Run for the Border, Then Take a Walk

The Oregon Coast Trail laces together resorts and historic fishing villages clustered around the mouths of rivers that feed into the Pacific. There are miles of sandy beaches, cobbled shore and bold headlands. The names along the trail are almost irresistible to a coast walker: North Spit, Yaquina Head, Devil’s Punch Bowl, Dragon’s Teeth, House Rock and Hug Point.

Oregon’s southern coast offers some great jaunts along the Oregon Coast Trail. The south coast offers inviting beaches and bluffs, easy highway access and plenty of amenities. The coast here seems like an extension of Northern California--although proud Oregonians would bristle at the notion. Certainly, Oregon’s south coast differs from its central coast, which sometimes impresses me as being a little too . . . well, Oregonian, with its logging museums, logging trucks and four-wheel drive vehicles assaulting the beach.

My favorite south coast sojourn is an 11-mile stretch of shoreline preserved as Samuel H. Boardman State Park. Beckoning the coastal hiker is a dramatic tableau of wooded cliffs, grassy headlands, steep canyons, small beaches and rock islands.

Samuel H. Boardman, Oregon’s first state parks superintendent, was so impressed with the beauty of this length of coast that he not only worked diligently to acquire the land for the public, but pressed the U.S. Department of the Interior to consider it for national parkland.

Boardman, who directed Oregon’s parks from 1929 to 1950, failed to persuade federal officials to embrace his cause; his fellow Oregonians, however, did establish a state park in his name.

The segment of Oregon Coast Trail (OCT) extending through the park is one of the best in the state. It’s not your basic breezy beach walk; it dips in and out of steep canyons and visits a variety of terrains.

OCT crosses grassy bluff tops on its 1.5-mile journey to House Rock View Point. Beyond, the path passes through stands of spruce and grassy meadows. Hit the beach for another 1.5 miles, glimpse Whalehead Island and continue to the odd Indian Sands, which are pine-fringed sand dunes. Hike over more wind- and wave-sculpted headlands to the north trail head at Miner Creek.

Access: Samuel H. Boardman State Park is located a few miles north of Brookings. Lone Ranch, a shoreline picnic area near Cape Ferrel, is the southern trail head for the park’s segment of OCT.

Oregon Coast Trail

Where: Samuel H. Boardman State Park

Distance: To House Rock View Point is 3 miles round trip; to Miner’s Creek is 7 miles one way.

Terrain: Pine-fringed sand dunes, grassy bluffs.

Highlights: Supremely scenic, southern Oregon coastline.

Degree of difficulty: Moderate.

For more information: Oregon State Parks and Recreation, 1115 Commercial Street, N.E., Salem, OR 97310; tel. (503) 378-6305.