Oregon's Beacons Of Light
This summer, The Early Show is featuring great vacation destinations in the series, "The Best Of America." Friday, we head to the Oregon coast where visitors can take a drive along highway 101 and discover a string of unique lighthouses along the way.
These beacons once guided ships to safety and now they're pointing tourists toward a magnificent coastline. National Correspondent Hattie Kauffman reports.
The coast of Oregon: Dramatic rock formations, jagged cliffs, pounding surf and diverse wildlife. And dotting the 200-mile stretch of shore are lighthouses giving visitors a glimpse into another era.
"I think it's the most beautiful lighthouse in the Oregon coast," says Joe Ashor. As the manager of the Yaquina Head Lighthouse in Newport, Ore., he may be a little biased. But it's hard to argue with him once you see the view from the top.
"There are 114 stairs in the lighthouse. And on an annual basis, we get about 80,000 people a year climbing the steps. What they see when they get to the top is a 360-degree panoramic view," Ashor says.
"When you visit the lighthouses, you can see what powerful settings they're in. It was only in the mid-1800s that funds were designated for lighthouses along the Pacific Coast," notes Amy O'Connell, senior travel editor for Sunset magazine. "Back then, it was a huge challenge to build those lighthouses because the Pacific Coastline was unknown territory. And the geology of the Pacific Coast is a lot more dramatic than the Atlantic."
McConnell says Yaquina Head is particularly unique because of the surroundings.
"It's 100 acres of incredible geology. You can get within 500 feet of about 30,000 nesting birds, mostly mers, comarince, seagulls, sometime pelicans. Bald eagles are sometimes spotted," she says.
Lighthouses may seem antiquated, but they still serve an important purpose.
"Even with today's technology, with the global positioning systems that a lot of the ships have, every now and then, that stuff malfunctions and they rely on the light to get them into safe harbor," says Ashor.
A few miles south is the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse. The original keeper of this lighthouse both lived and worked there with his family. It is fully refurbished so visitors can see what life was like in the 1870s.
"When you visit, especially at night, and on windy days, you can hear quite a racket going on up in the towers. And sometimes it even sounds like moaning," says McConnell.
An age-old ghost story is attached to this house. The legend tells of a young woman named Muriel who many claim still haunts the lighthouse. But the truth?
"There never was a Muriel. It was all a fictional tale," says McConnell.
Further down the coast is one of the most photographed lighthouses in the world.
"What sets Heceta Head apart from other lighthouses is its spectacular setting. It feels like the end of the world up here," says McConnell.
"There's several pictures of this particular lighthouse and we've never gotten an opportunity to really see it up close," she says.
Like most of the lighthouses along the coast, Heceta Head is open for public tours.
"This is the area where the crank would have been, to crank up the 200-pound weight, to turn the different gears that turn the 4,000-pound carriage and lens. As you travel the Oregon coast, enjoy the lighthouses that you see, do a little comparison between them. Understand that this is the brightest lighthouse on the Oregon coast," says McConnell.
The lights that once drew sailors home now draw thousands of visitors each year.
"Lighthouses have a real hold on people's imagination and passion. They are symbols of hope, guiding hope, homeward. They're such tangible forms of safety in a world where safety is harder to find anymore," says McConnell.
All but two of Oregon's nine lighthouses are accessible to the public and the cost for visiting often just includes a small parking fee. Some are even free.
For more information:
Oregon Coast Visitors Association (OCVA):
PO Box 74
Newport, OR 97365
1-888-628-2101
Central Oregon Coast Association (COCA):
PO Box 2094
Newport, OR 97365
1-800-767-2064