Cascade Head

Cascade Head is a prominent headland located on the central Oregon Coast, located between Lincoln City and Neskowin. The 9,670 acre Cascade Head Scenic-Research Area was established by President Ford on December 22, 1974 “to provide present and future generations with the use and enjoyment of certain ocean headlands, rivers, streams, estuaries, and forested areas, to insure the protection and encourage the study of significant areas for research and scientific purposes, and to promote a more sensitive relationship between man and his adjacent environment."

The first non-wilderness land in the United States to be designated by Congress to ensure protection of its scenic, ecological, and scientific values, Cascade Head laid the groundwork for future Congressionally designated scenic areas, such as Mono Basin and the Columbia River Gorge.

The area encompasses a variety of public and private land uses, including undeveloped meadows and estuaries, agricultural fields, and rural development. The Forest Service works with landowners within Cascade Head to ensure land uses remain unchanged and the qualities that inspired its designation are retained for future generations. Following its designation, the combined area of the Cascade Head Experimental Forest and Scenic-Research Area was recognized as a United Nations Biosphere Reserve.

This spectacular coastal headland provides critical habitat for native prairie grasses, rare wildflowers and the Oregon silverspot butterfly. Researchers have studied fast growing Sitka spruce and western hemlock forests here for many years. The Salmon River estuary is an integral part of the Cascade Head Scenic-Research Area. This estuary provides recreational, research, educational, scenic and estuarine resources, which have national significance. The designation established a long-term goal of restoring the Salmon River estuary and its associated wetlands to a natural estuarine system.