Bottom Line:
About 40 minutes south of the Astoria-Megler Bridge linking Washington and Oregen States at the mouth of the Columbia River lies Ecola State Park, with ~9 miles of wild coastline, abundant hiking and hike-in camping! Crescent Beach is a quiet gem at the south end of the park, separated from Cannon Beach by a prominent headland and sea stacks. There are a number of beautiful coves between that headland and Ecola Point to the north - the farther north you go, the quieter it is (just watch the tides). Truly a spectacular beach with beautiful sand, surf and bluff views.
Stats:
- Distance: ~ 5 miles, forest and bluff trail to/from beach + beachcombing
- Duration: ~2-1/2 hours
- Vertical: ~1000 ft with up-and-down along bluff drainages, and then an ascent from the beach back up to the bluff to reach Ecola Point
- Road/Parking: Short drive south from Astoria, OR which is right across the Columbia River from Cape Disappointment State Park, WA (trip report from other day); ample parking at Ecola Point, which is a very popular viewpoint for this spectacular coastline; an Oregon State Park pass is required, or a day-pass is available from a kiosk accepting credit cards; although the trail to Crescent Beach starts here, most folks are there for the various viewpoints (do check them out!); restrooms available; CAUTION: There are many Roosevelt elk in this park, and they seem quite used to hanging out on the road amongst the cars; watch out for sudden traffic jams
- Weather: Mostly cloudy (early start), becoming mostly sunny; light breeze; 30Fs to 40Fs - felt pretty warm once the sun came out; in general, wet and a little frosty from days of heavy rain, snow and fog
- Trail: The trail starts at Ecola Point and meanders south up-and-down drainages in the bluff; this is a dense, lush forest of Sitka spruce with beautiful dappled sunshine; the trail was muddy in spots, but really not that bad considering the recent weather; the trail reaches a "Y" junction (with a trail from Cannon Beach to the south), and one turns "right" (downhill) to descend to the beach; a final set of stairs drops one off at what appears to the north end of the beach, but many additional coves dot the shoreline all the way out to Ecola Point starting right around the small headland to the north (CAUTION: pay attention to the tides to avoid being getting stuck out there!); the trail south to the headland and sea stacks separating Crescent from Cannon beach is quiet and wonderful, with smooth brown sand and surf that extends nearly out as far as the outermost sea stacks; on the return, we took a number of bluff-hugging side trails for expansive views north and south across all of crescent beach - saved for the sunnier return! This quiet beach is reported to have seals and sea lions at times, but we did not see any today (plenty of sea lions in downtown Astoria though!).
- Takeaway: Beautiful as a day hike but would love to come back and backpack overnight to some of the more remote parts of this park and camp on some quiet beaches; in general, Ecola (while small) is described as a "hiker's paradise", and this small introduction confirmed that for me!
Mostly extended exposure shots in this report, with a couple blurring both the ocean and clouds, giving you an idea of the early cloudy conditions and fast-moving marine layer ;)
Comments