Ecola State Park, State park in Oregon Coast region, United States.
Ecola State Park is a coastal state park located between Seaside and Cannon Beach in Oregon. It features dense Sitka spruce forests, dramatic cliffsides, and several beaches where forest meets ocean.
On 3 January 1806 the Lewis and Clark Expedition at Fort Clatsop received whale meat from Clatsop people; on 6 January William Clark set out with twelve men and reached the carcass near Tillamook Head, buying about 150 kg of meat and some oil from the Killamucks before returning on 10 January. Clark named a nearby creek Ecola, from a Chinook word for whale. In 1932 citizens donated 91 ha for the state park, and Civilian Conservation Corps workers built many of its facilities in 1935.
The name Ecola comes from a creek that William Clark named in January 1806 for the beached whale the expedition sought; ecola is a Chinook Jargon word for whale, spelled ehkoli in 19th-century dictionaries and ikuli in the Grand Ronde dialect. The name later passed to other features, including the park.
The park offers several hiking trails including segments of the Oregon Coast Trail and shorter forest paths for different ability levels. Sturdy footwear is recommended, as trails can be muddy and uneven, especially during wet weather.
The 1985 film The Goonies was largely shot in the park, and Indian Beach served as the location for the time-jumping final act of Point Break. Scenes from Kindergarten Cop, Twilight and Free Willy were also filmed here; in Free Willy the park stood in for the exterior of an aquatic theater whose tank was actually filmed in Tlalpan, Mexico.
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