Ecola State Park

Ecola State Park is a state park located approximately 3 miles north of Cannon Beach in Clatsop County in the U.S. state of Oregon on the Oregon Coast. It is administered by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.[2]

Ecola State Park
Southern view of the coast from Ecola State Park
with Haystack Rock in the distance.
Map showing the location of Ecola State Park
Map showing the location of Ecola State Park
Map showing the location of Ecola State Park
Map showing the location of Ecola State Park
LocationClatsop County, Oregon, United States
Nearest cityCannon Beach
Coordinates45°55′22″N 123°58′09″W[1]
OperatorOregon Parks and Recreation Department
WebsiteEcola State Park

The park encompasses 9 miles (14 km) of coastline between Cannon Beach and Seaside and includes Tillamook Head.[2] In 1806, William Clark and other members of the Corps of Discovery traveled through the area in search of a beached whale and saw burial canoes of the Tillamook;[2] the park is included as part of Lewis and Clark National Historical Park, though separate entrance fees are charged. Archaeological sites within the park dating to as early as 1100 CE have revealed much about the Tillamook.[3] Included within the park are 8 miles (13 km) of the Oregon Coast Trail.[2][4] Scenes from several movies have been filmed at Indian Beach and other park locations.

Archaeology

Multiple archaeological sites located within park boundaries were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.[5][6]

Bald Point Site

The Bald Point Site (Smithsonian trinomial: 35CLT23) features a shell midden and possible house pit, dating to ca. 1550 CE. Associated with the Tillamook people, it has the potential to yield information related to environmental change in the Oregon Coast region, settlement and subsistence patterns, emergence of ethnographic patterns among coastal people, baseline cultural patterns prior to the arrival of European Americans, and other topics. Parts of the site have been lost to coastal erosion since the first scientific investigations in 1976, but the remaining portions appear mostly secure.[7][6]

Ecola Point Site

At the Ecola Point Site (Smithsonian trinomial: 35CLT21), several ground depressions have been interpreted by researchers as house pits, indicating the presence of a semipermanent village. Two dense shell middens have preserved extensive faunal remains, along with other artifacts. Radiocarbon dates taken at the site roughly span a period from ca. 1100 CE to ca. 1700 CE. The site has the potential to yield information related to environmental change in the Oregon Coast region, settlement and subsistence patterns, emergence of ethnographic patterns among coastal people, the change in cultural patterns from before to after contact with European Americans, and other topics.[3][6]

Filming location

Much of the 1985 film The Goonies was filmed within the park, as was the school picnic scene in Kindergarten Cop.[8] Indian Beach was the filming location for the time-jumping final act of Point Break, and several scenes of Twilight.[8] The park also appeared in Free Willy including several scenes where it served as the exterior background of the Northwest Adventure Park's aquatic theater. In reality, the tank was filmed at the former Reino Aventura in Tlalpan, Mexico.[9]

See also

References
  1. "Ecola State Park". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. "Ecola State Park". Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
  3. Erlandson, Jon M.; Moss, Madonna L. (August 15, 1996), National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: 35-CLT-21, Ecola Point Site (redacted PDF), retrieved September 30, 2015.
  4. Gearing, Charles (June 15, 2023). "Ecola State Park trail, once a showcase of ocean views, moved inland after landslides". Statesman Journal. Retrieved June 28, 2023.
  5. National Park Service (September 26, 1997), Weekly List of Actions Taken on Properties: 9/15/97 through 9/19/97, archived from the original on September 30, 2015, retrieved September 29, 2015. Note that this source contains a typographical error, rendering the name of the "Ecola Point Site" as "Bcola Point Site".
  6. Moss, Madonna L.; Erlandson, Jon M. (August 31, 1996), National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form: Native American Archaeological Sites of the Oregon Coast (PDF), retrieved September 28, 2015.
  7. Erlandson, Jon M.; Moss, Madonna L. (August 31, 1996), National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: 35-CLT-23, Bald Point Site (redacted PDF), retrieved September 25, 2015.
  8. "Locations". The Oregon Film Trail. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
  9. Sachie Yorck (December 19, 2018). "FIND YOUR FAVORITE OREGON FILM LOCATION". Travel Oregon. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
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