Cascade Head Scenic Research Area

Cascade Head Scenic Research Area Oregon

Cascade Head is a headland and 270-acre (110 ha) UNESCO biosphere reserve and United States Forest Service Experimental Forest. It is situated 85 miles (137 km) southwest of Portland, Oregon on the Oregon Coast between Lincoln City and Neskowin. Cascade Head Preserve is a Nature Conservancy Selected Site.

The 9,670 acre Cascade Head Scenic-Research Area was established by President Ford on December 22, 1974 “to provide present and future generations with the use and enjoyment of certain ocean headlands, rivers, streams, estuaries, and forested areas, to insure the protection and encourage the study of significant areas for research and scientific purposes, and to promote a more sensitive relationship between man and his adjacent environment."

The first non-wilderness land in the United States to be designated by Congress to ensure protection of its scenic, ecological, and scientific values, Cascade Head laid the groundwork for future congressionally designated scenic areas, such as Mono Basin and the Columbia River Gorge.

The area encompasses a variety of public and private land uses, including undeveloped meadows and estuaries, agricultural fields, and rural development. The Forest Service works with landowners within Cascade Head to ensure land uses remain unchanged and the qualities that inspired its designation are retained for future generations. Following its designation, the combined area of the Cascade Head Experimental Forest and Scenic-Research Area was recognized as a United Nations Biosphere Reserve.

This spectacular coastal headland provides critical habitat for native prairie grasses, rare wildflowers and the Oregon silverspot butterfly. Researchers have studied fast growing Sitka spruce and western hemlock forests here for many years. The Salmon River estuary is an integral part of the Cascade Head Scenic-Research Area. This estuary provides recreational, research, educational, scenic and estuarine resources, which have national significance. 

Endemic wildflowers include coastal paintbrush, goldenrod, streambank lupine, rare hairy checkermallow, and blue violet, a plant critical to the survival of the Oregon silverspot butterfly, a threatened species found in only six locations. Deer, elk, coyotes, snowshoe hare, and the Pacific giant salamander find refuge here, while bald eagles, great horned owls, and peregrine falcons may be seen hunting above the grassy slopes. Today, in addition to its biological importance, the area is a mecca for some 6,000 hikers annually and for anglers who target the salmon and steelhead runs on the Salmon River.

Cascade Head offers some outstanding scenic hikes, with rainforest pathways and wildflower meadows giving way to dramatic ocean views. The most popular trails in Cascade Head Scenic Research Area are

1.       Cascade Head Trail

2.      Hart's Cove Trail

3.      Cascade Head via Nature Conservancy Trail

Directions: The Cascade Head Scenic Research Area spans between south of Neskowin, Oregon to the junction of Highway 18 and Highway 101.