Florence's Cliffs

The Cliffs Beyond Florence

Thirteen miles of sea cliffs stretch up the coast from Florence, starting nine miles north of town center. Here the Coast Range plunges straight down into the Pacific, forming cliffs eight hundred feet high. US 101 is cut into a shelf along the entire length, giving frequent stunning views. There are four major sections of these cliffs.

• Sea Lion Cliffs. The first section up the coast from Florence has no recognized name; I've titled it after Sea Lion Caves, a popular attraction along it. It starts where the Oregon Dunes end.
• Heceta Head. This famous and popular spot features a lighthouse by a sand beach, hemmed in by shear cliffs.
• Neptune Cliffs. Another section without a recognized name, I've titled it after Neptune State Park, a large property with many viewpoints.
• Cape Perpetua. This is the tallest and best developed of the four sections, with a visitors center, a drive to a mountain-top vista, and steps down the cliffs to the beaches.

Built in 1894, the 56 foot tall Heceta (pronounced heh-SEE-tuh) Head Lighthouse sits atop a 200 foot cliff, directly above a white sand beach. Sheer rock cliffs flank the beach and sea stacks rise up from the waters; the cliffs beneath the lighthouse extend into the ocean like so many sharks teeth. It's a state park, accessible from US 101.

US 101 does not, however, run down to the lighthouse or its beach. Instead it plunges through a tunnel then flies right over the beach on a massive arched concrete viaduct. Add in the costs of cutting the highway into the cliffs and you get the "half million dollar mile", in the 1930s one of the most expensive highway projects in America. The turnoff to Heceta Head is on your right as you go up the coast. The access road turns downward, goes under the US 101 bridge, and comes right up to the beach. The lighthouse is a quarter mile walk gently uphill.

Noted English explorer Captain James Cook was the first European to visit Cape Perpetua, in 1778, and named it for St. Perpetua, a Third Century martyr. It's an 800 foot tall forested headland, the steepest such along this stretch of highway. The Siuslaw National Forest manages it as a scenic area and has built a visitors center, a network of hiking paths, and a number of boardwalks and steps leading to the ocean.