Neskowin Ghost Forest on the Oregon Coast

Transcript

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This is The Connection, a Dirty Freehub podcast connecting gravel cyclists to where they ride through short stories about culture, history, people, places, and lands.

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I’m Benjamin Purper and today we’re talking about a strange and fascinating landmark on the Oregon coast, the Neskowin Ghost Forest. It’s a cluster of ancient preserved trees whose stumps stick right out of the sand, but only if you visit them at the right time. I’m here with Ryan Parker, a beach ranger with the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, who’s here to share the story behind this fascinating ghost forest. So first of all, what is the ghost forest? How was it formed?

Ryan Parker – Oregon Parks and Recreation

There was a big Cascadia earthquake event in 1700. We know that happened because there’s evidence Mount Hood erupted that same year on the south side of Crater Rock. There was a small eruption. Indigenous peoples have auditory history passed down that the whole coastline from Northern Vancouver Island and Northern California shifted and subsided. What happened to the ghost forest was Basically, all the large canopy spruce trees and sicca spruces just sank in that subsistence. And based on some of the stuff USGS has done that I’ve seen, basically the whole forest sank into the substrate. And so there was a big subsistence event that is common in earthquakes where there’s a plate going under the North American plate caused the wetlands and coastal forests to sink in earthquakes. In sandy soils, it’s liquefaction. And then in firmer soils with bedrock, it’s called subsistence. Those trees were immersed in seawater after the tsunami occurred. And slowly they were covered in ocean sediments, sands and silts, generally preserved from the stump up to the upper trunk. The tops likely broke off or rotted away. So what the ghost forest trees that we see now in the year 2024, essentially they’re the intertidal parts of each tree stump covered in marine organisms. And they look like little black stumps, small communities of acorn barnacles and mussels. Below that, in the wet sand, not exposed to air, the trees are generally preserved. And so there’s hundreds of them out there. but the winter storm tides will expose the remaining trees and so the best time to see what’s left is winter and spring generally or in windier summers when the summer windblown sands that are on the beach get blown away and you can see the bases of them. But generally, people will see two to four foot high biofouled stumps with marine organisms in the intertidal. They don’t persist back to the upper beach because those stumps are buried and out of view. And there’s a lot of wider, knottier stumps here in Lincoln County that are left over from that as well. But those are in the upper beach and so those don’t get biofouled because they’re out of the general tidal zone. For Neskowin, it’s most of the tree trunks you see. In summer, when the sand levels are highest, you find 10 to 20 feet of sand on sand spits where the geology is more dynamic and moves around a lot. And then like on more stable portions of the beach that are overwashed in every tide cycle, probably about 10 feet, is the maximum sand accumulation in the summer that gets washed off, which is why you see a lot more gravel and rocky beach segments on the Oregon coast in the winter. And that sand is swept off by wave activity, rainfall, and storm water. It goes into the shoal. And then when the spring happens, the waves push that sand back up onto the beach and nourish it for the summer. It’s sort of a big cycle. That’s why it’s easier to see the ghost forest in late winter, early spring. It’s usually the peak exposure.

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How close can people get? Can you walk right up to them?

Ryan Parker – Oregon Parks and Recreation

They can walk amongst them at lower tides, remembering that, of course, you want to check your tide tables. And when there’s a winter minus tide. It’s pretty much impossible to cross Neskowin Creek. Most of the ghost forest is west of a private community they call South Beach or south side of Neskowin Creek there. And there isn’t a public access over there, but you can get permission from a landowner that lives over there if you know someone. But there are no ghost forest stumps that tend to get exposed on the north side of Neskowin Creek. because the creek is more like a river. It acts like a river. The flow is high, drains a pretty substantial part of the coast range in northern Lincoln County and cascade head drainage of southern Children’s County.

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So what should people know about walking out among them? Should they not touch them? Is there any other safety stuff they should know?

Ryan Parker – Oregon Parks and Recreation

It’s in the under title. Watch out for sneaker waves and quicksand, which happens occasionally out there in the lower beach that’s not exposed very much. Usually February is the peak, February-March is a good time. The ocean dynamic, and it varies from tide cycle to tide cycle. Right now there’s a trough in Eskimo Beach that’s three miles long where the ocean came up in a high August tide and made a channel. The ocean’s very unpredictable. I was out there yesterday removing a derelict fishing net. There were maybe 10 ghost stumps exposed at the top. It’s right next to Proposal Rock. So no matter when you go, you’re going to enjoy a wonderful view and a very interesting hydrological situation because there’s three creeks that feed into Neskowin Creek, just east of the beach. Hot Creek drains a portion of Neskowin National Wildlife Refuge. where they’ve been doing a very successful salmon restoration project on Hawk Creek, where it goes into an area that’s known to produce coho smolts. So there’s a lot going on that’s really cool if you’re a nature geek like myself. Neskowin’s a really cool place for a lot of reasons. It’s a short walk to the beach for people with mobility issues. They have a paved trail along Hawk Creek from a parking lot. And there’s the salmon restoration project and an egress for a tsunami evac. Um, that community is unincorporated in the Southern edge of Tillamook County. So there’s their own little world. Makes sense. US Fish and Wildlife Service has a bunch of public areas up there where they’re doing some great, really cool meadow restorations for butterfly habitat and pollinator refuge, you could say. And that’s Nostaka Bay there off Christensen Road. People can park at the upper lower trailheads there. And there’s some picnic facilities and a great, great view of Canadian geese that overwinter there. Southern Tillamook County is a nature lover’s paradise for sure. And the Ghost Forest is just sort of one great attraction that is sort of whack-a-mole when it comes to when you can see it because of the dynamics of the beach. But it is great and a gift to be able to see them all. It’s really cool. It’s hard to think there was a 9.0 earthquake in 1700, but emergent science has helped us prepare for if that were to happen again in our lifetimes. So it’s like a living history book.

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Is there anything else that you want to add or talk about?

Ryan Parker – Oregon Parks and Recreation

Oregon State Parks appreciates the interest in our natural resources that we’re lucky to manage and preserve for future generations. When you’re out enjoying the ocean shore and mature forests, appreciate what you’re seeing and take the long view of natural resources and how important they are for oceanic systems. And, you know, a former district manager for us would always say that Oregon State Parks is in the memory business. And a family photo with the ghost forest is certainly one of those great family memories you could enjoy. Just as going to the Stucco Bay and appreciating all that U.S. Fish and Wildlife does for Americans generally, and Oregon specifically, the central, north-central coast of Oregon are chock full of amazing experiences. There’s so many great things you can do. And you know, if people want to find out more, they can check our website, OregonStateParks.org. We’d be happy to help plan an adventure and be a resource for people that, you know, want to volunteer or look into other natural resource conservations.

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We’d love to help. All right, Ryan Parker. Thanks so much. Appreciate it. Have a great day.

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