Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Oregon was a rough place to build a lighthouse. Ships that traveled the rugged Pacific Coast needed beacons to navigate the shoreline, but those same conditions that plagued sailors plagued the builders of lighthouses designed to help them.

In 1857, crews erected a light at the mouth of the Umpqua River, and four years later it collapsed into the river. In 1896, the Coquille River Lighthouse was constructed on a jetty, but that didn’t stop a schooner from crashing into it after only a year. The Cape Blanco Lighthouse required heroic efforts from its keepers for decades, who fixed damage from incredible storms and helped shipwrecked sailors who crashed ashore despite the light.

From the southern coast to the Columbia River, lighthouses helped build Oregon’s early shipping industry by protecting vessels from the many rocks and reefs beneath the waves. Through the middle of the 20th century, all the state’s lighthouses were automated, and today ships don’t even need them to navigate, relegating the structures to the status of historic novelty.

But the 12 remaining lighthouses are one of the state’s most popular tourist attractions. The six Oregon state parks that offer access to a lighthouse saw more than 4.6 million visitors in 2017. Yaquina Bay State Recreation Site (home of the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse) was the second most visited state park site in Oregon.

Whether you see one or two each year, or make a road trip to every one, visiting a lighthouse is always a fascinating experience. They may now be functionally obsolete, but the beautiful architecture and romantic allure of a beacon at the edge of the ocean remains a powerful draw. What once was meant to keep sailors away now beckons us closer to Oregon’s rocky shores.

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Brad LaChappelle/Oregonian file photo

Tillamook Rock

You'll need a pair of binoculars to get a good look at the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, easily the most dramatically-placed beacon in Oregon. Constructed atop a rock more than a mile out to sea, the lighthouse was first lit in 1881, abandoned in 1957 due to the expenses of keeping up with wear and tear from punishing waves. Tillamook Rock is not open to the public, but is visible from Ecola State Park near Cannon Beach.

Not open to the public

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Terry Richard/The Oreginian

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Terry Richard/The Oregonian

Cape Meares

The lovely Cape Meares Lighthouse stands just west of Tillamook and owns the title of the shortest publicly-accessible lighthouse on the Oregon coast. First lit in 1890, the lighthouse was cared for by a number of families over the years, and today is managed by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. See it at the Cape Meares State Scenic Viewpoint, which is also home to the popular Octopus Tree.



Open April through October, daily from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; no reservations required

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Terry Richard/The Oregonian

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Yaquina Head

Yaquina Head is the tallest lighthouse in Oregon, standing 93 feet tall and a full 162 feet above sea level. It was first lit in 1873 and over the years was managed by three keepers. It has withstood fierce storms and a lightning strike on its way to the 21st century, remaining one of the most popular lighthouses on the coast. You can see it at the Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area north of Newport.



Open year-round for ranger-led tours, times vary; reservations must be made in person

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Sol Neelman/The Oregonian

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Yaquina Bay

The Yaquina Bay Lighthouse might have been one of least-used lighthouses on the coast, but what it lacks in prominence it makes up for with a quaint, understated beauty. Less a traditional lighthouse, and more a two-story house topped with a light, it was first lit in 1871 but decommissioned only three years later. In 1974, a century after its light was extinguished, the lighthouse was fully restored and opened to the public.



Open year-round for self-guided tours, Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in summer and noon to 4 p.m. in the off season; no reservations required

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

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Wikimedia Commons

Cleft of the Rock

A privately-owned lighthouse, Cleft of the Rock was built in 1976 by Jim Gibbs, former keeper of Tillamook Rock. The structure, built on a cliff 110 feet above the Pacific, is a replica of the Fiddle Reef Lighthouse on Vancouver Island. Cleft of the Rock is closed to the public, but can be seen from Highway 101 or the Amanda Trail south of Yachats.



Not open to the public

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Terry Richard/The Oregonian

One of the most popular and scenic lighthouses on the Oregon coast, Heceta Head features beautiful architecture in a stunning setting north of Florence. Several families cared for and lived at the lighthouse between 1894 and 1932, and today it's a part of an Oregon state park. Heceta Head is also visible from the Sea Lion Caves.



Open year-round for ranger-led tours, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. (hours reduced in off-season); no reservations required

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Umpqua River

As the Umpqua River became an important shipping channel, plans began for a new lighthouse overlooking Pacific Ocean. The original lighthouse was built along the riverbank in 1855, but fell victim to seasonal flooding. Four decades later, the current Umpqua River Light was lit, standing on the cliffs overlooking the Oregon Dunes and Winchester Bay. Today the lighthouse is managed by Douglas County Parks and is located within the Umpqua Lighthouse State Park.



Open May through October, tours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (some nighttime and off-season tours offered); no reservation required

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Cape Arago

Cape Arago is easily the most difficult lighthouse to find on the Oregon coast. Perched on a rock off the southern coast, the single lighthouse is all that remains from a large complex of buildings – including two other lighthouses – once accessible from the mainland by bridge. Today, that access is gone, limiting views of the lighthouse to far-away viewpoints at Sunset Bay and Yoakam Point State Parks.



Not open to the public

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

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John M. Vincent/The Oregonian

Coquille River

Perched on the north jetty of the Coquille River in Bandon, the Coquille River Lighthouse has survived several scares since it was first lit in 1896. Two schooners hit the jetty only eight years apart, in 1897 and 1905. Then, in 1936, all but 16 buildings in Bandon were destroyed in a massive fire. The lighthouse was abandoned in 1939, and reopened to the public in 1979 as part of Bullards Beach State Park.



Partially open to the public from mid-May through September, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; no reservations required





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Terry Richard/The Oregonian

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Cape Blanco

Built in a majestic setting on a grassy cliff more than 200 feet above the ocean, the Cape Blanco lighthouse was lit back in 1870, managed by keepers James Langlois and James Hughes for four decades. The keepers dealt with strong storms and shipwrecks in a remote location, receiving occasional shipments of supplies by boat until a road was built to the site. Today the scenic lighthouse is part of Cape Blanco State Park.



Open for tours from April through October, Wednesday through Monday, 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.; no reservations required

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Pelican Bay

Oregon's newest lighthouse, Pelican Bay was first lit in 1999, becoming the second private lighthouse in Oregon to be officially commissioned by the U.S. Coast Guard. Located on a cliff above Brookings, it's also the southernmost lighthouse on the coast. You can find it near Brookings Harbor, where the lighthouse is visible on a hill behind a Best Western hotel.

Not open to the public

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Warrior Rock

Warrior Rock is Oregon's only remaining lighthouse on the Columbia River, and the smallest lighthouse in the state standing 25 feet tall. The lighthouse was built in 1889 at the tip of Sauvie Island to warn ships of a bedrock reef that juts out into the river. Today the lighthouse is closed up and automated, but it can still be seen at the end of a 3.5-mile hike along the northeastern shore of the island.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

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Michael Lloyd/The Oregonian

Bonus: Lightship Columbia

Not technically a lighthouse but a lightship, the Columbia (also known as WLV-604) was commissioned in 1951 as one of four stationed at the mouth of the Columbia River. A permanent crew of 18 manned the ship until it was decommissioned in 1979. Today, it's anchored outside the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria.

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Jamie Francis/The Oregonian

NORTHWEST TRAVEL GUIDES

Oregon's most beautiful places: Oregon is a beautiful state all around, but these are the 50 most beautiful places to see.

A week in Olympic park: How do you spend your time in the massive Olympic National Park? I took a five-day excursion to find out.

40 roadside attractions in Oregon: From the Prehistoric Gardens to the Enchanted Forest, here are the 40 best roadside attractions in Oregon.

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--Jamie Hale | jhale@oregonian.com | @HaleJamesB

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