7 Spectacular Stops On the Three Capes Scenic Road in Oregon

One of the most dramatic stretches of the Oregon coast, the Three Capes Scenic Loop, connects Cape Meares, Cape Lookout, and Cape Kiwanda. The 40-mile stretch of road includes nearly every geologic and natural feature of the coast. You’ll find rugged rocks and towering sea-stacks, sand-dunes, secluded beaches, and spruce or sitka forests here.

Vacationing Along The Three Capes Scenic Road

My family loves to spend part our summers on the Oregon coast. Though we tried different spots as a base for our vacations, this stretch of the coast has always been our favorite.

Years ago, we rented a home in the tiny village of Cape Meares. We spent a memorable week in a house at the edge of the forest, at the foot of the cape. We explored the often deserted beach, and the forest leading up to Cape Meares.

In a different year, we stayed in Oceanside. Here, we rented a house on a cliff, overlooking the beach, the ocean and the famous sea stacks.

For another trip, we chose a secluded beach between Cape Lookout and Cape Kiwanda to rent a house in.

And during our latest trip, we lived in Cape Kiwanda for a few days.

But no matter where we stayed, we drove the Three Capes Scenic Road at least once. We never got bored with it. The same scenery may look different every time, depending on the weather, the season, and time of the day.

On foggy mornings I understood the need for the lighthouses. Watching the beach at low tide, high tide, and everything in between, we learned about tide pools. We saw whales in the ocean, seal pups resting on the beach, joined locals in tide-pooling, and watched gorgeous sunsets over the ocean.

You might not want to spend a whole week in this area, but driving the scenic road and stopping often gives you a good idea of what this stretch of the Oregon Coast is all about.

The Three Capes

Narrow, high pieces of land, jutting out into the Pacific, each of the three capes are different, yet spectacular in their own way.

Cape Meares

Cape Meares, jutting out into the ocean at the height of over 200 feet, is the northernmost of the three, and the only one with a lighthouse at its edge. It also features the largest Sitka spruce in Oregon and is home to large colonies of sea birds.

Cape Lookout

Cape Lookout features an old-growth forest and offers a great hike to its edge, with gorgeous views of the shore and the ocean. It also has a popular campground and day-use area on the beach for those who want to spend more time here.

Cape Kiwanda

The smallest of the three capes, Cape Kiwanda is still the most popular, offering great hand-gliding, kite-flying, and surfing opportunities, besides a pleasant beach with a hike up a sand dune.

The Three Capes Scenic Loop

The Three Capes Loop starts and ends in Tillamook, one of the northernmost towns on the Oregon coast. Over the year, we drove it most often from north to south, starting in Cape Meares, although on our last trip we also drove it in the opposite direction.

The Village of Cape Meares

For several years, we started in Tillamook, but added the small settlement of Cape Meares to our itinerary.

The long stretch of a secluded beach is the main reason I love this area. Passing Tillamook Bay, we reached the beach, and stopped for a walk. The tiny village, comprising a few homes, sits between the forested area by the Cape and the beach.

This is one of the cleanest beaches I’ve seen anywhere. Partially because it isn’t extremely popular; after all, you have to cross the farm-fields of Tillamook to get there, and smell cow manure for miles and miles while driving out. (And no, I won’t tell you to visit Tillamook and its dairy factory – a popular place we avoid. After watching the calves separated from their mothers, even my ice-cream-lover child refused to stop there.)

Keeping the beach clean…

But being deserted most of the time is not the only reason this beach is so clean. The ocean currents still bring plastic and garbage out and deposit them on the beach here, like everywhere else. But, locals make it easy for even the random visitor to help clean up.

They put out garbage cans, with closed lids, at each of the beach entrances and signs asking visitors to deposit any garbage they find there. During one of our stops there, as we walked the beach, we cleaned up about two miles, while we walked on the sand. We found old zip-lock bags, and broken-up pieces of very old plastic.

I’m guessing most visitors and locals walking out to the beach, do the same, and the result is a clean beach. I suspect the community in Cape Meares does a lot more, but even putting up garbage cans to make it easy for visitors to help, and putting up the note, makes a difference. People generally want to do the right thing, but need a reminder now and then.

A Trail to Cape Meares from the Village

After enjoying some time on the beach, we got back in the car and drove off towards the cape. But if you have more time and like to hike, take the trail through the woods up to the top of the cape. It starts at the end of the last street in the village, I think it’s 7th street if I remember well. We stayed once on a house at the end of this street. A gate stops vehicles from getting into the forest, but we hiked in a few times. I personally didn’t go all the way up, but my husband did and he enjoyed the hike.

Driving to Cape Meares

Or, instead of hiking up, you can drive to Cape Meares. An old, scenic road used to lead up to Cape Meares before you’d get back to Tillamook and Rd 101. Though we haven’t seen it open in years, last time we visited – in August 2023, they were working on it, so they may open it at some point. If it is open, take it, it leads through a gorgeous old-growth forest.

If the short scenic road is still closed, you need to drive back to Rd 101, and take the Three Capes Scenic Rd (Rd 131) towards Cape Meares State Park.

The real Scenic Loop starts in Cape Meares. The following are our favorite stops along this route.

1. Cape Meares State Park

The northernmost part of the loop, a 700-foot rocky land, the Cape was named after John Meares, the first known captain to sail the Tillamook Bay.

A national wildlife refuge, Cape Meares State Park is home to the largest colonies of nesting sea birds on the continent. Stop on the trail, and watch them on the sea stacks. These rocks, jutting out from the ocean, called Pillar Rock and Pyramid Rocks, are designated as part of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge.

I spent what felt like hours on end watching the largest colony of the common murres. Yes, they can be extremely noisy – and I love this noise. If you sit long enough, you might see bald eagles and peregrine falcons here, too.

For the largest concentration of seabirds, go in August, during their nesting season.

The Lighthouse at Cape Meares

Given its location at 217 feet above the ocean at the edge of the cape, at 38 feet high the lighthouse can afford to be short here. You can visit if you get there between 11 am and 4 pm from April to November. Entrance is free, and you can take a short tour to learn about the history of lighthouses on the rugged Oregon coast.

The Octopus Tree

The famous Octopus Tree, the largest Sitka spruce on the coast – and in the state – is just a short walk from the lighthouse. With its branches radiating upwards from the base, resembles an octopus it got its name from.

Since it is a popular sight, you are not likely to find yourself alone there. However, we found that if we stayed long enough, we always had a few minutes of quiet time with this huge tree.

Surrounded by a low fence, you can’t get too close to it. Hopefully, you weren’t planning on climbing it, anyway. Being protected most likely contributed to it being alive and healthy for over 200 years.

2. Oceanside

The scenic road follows the coastline towards Oceanside, a quaint little town on the beach, one of my favorite vacation spots. During one of our trips we rented a home for a few days on the hill overlooking the ocean. It’s one of the places worth a longer break during the drive through the scenic loop.

Built on a steep hill overlooking the beach, Oceanside is one of the most scenic small towns on the coast. The beach features three of the most dramatic sea stacks, and it changes with the low and high tide. If you get there during low tide, you have an opportunity to do some tidepooling, especially on the far side of the beach, beyond the tunnel.

On a clear day, walking on the beach you can enjoy a perfect view of Cape Lookout.

3. Netarts Bay

Driving farther you’ll go through the quaint community of Netarts Bay where you might feel like time stopped in the early 1990s. The scenic drive takes you further to Cape Lookout, worth a longer stop.

4. Cape Lookout State Park

Comprising nearly every geological and natural feature of the Oregon coast, Cape Lookout jots out over two miles into the ocean.

A popular spot for hikers and campers alike, it is forested and offers a relatively easy, 5-mile-round-trip hike to its edge. From there, you have a perfect view of the coast and the ocean beyond. Though you are not likely to have it all to yourself, you’ll find stretches of the trail when you’ll be alone.

Hiking the Cape Lookout Trail

A relatively easy hike through old-growth forests, the trail offers countless views of the spectacular coastline on each side. But you can’t beat the view at the end of the trail, the edge of the cape. And if you are lucky, you’ll spot a whale or two in the ocean below.

We hike this trail every time we are on this stretch.

We found the best times to hike it was early in the morning, or late in the afternoon. But since most of the trail is shaded, you can hike it any time. However, we found it was more crowded in the early afternoons. We’ve had times when we bypassed it because there was no room in the parking lot, and we didn’t want to park on the road.

With only one other car in the parking lot, we knew we would have the trail pretty much for ourselves one early morning in the summer of 2019. We started on the southern side of the cape, and enjoyed gorgeous views of the ocean and the coast below.

Following the trail, we walked deeper into the forest. In the dark, shaded areas I felt miles away from the coast, as I was tripping over tree-roots sticking out of the ground and crisscrossing the trail.

Eventually, we reached a viewpoint on the north side of the cape. After standing there for a while, taking in the view, we continued, back into the lush forest in the center of the cape.

About 2.5 miles from the start we reached the edge. We spent a long time here, taking in the views of what seemed like the whole coast of Oregon. But the pinnacle of the experience was when we spotted a whale swimming below.

Campground at Cape Lookout

Cape Lookout State Park offers camping opportunities on the northern side of the cape in the campground featuring over 200 camp sites, cabins and yurts for rent. I didn’t camp there, but it seems very popular, featuring more trails through the old growth forest and down the beach.

5. Beaches and a Sitka Spruce Forest

A ten-mile drive between Cape Lookout and Cape Kiwanda, the road takes you on a cliff with gorgeous views of the shoreline and sand dunes.

Though it doesn’t look like much compared to some of the rest of the coast, we spent a few days on the beach nestled between these two capes. We had views of both capes from the beach and trails leading into a protected Sitka spruce forest.

6. Sandlake Dunes Recreation Area

A more popular spot is Sandlake Dunes Recreation Area, just up the street, where you can rent sand-buggies for a fun day at the beach. Not my cup of tea though, but we usually stop here anyway, for the views and a walk on the dunes.

A protected coastal forest and bird sanctuary surround the dunes.

7. Cape Kiwanda

Cape Kiwanda is the smallest of the three capes, but home to the largest monolyth sea-stack rock on the West Coast.

Locals call it Chief Kiawanda Rock. No, it’s not a typo, the spelling is different for the rock and the cape. From a certain angle the rock resembles Chief Kiawanda, leader of the Nestucca tribe who inhabited the area until the 1800s. The cape and the rock is considered Chief Kiawanda’s playground.

Dory boats at Cape Kiwanda

Cape Kiwanda is always busy, being home to the largest fleet of dory boats. If you are wondering what a dory boat is, like I did before I saw my first one, it’s a boat with a flat bottom that can slide out onto the beach.

Watching the dories leave or come back is great fun. I’ve never seen them leave, but it was an interesting sight to see them come to shore and glide onto the sand.

The sand dune at Cape Kiwanda

Even if you don’t care about dories and fishermen, the beach is worth a stop, though once there you might be tempted to hike up the sand dune. Please do, it’s not as hard as it seems. The top offers some great views, and it’s a lot of fun running back down in the sand. Yes, even I think so, an “old” lady in her fifties.

Just make sure you don’t pass any of the fences or signs to get close to the edge. They are there for a reason. I’m not much for following rules for the sake of rules, but the edge is unstable and you never know when a big chunk may fall into the water. And whatever you do, make sure your kids follow this one rule. Kids, even more so than adults, love walking up this dune and running down back to the beach.

Besides an opportunity for some exercise, the sand dune is also a perfect place for hand-gliding. I’ve watched many of them take off from the top, mostly in the mornings.

Dine at the Pelican Restaurant and Brewery

Cape Kiwanda is also a good spot for dinner. If you get there at the end of the day, stop at the Pelican Brewing restaurant for your high-end seafood meal. However, if you are on a budget, opt for one of fish-taco stands in the tiny town.

Back on Rd 101 on the Oregon Coast

Cape Kiwanda marks the last stop on the The Capes Loop. From here, you can get back on the scenic Rd 101 that follows the Oregon coast, and make your way back to Tillamook, where you started. If you used it as a loop. Or, continue down the coast to your next destination.

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