Cape Meares is a small headland on the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

coast in

Tillamook County Tillamook County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 27,390. The county seat is Tillamook. The county is named for the Tillamook or Killamook people, a Native American tribe who we ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. The cape forms a high steep bluff on the south end of

Tillamook Bay Tillamook Bay is a small inlet of the Pacific Ocean, approximately 6 mi (10 km) long and 2 mi (3 km) wide, on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located just north of Cape Meares in western Tillamook Count ...

, approximately five miles (8 km) northwest of the city of

Tillamook Tillamook may refer to: Places: * Tillamook County, Oregon, United States * Tillamook, Oregon, a city, the seat of Tillamook County * Tillamook River, United States * Tillamook Bay, a bay in the northwestern part of Oregon * Tillamook Head, a natu ...

. Much of the cape is part of the

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD), officially known (in state law) as the State Parks and Recreation Department, is the government agency of the U.S. state of Oregon which operates its system of state parks. In addition, it has pro ...

-administered Cape Meares State Scenic Viewpoint with three miles of hiking trails, which includes Cape Meares Light and the Octopus Tree. The cape is named after

John Meares John Meares (c. 1756 – 1809) was an English navigator, explorer, and maritime fur trader, best known for his role in the Nootka Crisis, which brought Britain and Spain to the brink of war. Career Meares' father was Charles Meares, "formerly an ...

, a British explorer.

Geography

Immediately north of the cape is the community of

Cape Meares Cape Meares is a small headland on the Pacific coast in Tillamook County, Oregon, United States. The cape forms a high steep bluff on the south end of Tillamook Bay, approximately five miles (8 km) northwest of the city of Tillamo ...

, next to Cape Meares Lake. Cape Meares beach extends north of the community of Cape Meares, along a sand spit, or peninsula, that encloses Tillamook Bay. The peninsula is alternatively known as

Bayocean Bayocean was a community in Tillamook County, Oregon, United States. Sometimes known as "the town that fell into the sea", it was a planned resort community founded in 1906 on Tillamook Spit, a small stretch of land that forms one wall of Til ...

, after a popular upscale resort town that occupied the beach in the early 20th century, until beach erosion began to destroy the town beginning in the 1930s. Today, no significant remnant of the resort town remains on the beach. Immediately south of Cape Meares is

Short Beach Short Beach is a beach neighborhood situated in Branford, Connecticut. It is the westernmost of Branford's seven neighborhoods, the others being: The Hill, The Center, Pine Orchard, Stony Creek, Indian Neck, and Brushy Hill. Short Beach's po ...

Cape Meares State Scenic Viewpoint

The scenic viewpoint is the location of the " Octopus Tree", a large, multi-trunked

Sitka Spruce ''Picea sitchensis'', the Sitka spruce, is a large, coniferous, evergreen tree growing to almost tall, with a trunk diameter at breast height that can exceed 5 m (16 ft). It is by far the largest species of spruce and the fifth-larg ...

with a trunk circumference of about 50 feet. It is accessible via a short hike from the main parking lot. File:CMaerial.jpg, Cape Meares from an airplane File:Beautiful cape meares.jpg, Cape Meares seen from Bayocean beach File:Capemeares.jpg, Cape Meares from the north File:Meareslighthouse.jpg, Cape Meares Lighthouse File:Aerial View of Cape Meares Lake.JPG, Aerial View of Cape Meares Lake File:Octopus Tree, Cape Meares, Oregon.png, Octopus Tree, Cape Meares, Oregon

References

External links

"Cape Meares State Scenic Viewpoint"

.
"History of the Cape Meares Lighthouse"
Friends of Cape Meares Lighthouse. Meares Landforms of Tillamook County, Oregon Oregon Coast Parks in Tillamook County, Oregon State parks of Oregon {{TillamookCountyOR-geo-stub

Geography

Cape Meares State Scenic Viewpoint

See also

References

External links