"Trail to the End of the Cape" Cape Lookout State Park Things to Do Tip by glabah

There are a number of different trails inside Cape Lookout State Park, as the park includes a long stretch of sandy peninsula as well as Cape Lookout itself. This tip, however, describes the trail that runs from the parking lot at the top of the hill to the end of the cape.

At approximately 2.5 miles(4 km) in length this trail lacks severe long climbing grades, though there are a few short steep sections. The trail is fairly compact dirt the entire way, and in the winter months you can expect there to be mud. Some of the worse sections of mud have pallet walkways placed over the sections where the mud is the worst, but not the entire trail.

In the summer months, keep you eyes out for bird life. Bald eagles are usually not far away, and there are several types of native fruit that grow on the bushes that are popular with various birds. Cedar waxwings and what appeared to be Wilson's warbler (though much brighter yellow than what appears in most bird watching books I have) are two of the ones I've seen here in the summer months, along with a number of others.

The trail passes through very dense forest most of the way.

The hazards of the trail come where it runs directly along the edge of the cliff above the ocean. Except for certain very specific locations, don't expect there to be hand rails preventing you from falling over the edge and plunging several hundred feet down into the ocean, and probably hitting a few rocks on the way down.

The end of the trail is at an abrupt edge, though the end viewpoint does have a cable railing of sorts that doesn't offer a huge amount of protection. There is also a bench that overlooks the Ocean.

The trail offers views to the south in a few places, and at the end there is a view out to the open Ocean to the west as well as to the south. There is no view looking north from the end of the Cape, but at several points along the trail the trail does run along the north edge of the peninsula, and it is possible to see through the trees the ocean on the north side.

The Photos:

Photo 1: The Edge of Oregon: this is the view point at the end of Cape Lookout

Photo 2: The Cape Lookout Trail is mostly through dense forest, though there are places it opens up a little bit

Photo 3: The views are spectacular, but be careful of the edge of the cliff. It's a long way down. Note the trail at the top is still in the clouds, but the beach down below (WAY DOWN THERE!) is starting to get sun light.

Photo 4: Watch for various creatures of the forest, incuding birds, but also unusually shaped trees. There are several of them along this trail.

Photo 5: While you can't see north from the end of the Cape, you can see north in a few places through the trees. Here is the north side of Cape Lookout as seen from the trail.

Directions: Parking lot located south of camping area and peninsula part of park. Cape Lookout Road reaches a summit at a parking lot for several trails (including this one) right at edge of Cape.
Website: http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_186.php