Cape Lookout State Park, State park on Pacific coast in Tillamook County, United States
Cape Lookout State Park covers 815 hectares in Tillamook County, stretching 8 km along the Pacific from Netarts Spit to Cape Lookout. The cape itself is a 120 m high basalt remnant of a volcano about 15 million years old, projecting over 2 km into the ocean from a base only 500 m wide. North of it, the narrow Netarts Spit separates the shallow Netarts Bay from the open sea.
Cape Lookout was named in the late 18th century by the British explorer John Meares. In 1935 the U.S. Lighthouse Service gave 378 hectares to the state for a park, and the Louis W. Hill family foundation donated the Netarts Spit land. A Civilian Conservation Corps unit built the trail to the cape tip in 1939; a memorial plaque recalls a B-17 bomber that crashed on the fogged cape on 12 October 1943, with only one crew member surviving.
A memorial marker on Cape Trail honors the crew of a B-17 bomber that crashed into the cape during World War II coastal patrol operations. Visitors today find it a quiet place to reflect on the area's wartime past.
The park offers camping spots, cabins, and yurts to suit different preferences and budgets. Book your accommodation ahead of time, especially during warmer months, and bring layers since coastal weather changes quickly throughout the day.
Since the 1980s winter storms have eroded one to two metres of coast a year, more than summer sand deposits replace. Because hard sea walls are ruled out in this natural park, the shoreline is held with artificial dunes and plantings of beach grass.
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