The Oregon Coast is home to many places to visit for stunning landscapes, beaches, and hiking trails. Among them, one of our favorites has been Cape Lookout State Park.
Whether you’re considering heading out for a weekend getaway or even a week-long road trip, you may want to add this one to your list. With a beautiful beach, hiking trails, camping, and views for days, this is one Oregon Coast State Park that definitely does not disappoint. You may even want to book yourself one of their yurts or cabins and stay for a while.
Visiting the Park
Day Use
When visiting for the day, you will want to make sure to bring along your Oregon State Parks Pass. If you don’t have one, you may also pay the day-use fee, which is currently $5.
Camping
Oregon Coast camping is a great way to get the true feel of the beaches of the northwest, and this would be one of our top picks. Approximately an hour and a half outside of Portland, Cape Lookout makes for an easy weekend getaway.
Camping options are available year-round at this State Park and range in price from $21-$101/night. You’ll have plenty of options to choose from, including standard tents sites, full hookups, and hiker/biker camps. However, if you want something a little different you can even rent one of their yurts or cabins. The deluxe options even have microwaves and TVs if you just can’t do without. And, yes – some of the cabins and yurts are pet-friendly so your furry family member can tag along!
Things to Do
Hiking
Cape Lookout State Park is home to over 8 miles of trails, ranging from a short family-friendly nature trail to the 4.6-mile round trip Cape Trail which will take you all the way to the tip of the cape. When we visited, we had family in town and not everyone was up for a long hike. So, a couple of us wound our way through the old-growth of the North Trail for a short while. We were rewarded with stunning views of the mossy forest and beautiful coastline at every step.
Whale Watching
Cape Lookout is also reportedly one of the best spots for whale watching along the coast. After finding this out after our visit, we weren’t surprised in the least. As you climb up the trails towards the tip of the cape, it feels like you can see forever!
We weren’t lucky enough to visit during the prime grey whale migration, but knowing this and how far we were able to see, we will definitely be back to check it out. We hear that the best times to see them are either mid-December to mid-January or late March through May. However, you still may get lucky at other times, especially during the Summer and Fall.
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Beach
The shoreline at Cape Lookout State Park provides a long, sandy stretch of beach after crossing a wide section of cobblestones. The stones provided a fun play area for the boys. They found several large pieces of bull kelp that had been washed up on the shore, making it an excellent spot for exploration. This beach is also a popular area for beachcombing, and there are reports of everything from messages in bottles to glass floats being found in the past!
Final Thoughts on Cape Lookout State Park
Whether you’re looking for whale watching, hiking, beachcombing, or a weekend getaway camping on the Oregon Coast, you really can’t go wrong with Cape Lookout State Park. You could even turn in into a mini-road trip and stop for a tour of the Tillamook Cheese Factory!
My dream is to live in Oregon at some point in my life with a house on the coast! Cape Lookout State Park looks beautiful and with plenty to do.
That would be awesome! I’d love that myself!
Cape Look out looks like my dream destination, beach, family friendly hikes and the potential to spot whales! Definitely adding it to my bucket list.
I didn’t even think about the whale watching when we decided to go, but we will definitely be back for that!
Obsessed with all things OR coast!! This place looks amazing!!
It was amazing! I can’t wait to go back again!
We definitely want to plan a trip to Oregon and PNW to spend time along the coast and in the forests. This looks wonderful!
There’s so much to do! We’ve lived in the PNW for going on 8 years and we’re still finding new places and things to do!
We are venturing around Oregon before we head out for an Alaskan cruise next year. I will have to take a peek at a map and see if Cape Lookout is close enough for us to visit. Thanks for sharing the exciting photos!
Oh, how exciting! It’s less than 2 hours from Portland, so hopefully you can make it work! Let us know if you need other recommendations!