Cape Meares is a small headland

Headlands and bays

Headlands and bays are two related features of the coastal environment.- Geology and geography :Headlands and bays are often found on the same coastline. A bay is surrounded by land on three sides, whereas a headland is surrounded by water on three sides. Headlands are characterized by high,...

 on the Pacific

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

 coast in Tillamook County

Tillamook County, Oregon

Tillamook County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon. The county is named for the Tillamook, a Native American tribe who were living in the area in the early 19th century at the time of European American settlement. In 2010, the county's population was 25,250...

, Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

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

Tillamook Bay

Tillamook Bay is a small inlet of the Pacific Ocean, approximately 6 mi long and 2 mi wide, on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Oregon...

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

Tillamook, Oregon

The city of Tillamook is the county seat of Tillamook County, Oregon, United States. The city is located on the southeast end of Tillamook Bay on the Pacific Ocean. The population was 4,352 at the 2000 census...

. Much of the cape is part of the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department , officially known 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...

-administered Cape Meares State Scenic Viewpoint with three miles of hiking trails, which includes the Cape Meares Light

Cape Meares Light

The Cape Meares Light is an inactive lighthouse on the coast of Oregon. It is located on Cape Meares just south of Tillamook Bay. It is open to the public.-History:Built in 1890, Cape Meares Light served as the light station for Tillamook Bay...

house. The cape is named after John Meares

John Meares

John Meares was a 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 :...

, a British explorer.

Geography

Immediately north of the cape is the community of Cape Meares

Cape Meares, Oregon

Cape Meares is a census-designated place and unincorporated community in Tillamook County, Oregon, United States. The population was 110 at the 2000 census....

, 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, Oregon

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 Tillamook Bay....

, 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 (Oregon)

Short Beach is a 1,000-meter stretch of beach on the northern Oregon Coast in the United States. It is not named for its length. Locals guess that both the beach and the creek that runs onto it—Short Creek, several miles in length—were named after an early resident of the area...

.

Cape Meares State Scenic Viewpoint

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

Sitka Spruce

Picea sitchensis, the Sitka Spruce, is a large coniferous evergreen tree growing to 50–70 m tall, exceptionally to 95 m tall, and with a trunk diameter of up to 5 m, exceptionally to 6–7 m diameter...

 with a trunk circumference of about 50 feet. It is accessible via a short hike from the main parking lot.

External links

• Cape Meares State Scenic Viewpoint from Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
  Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
  The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department , officially known 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...
  
  

45.49°N 123.9575°W