Two easy walks along the Oregon Coast Trail begin in the cute coastal town of Yachats. One hike leads north past spouting horns and crumbling bluffs to a long, broad beach. The other heads south of Yachats to a statue in the forest at Cape Perpetua honoring a blind Indian captive named Amanda.

For the first hike, drive Highway 101 . . .

This easy path, part of the Oregon Coast Trail, traces Yachats’ rocky shoreline past spouting horns and crumbling bluffs to a long, broad beach. The trail exists today only because landowners blocked access to the traditional smelt fishing rocks here in the late 1970s.  Outraged locals checked county books and discovered a 19th-century right-of-way for an unbuilt county road.  A legal battle, fought all the way to the Oregon Supreme Court, ended in 2001.  Now the route has been turned over to the State Parks.

For a different short walk along the Oregon Coast Trail , start on the south side of Yachats instead. From downtown, walk or drive south  . . .

This chapter is an excerpt from 100 Hikes : Oregon Coast