Oregon Coastal Tour: Florence to Yachats

Sea Lion Caves is a privately owned wildlife preserve and bird sanctuary (since 1932) centrally located just 11 miles north of Florence on the beautiful and rugged Oregon Coast. Sea Lion Caves is proud to be part of the Oregon/Cape Perpetua Marine Reserve helping to protect the local marine animals and marine environment. Sea Lion Caves is America’s largest sea cave and the year-round home of the Steller sea lion, but sea lions are not always in the Cave. They are wild animals and we are not a zoo so these protected animals come and go as they please, as is their nature.

Pronounced “Ha – SEE – Ta” by most, everyone agrees Heceta Head is one of the most beautiful lighthouses in the world. The Heceta Head Lighthouse and Light Keeper’s home are circa 1894. Both are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The lighthouse is a working lighthouse. From a height of 205 feet above the ocean, its “first order” Fresnel lens, casts it’s beams some 21 miles out to sea. It is the brightest light on the Oregon coast. It is said to be the most photographed lighthouse in the United States.

In Yachats you will have several dining options to enjoy lunch along with galleries, boutiques and coffee shops or maybe even a little ice cream is in order! If seafood is what you came for, it does not get any fresher from several local restaurants purchasing from local fishermen taking pride in the catch of the day.

This deep chasm exposes the shoreline’s volcanic history and shows the relentless, violent power of the ocean. The chasm likely started as a narrow fracture or collapsed lava tube in the volcanic bedrock. Over many thousands of years under the constant pounding force of the ocean waves it’s now more than 80 feet wide where it opens at the ocean

Cape Perpetua is a large forested headland on the central Oregon Coast which projects into the Pacific Ocean. It’s part of the Siuslaw National Forest and it is a great place to experience towering trees looming through a coastal fog, frothy surf crashing upon jagged shores, and majestic headlands offering clear views for miles.

We will visit the Historic Old Town district of this inland coastal village originally built on docks lining the Siuslaw river banks. With Florence’s long time logging and fishing history, it was positioned perfectly between the coastal forest range and the Pacific ocean, taking advantage of the easy river access.