History, Wildlife and Scenic Sites: An Oregon Drive

This self-guided driving tour traces 70 miles of the Oregon Coast between Reedsport and Newport, where towering sand dunes give way to black volcanic cliffs. You'll uncover the history and accidental disasters that make this stretch of Highway 101 unlike any other road. The tour starts at the Umpqua Discovery Center in Reedsport, crossing Conde McCullough's 1936 swing-span bridge, then passing Gardiner, a company town once mandated to paint every building white. You'll learn how migrating sand dunes dammed a river to create Tahkenitch Lake, and how Frank Herbert looked down at these dunes and invented Arrakis. North of Florence, visit the Sea Lion Caves, a rock cathedral 200 feet underground, then pass Heceta Head Lighthouse. At Cape Perpetua, the ocean has carved Thor's Well out of solid basalt. The tour ends at the Hatfield Marine Science Center, where a blue whale skeleton sits in the courtyard. Along the way, hear how dynamite failed to dispose of a beached whale in 1970.