Season 6 Hike #10 - Cascade Head

 Season 6 Hike #10 - Cascade Head

Starting Location: Knight Park, north of Lincoln City

Point of Interest : views of the Pacific and Salmon River

Distance: about 6 miles up and back, depending how far up the trail you go.

Difficulty: moderate to difficult

Bathrooms: yes, at Knight Park

Parking: paved, and Knight Park.

EV Chargers: no

Dogs? : No Dogs

This is a well marked trail. The first part goes through private land and along a private road, where there are signs asking you to stay off the road.

The trail is also well maintained, with several small bridges, boardwalks, and crafted staits.

Parts of the trail are very steep, there are tree roots, and I can imagine how difficult it would be when muddy. we were lucky there, with a dry trail and great weather.


Our first glimpse of the ocean, but we are still on private land.
The public part of the trail starts here, along the private road. It's about 1/2 mile or so from Knight Park. This is where it starts getting steep, which, of course, it has to do since we are heading for the top of the Cascade Head at over 1300 feet.
Although the trail is steep, it is well maintained. Walking sticks are helpful here, especially on the way down. I forgot how much harder coming down is on the knees, and my sticks made it much easier.
The trail winds through a beautiful forest, with small creeks, salmonberry bushes, and birch trees. Then you come out on the meadow part of the trail, and get this amazing view.

The ocean on one side, and the Salmon River Estuary on the other. Not to mention a gorgeous, but steep, meadow habitat.

The trail wanders along the meadow, switching back and forth. This is a lower viewpoint, which is a perfect stopping point if you decide to stop here. There's nothing that says view point that I could see, but the trail does turn to go up the hill here to the upper view point.
The trail is very steep, and parts of it a worn into the ground about a foot, due to hiking in muddy conditions, I imagine. It is very narrow in places, but while we were here, it was just steep, so we stopped to catch our breath a few times. And to enjoy the view.

There's more wind up here too, as you can see from our hair.

This is an absolutely gorgeous hike, which I highly recommend, as long as it's not wet or muddy. You can absolutely stop at the lower viewpoint. The views up high are not really better. Be careful coming down, it's steep and hard on the knees. 




After the hike means dinner. We randomly chose the Rogue River Steak and Seafood Restaurant which we discovered is at the Chinook Winds Casino.

The restaurant overlooks the Pacific, but the sun was streaming in the windows, making it hard to look out. It was also busy, being Saturday Night, with a Queensryche concert as well. It was a long wait to be seated, and food took a long time too. I would probably opt for a different eating spot next time.


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