Trip Report: Cape Kiwanda State Natural Area near Pacific City, OR
Pacific city is an awesome little town on the Oregon coast with cool hotels, camping, good surfing, and an incredible State Natural Area with sandstone cliffs and a great dune. I have spent lots of time at this place and I hold it close to my heart because of the incredible view from the end of Cape Kiwanda.
To access the Cape Kiwanda Natural Area, there is a large parking lot next to the Kiwanda hotel and pelican brewpub. Once on the beach, the sandstone cliffs are impossible to miss, protruding into the ocean. Hiking up the loose sand of the dune can be brutal but is a lot of fun to run and tumble down. If you’re not looking for a workout you can skip going up the tall section of the dune.
There is a fence that is there to keep you from adventuring to the end of the cape, this is there for good reason as over the years numerous curious adventurers have died from the sand breaking off under their feet. This is why it is very important while trekking out the end to move carefully and always stay a solid 5 feet away from the edge where it is unstable.
You will go up and down a few small hills and thru some patches of unusual foliage with exposed roots. Eventually, you will reach the end where you feel engulfed in the Pacific Ocean and separated from the bustling modern life going on right behind you. Take the time throughout your journey to look at how weather and time have shaped the cliffs and understand that the cape was much larger not too long ago and will be much smaller in due time. This to me is what makes this place so surreal, because every time I go, I notice a way that the path has changed, or the dune has eroded.
To access the Cape Kiwanda Natural Area, there is a large parking lot next to the Kiwanda hotel and pelican brewpub. Once on the beach, the sandstone cliffs are impossible to miss, protruding into the ocean. Hiking up the loose sand of the dune can be brutal but is a lot of fun to run and tumble down. If you’re not looking for a workout you can skip going up the tall section of the dune.
There is a fence that is there to keep you from adventuring to the end of the cape, this is there for good reason as over the years numerous curious adventurers have died from the sand breaking off under their feet. This is why it is very important while trekking out the end to move carefully and always stay a solid 5 feet away from the edge where it is unstable.
You will go up and down a few small hills and thru some patches of unusual foliage with exposed roots. Eventually, you will reach the end where you feel engulfed in the Pacific Ocean and separated from the bustling modern life going on right behind you. Take the time throughout your journey to look at how weather and time have shaped the cliffs and understand that the cape was much larger not too long ago and will be much smaller in due time. This to me is what makes this place so surreal, because every time I go, I notice a way that the path has changed, or the dune has eroded.