Heceta Head

Heceta Head and lighthouse surrounded by salal meadows, rhododendrons and Sitka spruce groves, with Parrot Rock to the left

Heceta Head (/həˈsiːtə/ hə-SEE-tə) is a headland that stands 1,000 feet (300 m) above the Pacific Ocean in Lane County, Oregon, United States. The Heceta Head Light is located on its south side. Heceta Head is named after a Basque explorer under Spanish commission, Bruno de Heceta, who explored the Pacific Northwest in the 1770s.[1] The headland marks the end of a lower-lying stretch of the coastline to the south dominated by sand dunes; the coastline to the north is more varied.[2] Devils Elbow is the bay south of the headland at the mouth of Cape Creek, and with the headland formed Devils Elbow State Park, which is now part of Heceta Head Lighthouse State Scenic Viewpoint.[3][4]

  1. ^ Bannan, Jan Gumprecht (2002). Oregon State Parks. The Mountaineers Books. p. 58. ISBN 0-89886-794-0.
  2. ^ Byrne, John V. (September 1964). "An Erosional Classification for the Northern Oregon Coast". Annals of the Association of American Geographers. 54 (3). Blackwell Publishing: 144–145. doi:10.2307/323856. ISSN 0004-5608. JSTOR 323856.
  3. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Devils Elbow
  4. ^ "Heceta Head Lighthouse State Scenic Viewpoint". Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. Retrieved March 18, 2009.