Devils Punch Bowl State Natural Area, State natural area in Lincoln County, Oregon.
Devils Punch Bowl State Natural Area is a day-use park in Lincoln County, Oregon, centred on a broad, flat-topped rock headland of tan and light brown stone beside the Pacific. A large bowl is cut into the rock and linked to the ocean by two tunnels; at high water, waves surge in with a loud roar and spray rises above the rim. Sparse leafless shrubs grow on the top surface, and the rock's left side drops steeply into dark water.
Oregon acquired the site in at least three parcels between 1929 and 1952, with the German-language source extending the purchases to 1971. In the 1930s the Civilian Conservation Corps installed a fresh water system, sanitary works, picnic tables, stoves, trails and safety fences. The bowl itself was earlier known as Satan's Cauldron.
The name refers to the power of the sea carving into the rock, and visitors today still watch waves surge into the bowl. At low tide on the north side, water collects in small pools where starfish, anemones, and crabs appear.
Visitors can view the rock formation from the parking area or walk down a pathway to the north side at low tide, where small tide pools become accessible. Water movement in the bowl is strongest during incoming tides and can be observed safely from the upper rim.
The two former caves collapsed upward through erosion and merged into a single chamber filled from the sea. During strong wave action, water sprays over the upper rim of the opening.
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