In and Around Tillamook, on the Oregon Coast

Tillamook sits on Tillamook Bay, towards the north end of the central Oregon coast, 30-miles south of Cannon Beach, 34-miles north of Lincoln City. A lush landscape, green, and wet much of the year. Grasses produced in turn help to produce a world-renowned line of cheeses. Cows, what would Tillamook County be without them? The town actually houses less than 5000 pretty laid back people. Cheese controls the agenda and cows the schedule. The Dairy Co-operative (established 1909 -- the nation’s oldest such organization) is open to tours and tasting, as is the independent cheese factory.

But there’s more to Tillamook than cheese. During W.W.II this location was chosen as one of the Navy’s LTA bases; the airships searching for enemy subs. An existing hangar houses an air museum with historical exhibits and a collection of military aircraft from around the world. In contrast to the art of war there is a Quilt and Textile Center with changing exhibits. Tillamook County has some of the largest clam beds in the state. The Tillamook Chamber of Commerce provides booklets on how to dig them.

Natural wonders of a heavily protected coast make Oregon’s name synonymous with beauty. The Oswald West Act of 1913 declared all wet sand beaches "public highways," granting public right-of-way. A State law passed July 6, 1967 guaranteed a citizen's right to access the shore in perpetuity. Walk the whole of the coastline (some places having to "portage" around cliffs, naturally) if you wish; this being partial intent of the laws. The park named in honor of Oswald West (State Governor 1910-1914) is a few miles north of Tillamook.

The coastline around Tillamook has some significant scenery. The 3 Capes Scenic route, beginning and ending only a few miles away, encompasses Kiwanda, Lookout, and Meares with its wildlife refuge, lighthouse, and Octopus Tree; a large Sitka spruce, with a significant history of its own. The towns of Pacific City and Cannon Beach each have one of the world’s largest monoliths sitting in their surf, both called Haystack Rock because of shape. Munson Creek State Park (east of Highway-101, away from the ocean) has the tallest waterfall (319-feet) on the Oregon coast. And depending upon where you plan to begin or end your visit you’ll be within a short driving distance of yet another compelling vista, charming town, or interesting place to visit along the coast.

Quick Tips:

Tillamook is pronounced "TIL-luh-muk." Hear it.

--There are more than 90 State Parks stretched along Oregon’s Coast. These are great places to access the beach, have picnics, or watch the sunset. The terrain also offers hiking, birding and other wildlife viewing. Off-roading opportunities are available at Sandlake Recreation area.
--State Parks Central Coast
--State Parks North Coast
--State Parks South Coast

Best Way To Get Around:

While it could be done on a bicycle (portions would be quite grueling) a motorized vehicle would be, by far, the easiest way to access the Oregon coast. Many people feel the drive alone is worth the trip. Oregon’s portion of Route 101 has been designated the Pacific Coast Scenic Byway. A Scenic Byway is deemed a road of significance -- while all US highways are considered scenic only a few are designated Byways.

Tillamook is a town known mostly for its outstanding cheese. But there is another thing for which Tillamook should be known: a W.W.II K-class airship hangar and air museum: Tillamook Air Museum.

The terms airships, blimps, dirigibles, aerostats, and LTA (lighter than air) are mostly interchangeable. During the war the navy used airships to search for enemy subs. Naval Air Station Tillamook was home to Squadron ZP-33 and its 8 K-class ships.

With hangars needed and steel going to manufacture planes and ships the only alternative was to use timber. Each required approximately 2.5-million board feet of wood, usually Oregon Douglas Fir. Of these 17 hangars only 7 currently remain. Built mostly in pairs, the second at this site burned in spectacular fashion in 1992. The foundation and the massive supports for the hangar door system remains. Nearby is the pad from where the craft were launched.

This surviving hangar is an overwhelmingly immense space: 1,072-feet-long by 206-feet-wide by 192-feet-tall, and has a footprint of about 7-acres. In fact, this is the world's largest free span wooden building. It's like standing in a Cathedral with a nave that stretches on and on and up.

None of the 252-foot balloons remain, and the station was decommissioned in 1948. Now a museum with some fascinating exhibits covering the history of the station and those serving there, including a section of balloon skin you are invited to touch. This feels like I imagine shark skin to feel -- for what that's worth. There are display cases with photos and the memorabilia of those stationed here. The engine room still holds the large turbine used to fill and empty the balloon shells of 425,000 cubic feet of helium.

The museum has a good collection of planes which include: Spitfire, Messerschmidt, F-14a Tomcat, a F4U-7 Corsair, and, most recently, a MiGg-17. Among the highlights of the plane collection for me were one of the red-tailed P-51 Mustangs flown by the Tuskegee Airmen and a J2F-6 Duck, the latter being a strange configuration of plane/boat. Also you'll find some trainer cockpits you can climb into: pretend to fly and have your photo taken by a traveling companion. And there’s still more to see, including a smallish privately-made blimp, an aerostat, with a friendly alien waving from its side.

There's a gift shop with some unique items, like a retro deck of playing cards teaching W.W.II plane spotting -- how to recognize various aircraft, and a cafe done up in retro forties/fifties.

The word blimp, by the way, is said to have originated as a description of the sound made when one thumps (middle finger off thumb in a flicking motion) the side of one of the balloons.

Open: 10am-5pm, except Thanksgiving, Christmas. Cafe: 10am-4pm.
Admission: $9.50, (65+) $8.50, (13-17) $5.50, (7-12) $2, under 7 free.
Location: 2-miles south of Tillamook on Highway 101.
Contact: 503-842-1130, 503-842-3054

Cape Meares State Scenic Viewpoint (pdf park brochure), actually a state park, lies at the tip of Cape Meares, on the Three Cape Scenic Route, about 10-miles outside of Tillamook. While the main attractions are the lighthouse and the Octopus Tree, the area also offers great ocean views and a large variety of wildlife, especially avian. The park also provides habitat for a large number of rabbits.

The lighthouse sits on a shelf, just below the level of the headland, 323-feet above the ocean. As you approach you are on level to look right through the first order Fresnel lens. Sunset brings the light, which was decommissioned and replaced by an automatic beacon in 1963, back to life. Built in 1890 this 38-foot tall lighthouse, is the shortest on the Oregon coast. An old workroom now houses an interpretive center/gift shop, but this is only open a portion of the year.

The trail looping past the lighthouse, that hugs (more or less) the outline of the headland, has a large number of interpretive signs and charts spaced out along it. There are over 3-miles of hiking trails crisscrossing the park.

A short hike south of the parking area the Octopus Tree (mirror site) stands enclosed by a fence. A Sitka spruce, with a 60-plus-foot diameter, called the 'Council Tree' by the area's tribal peoples, it is believed to be a burial tree. Burial trees were trained to grow so as to hold and support canoes wedged amongst the branches, into which the deceased would be then placed. This tree earned its name from the fact of having 8 thick branches growing low on the tree, which lacks a central trunk. It has lost a limb in one of those big windstorms Oregon is subject to in winter. Climbing the tree is not permitted.

Most of the rocks along the Oregon Coast are part of an enlarged National Wildlife Refuge, home to a variety of seabirds. Among these here are Three Arch Rocks, the oldest of these refuges west of the Mississippi. Among the birds roosting here are about 220,000 Common Murre who live in the most crowded conditions of any bird species, with the highest population densities per foot.

Park Open Dawn to dark.
Giftshop Open: 11am-4pm, April through October.
Admission: None
Contact: 1-800-551-6949 (Oregon State Parks), avalon@harborside.com (Friends of Cape Meares Lighthouse)
Other Websites: Cape Meares Lighthouse and Wildlife Refuge
Lighthouse (brief) or Lighthouse and Lighthouse (NPS: Inventory of Historic Light Stations)

Cape Kiwanda and the Cape Kiwanda Natural Area lie along the southern end of the Three Capes Scenic Route loop near Tillamook, on the Oregon coast. Kiwanda is the smallest of these three capes, but as they say: good things come in small packages. The cape is a half-mile golden-colored chunk of sandstone projecting seaward. A combination of tidal currents, configuration of the headland, and wind off the rocks makes for active surf. Its sinuous curves gleaming in the late-afternoon light of a clear day as the tide begins its return, creating those amazing waves here, can be truly inspirational. That’s not to say that it doesn’t delight the eye at other times, this just happens to be Kiwanda at its best.

A further half-mile out to sea, covering 8 acres, sits the second Oregon coastal monolith, called Haystack Rock. At 328 feet tall, it’s 90 feet taller than the Haystack at Cannon Beach to the north. It has another name: Chief Kiwanda, but very few people seem to be aware of this fact.

Look in the sky. Is that a bird … no, it’s a hang-glider. You've been warned, so don't be surprised if something very large flies over your head. This form of recreation is extraordinarily popular here, made possible by the same wind that helps whip the tidal surge into such dramatic waves. This is also one of the few places on the coast where you’ll see surfers on a regular basis.

The cliffs ease into sandy beach in both directions. From the beach at Tierra Del Mar, to the north, you’ll get a great view of Kiwanda. One mile to the south of the cape sits the artist-colony town of Pacific City. From the beach here, the historic Dory Fishing Fleet launches directly into the surf during salmon season. Dories are defined as flat-bottomed keel-less boats with the bottom planks running the length of the boat from fore to aft. The fleet is blessed in mid-June and the Dory Days Festival is in July. From this beach you’ll get a great view of both Kiwanda and Haystack together.

There are no day use or other fees for any of the parks, beaches, or viewpoints listed above.

Oregon Parks & Recreation: 800/551-6949
Websites: Cape Kiwanda Natural Area
Area Events
Pacific City Chamber of Commerce

The town of Neskowin is quaint, with tiny little cottage homes. It lies between the Little Nestucca River and Cascade Head, tucked between the Neskowin and Hawk Creeks near the southern border of Tillamook County. Beginning as a dairy farming community, well, we are in Tillamook County, it has become a beach community over the years. Only about 300 people live here year-round but the population climbs to around 1500 in summer.

The approach to the 5-mile beach and Neskowin Beach State Recreation Site is a bit different from most other state parks along the coast. The parking is not in or immediately adjacent to the park itself, it‘s a few blocks away, just off 101, but is sign-posted. Then head for the road running along the south side of the lot and follow the signs. You’ll walk through a portion of the town, passing The Hawk Creek Café, a local favorite, along the way, and parallel the course of Hawk Creek as you approach the beach.

The large clump of basalt covered in trees right at the water’s edge is Proposal Rock. The story going with that name is what you‘d expect. This rock is more accessible than either Haystack Rock. You can, with caution, climb it. There are also tide pools at its base.

A generous ocean will have lessened the overburden of sand along this excellent walking beach, in which case some 200 tree stumps may be visible. This is the remains of forest submerged around 2000 years ago by an earthquake caused subsidence of about 7-feet. The locals will tell you the stumps have always been there. And so they have, for 2000-years at least, right? But often most of the stumps are buried by sand. The two best opportunities in "recent" years to see the stumps were 1983 and 1998. If you recall these as being El Nino years and wonder if there’s a connection you’d be right. Any El Nino year is likely to re-expose the forest; otherwise you might walk right over them without ever knowing they‘re there -- except that now you do.

Having "Recreation" in the title of this park is somewhat misleading, other than walking or fishing in the surf or creeks there isn’t anything actually onsite. There are, however, two golf courses in the area: Hawk Creek Golf and Neskowin Beach Courses, the later being seasonal as it is inundated by ocean through portions of the winter. The Cascade Head Trail skims the village and boating is available in Nestucca Bay to the north.

Oregon State Parks Information: 1-800-551-6949

Neskowin
The Hawk Creek Café 4505 Salem Ave, 503-392-3838
Hawk Creek Golf Course
48480 Hwy 101 S, 503-392-4120
Neskowin Beach Golf Course
48405 Hawk St, 503-392-3377

“1 Recipe 100 Years” says the Tillamook Cheese website. Initially it might seem that should read “1 Ingredient 100 Years;” maybe you don’t think of cheese as having a recipe but rather as being part of recipes. But cheese is manufactured and how the source ingredient is handled contributes to the texture, smell, and taste of the final product, whether cheddar, swiss, or something as artificially cheese-like as those cheese-in-a-can products. The type of grass the cows eat also markedly impacts the final product and strictly speaking the only real cheddar comes from around Cheddar, England, all other cheeses labeled cheddar are only cheddar-like. Some imposters are better than others.

The farmer owned Tillamook County Creamery Association, the nation’s oldest such organization, established 1909, incorporates all 25 of the county’s cheese factories and 150 dairies. The cooperative hosts this large Visitors Center, that has over a million visitors a year.

The free self-guided tour (see maps below) explains the history of the cooperative and the entirety of the cheese making process. An observational gallery overlooks the manufacturing and packaging rooms where you can be mesmerized by the repetitious never-ending stream of cheese blocks progressing along the conveyor-belt system, occasionally vanishing inside machinery to reappear as increasingly smaller bricks, ultimately taking on the shiny sheen of plastic wrappers completing the process.

“A tradition of quality” --another claim. Tillamook cheese is of a superior quality. Period. And while cheddar, specifically, is the most famous Tillamook product there are other products: different cheeses, sour cream, milk, butter, yogurt, and a rather wonderful ice cream.

Other Services and Amenities:
--The Cheese Sample counter offers plates of several cheeses for tasting, with toothpicks provided to spear the bite sized pieces. I found the fresh cheese curd tasty. I really enjoyed its texture but a friend likened it to chewing a sponge.
--The Farmhouse Café (see partial menu below), naturally features lots of cheese dishes. We ate a quick lunch here. To me a grilled cheese sandwich with dill pickle and mustard is comfort food. I was comforted. Breakfast served until 11am and stuff like soups, salad, sandwiches and fries the rest of the day.
--Ice cream counter with 40 flavors of ice cream (regular and sugar free), frozen-yogurt and soft-serve. Higher butterfat content means creamier, better tasting ice cream. Tillamook Premium has 13.5% butterfat (a rather high amount), both a plus and minus, lots of enjoyable calories.
--A fudge counter offering free samples.
--A large gift shop.
--Northwest Gourmet Foods shop.
--The Cheese Shop sells all Tillamook’s product lines prepackaged and ready for consumption. With so many you can’t try them all here. The store locator might help you purchase the products more locally.

On 101, 2-miles from city center, the facility just north of town is highly visible and well sign-posted.
The website has extensive maps and driving directions.
Open: 8am-6pm (Labor Day - Mid June), 8am-8pm (Mid June - Labor Day), except Christmas and Thanksgiving.
503-815-1300, 1-800-542-7290