Heceta Head

Built in 1894, the 56 foot tall Heceta (pronounced heh-SEE-tuh) Head Lighthouse sits atop a 200 foot cliff, directly above a white sand beach. Sheer rock cliffs flank the beach and sea stacks rise up from the waters; the cliffs beneath the lighthouse extend into the ocean like so many sharks teeth. It's a state park, accessible from US 101.

US 101 does not, however, run down to the lighthouse or its beach. Instead it plunges through a tunnel then flies right over the beach on a massive arched concrete viaduct. Add in the costs of cutting the highway into the cliffs and you get the "half million dollar mile", in the 1930s one of the most expensive highway projects in America. The turnoff to Heceta Head is on your right as you go up the coast. The access road turns downward, goes under the US 101 bridge, and comes right up to the beach. The lighthouse is a quarter mile walk gently uphill.