Superb state parks make the most of Oregon's coastal dreamscape

CANNON BEACH -- The place is steeped in Northwest history, jammed with things do -- hiking, surfing, fishing, crabbing, birding, biking -- and crammed with great places to stay.

But the thing about the Oregon Coast that stays with you are the seascapes -- the stunning convergence of endless surf crashing against time-worn sea stacks and rocky capes cloaked with wind-bent spruce trees.

Somehow just looking at them soothes the soul and fills you with wonder.

Has anyone ever visited here and not wanted to return?

"It's probably my favorite place, of any place I've ever been," says Phillip Chaney, a Portland resident by way of Missouri, who spent a recent morning surfing at Ecola State Park's Indian Beach. "It's very scenic. The people here are just genuinely nice people."

This coast is a busy but welcoming place, most of it easily accessible and, most fortunately, it is regularly punctuated by and protected as state park lands, and some of them are among the finest parks in the Northwest. On a recent trip to the north coast of Oregon, four state parks were visited, as well as two state recreation sites, and between them they offer a wide variety of things to do and see.

They're all good. But depending on your perspective, you might enjoy some more than others.

"It's sort of like asking which is my favorite child," says a diplomatic Oregon State Parks spokeswoman Jean Thompson. "Right now I personally love Ecola. We have this Clatsop Loop Trail we just opened. It has stunning, absolutely breathtaking views and new hikers' cabins. Hug Point, I hiked it recently on a minus tide and I was just dumbfounded by the tide pool life. It was just lovely."

MIKE URBAN / P-I

Connor Ghormley totes fellow Vancouver eighth-grader Leila Jungers past the 1906 wreck of the Peter Iredale during a school field trip to Fort Stevens. The state park's namesake fort was active through WWII.

Of the four state parks -- Fort Stevens, Ecola, Oswald West and Nehalem Bay -- Ecola is my personal favorite. It is the most pristine and dramatic, with stunning trails along most of its length, including a 5.5-mile stretch climbing historic and view-strewn Tillamook Head through classic old-growth Sitka spruce forest. Of all the beaches visited, my favorite would have to be Hug Point, a day-use site with one of the most quaint coves you'll ever see, replete with a waterfall and interesting caves in sandstone bluffs.

But the other spots are great in their own right: "Os-West" has a great surfing beach and fine trail to Cape Falcon; Nehalem Bay has a long white sand beach that's great for strolling, jogging or horse riding; Fort Stevens offers excellent biking, bird-watching and intriguing history, being the only spot in the lower 48 states to be shelled during World War II.

Here then, are snapshots of these fine parks.

Fort Stevens

MIKE URBAN / P-I

A dead sturgeon provides entertainment for Marcus DuPont, 14, and pals at Fort Stevens State Park.

Massive at 3,763 acres with more than 500 campsites (including yurts), this park encompasses Clatsop Spit at the mouth of the Columbia River and began life during the Civil War as an artillery fort that remained active through World War II. It never fired a shot in anger, even after it was shelled on June 21, 1942, by the Japanese submarine I-25; no damage was done.

Fort Stevens has more than four miles of broad, sandy ocean beach (some of which can be driven on, to the dismay of beach lovers), 10 miles of paved and popular bicycle trails, four miles of nature trails plus the entire spit that can be hiked, several intriguing artillery bunkers and a fine military museum. The birding also is excellent due to a mix of habitats, including ocean shore, bay shore, freshwater lake and marsh, dunes and extensive beach savannah. We saw red-tailed hawks, northern harriers, bald eagles, Caspian terns, brown pelicans, cormorants, gulls and savannah sparrows.

The north end of the Oregon Coast Trail begins here, too, with 16 miles of pure beach walking south of the trailhead.

Activities at Fort Stevens include hiking, biking, birding, fishing (fresh and saltwater), surfing (good breaks at times near the south jetty), beachcombing and just plain loafing around the campsite. Lots of anglers camp here during the salmon seasons on the Columbia River in August and September.

Plan to spend some time here because there is lots to do and see. Military buffs will enjoy the reenactments, including one on the Civil War July 16-17 and one on WWII over the Labor Day weekend.

Ecola State Park

MIKE URBAN / P-I

Eight miles of trails in Oregon's fantastic Ecola State Park offer breathtaking seascapes like this one looking south toward Cannon Beach.

Just north of busy Cannon Beach, 1,304-acre Ecola is simply one of the finest state parks in the Pacific Northwest. If you're a hiker, you MUST NOT MISS the park's eight miles of trail, broken into three stretches by two main parking areas, but all part of the coast trail. Here atop Tillamook Head almost 200 years ago the intrepid William Clark, traveling south from winter camp with Sacagawea and other party members, took in the view he later called "the grandest and most pleasing prospects which my eyes ever surveyed, in my frount a boundless Ocean ..."

The cap'n wasn't whistling Dixie. Seascape views from the trail, south past Haystack Rock to Cape Falcon, are mesmerizing, compelling. The forest here is magical, with spruce trees 6 or more feet in diameter with dramatic sweeping boughs, some bent and twisted by the wind. The birding is good here, too; we saw seven eagles soaring above head at once, plus winter wrens, Bohemian waxwings, a Wilson's warbler and dozens of cormorants, which nest on the offshore Sea Lion Rocks -- yes, we did see and hear sea lions, too.

The only camping here is in three log and cedar-shake shelters built along the coast trail that can be reached via a 1.5-mile hike from the Indian Beach parking area.

Only two beaches are accessible, Crescent and Indian, but they're beauties. Crescent requires a 1.4-mile hike, well worth it. Indian Beach is a short hop from the parking area and popular among surfers. The sunsets from here are said to be ideal for cuddling with your cutie.

Oswald West

Named for the visionary former Oregon governor, this is a happening, 2,484-acre park with a walk-in campground -- no RVs, no generators, no satellite dishes -- a beautiful crescent beach called Short Sand that's popular among surfers and two excellent trails. One passes through big spruce and at times dense understory of salal (look for the pretty purple-blue blossoms of the delicate Oregon iris, too) to Cape Falcon and fine sea views in 2.2 miles. This is a great spot to watch the sea swallow the sun -- as long as you allow some light for the hike back, or carry headlamps.

The other cool trail climbs 3.3 miles and 2,000 feet to the panoramic top of Neahkanie Mountain, where, legend holds, Spanish treasure is long buried. Both should be on the list of any avid hiker. Here the coast trail also dips inland to climb Neahkanie.

For those lacking the time or inclination to hike, three day-use recreation sites just north of Os-West are well worth a visit: the aforementioned Hug Point, and Arcadia and Tolovana beaches to the north. Hug Point may be the premier honey-hugging spot on the north Oregon Coast, very picturesque and romantic. And if you don't want to work out the calves and thighs, you can hike from Tolovana 3.3 miles south to Hug; avoid incoming and high tides because you need to round three headlands.

Nehalem Bay State Park

MIKE URBAN / P-I

On land and sea, curious harbor seals warily eye the photographer's approach at Nehalem Bay State Park.

Encompassing a two-mile-long natural sand spit just south of the arts community of Manzanita, this is a curious spot at 890 acres, with a big campground (265 hook-up sites, 18 yurts and horse camp with 18 primitive sites), an airstrip and broad white-sand ocean beach and a couple of more miles of bayside shore. Like Fort Stevens, it's way different than Os-West and Ecola, more developed and jammed with stuff to do.

There is said to be the wreck of a Spanish galleon buried here by time and sand, the source of the aforementioned treasure.

When the park was built in the late 1960s, opening in 1970, there was little vegetation, just sand. For a long time the park's nickname was "Sandblast State Park." It's much greener now, and activities include windsurfing on the ocean and the bay (depending on the wind), horse riding, birding and kayaking in the bay. The spit wraps the mouth of the undammed, free-flowing Nehalem River, famous for its large wild chinook salmon. The best fishing is in August and September. The bay provides excellent crabbing and some clam digging.

MIKE URBAN / P-I

Celebrating a wedding anniversary riding horses at Nehalem Bay State Park is just the ticket for Snohomish couple Gloria Grove, left, and Michael Jackson. Nehalem Bay's long white sand beach also is great for strolling and jogging.

The whole spit is open to horse riding, and the birding is good. The two miles of white-sand ocean beach are ideal for jogging, walking and beachcombing; those who make it all the way to the north jetty likely will see seals, and maybe find solitude.

"It's pretty secluded out on the end of the spit," says ranger Phil Chick. "It's kind of like your own private Oregon out there."

* The Oregon State Parks Web site is www.oregon.gov/OPRD/PARKS/ You also can call the agency's toll-free information line during business hours, 800-551-6949. To make a reservation at parks where sites may be reserved, call 800-452-5687.

* The Oregon Coast Visitors Association site is at www.visittheoregoncoast.com; you also can call toll-free 888-628-2101.

* Two books worth checking out are "100 Hikes/Travel Guide; Oregon Coast & Coast Range" by William L. Sullivan (Navillus Press, 240 pages, $14.95) and "Oregon State Parks: A Complete Recreation Guide" by Jan Bannan (The Mountaineers, 240 pages, $16.95).

* A $3 parking fee is charged for day-use at most places in the state parks along the north Oregon Coast; an annual pass is $25.

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