Land Conservancy or the Necanicum Watershed Council.

This section is privately owned and managed for its timber production by Lewis & Clark Timberlands/Nuveen Natural Capital. As of 2019, Lewis & Clark Timberlands own ~140,000 acres of Clatsop County forest and their property taxes contribute $1 million towards county services. Overall, the timber industry represents 1/3 of the economy in Clatsop County.

As this is active timberland, you will see clear cuts of varying ages along this route. To learn more about logging, including alternatives to clear-cutting visit Timberland Advisors or Ask a Forester.

You are now riding through the source of drinking water for Cannon Beach!

In 1999, the community of Cannon Beach purchased 120 acres of the Ecola Creek Watershed to protect the land, water, and wildlife habitat there. The property included three-quarters of a mile of Ecola Creek frontage within a diverse forest of spruce, alder, hemlock and cedar, including a remnant of old-growth rainforest where several western red cedars are estimated to be more than 350 years old. With further purchases, Ecola Creek Forest Reserve now totals 1,040 contiguous acres of forest.”