Clatsop Loop

Clatsop Loop traverses the southern portion of Ecola State Park through magnificent old-growth Sitka spruce forest with intermittent coastal views, named in honor of the Clatsop people who inhabited this stretch of the Oregon coast for thousands of years before European contact. The loop climbs from the main park area through a forest of extraordinary character, where ancient Sitka spruce draped in club moss and old man's beard lichen create an almost tropical lushness fed by the heavy coastal rainfall. The trees along this section of the loop include individuals several hundred years old, their massive trunks and spreading buttress roots conveying the deep antiquity of this coastal forest. Openings in the canopy provide glimpses toward the ocean and the rocky headlands, with the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse visible offshore from several viewpoints. The lighthouse, built in 1881 on an isolated sea stack three miles offshore, operated until 1957 and is now a columbarium. Brown pelicans, Brandt's cormorants, and western gulls are among the many seabirds visible from the coastal viewpoints. The forest floor hosts a rich community of ferns, oxalis, and coastal wildflowers, and the trail is particularly atmospheric on foggy days when the moisture-laden air enhances the otherworldly quality of the old-growth forest. Wildlife including Roosevelt elk, black-tailed deer, and Douglas squirrels inhabit the park throughout the year.