Gwynn Creek

Gwynn Creek Loop Trail and Cooks Ridge at Cape Perpetua

This is a wonderful hike through very large trees and old growth scenes, about 3-4 miles south of Yachats, Oregon.  It is well marked along the trail.  There are several ways to get to this trail, depending on where you decide to enter it.  You can park at the Cape Perpetua Visitor's Center and go from there, or another way we went was a good way to check out Gwynn Creek Trail, and if you don't want to do the whole loop you can go up as far as you like up through the beautiful forest and just turn around and go back when you're tired.  But if you make it to the intersection at the top you might as well do the whole loop, it's only about 1/2 mile farther than turning around and going back the way you came.

To check out Gwynn Creek Trail we parked at Neptune State Park, which is about a mile south of the Cape Perpetua Visitor's Center.  Park there and walk across the street and follow the grassy road bed to a bridge, cross the bridge and the trail is marked for the Oregon Coast Trail to the left, and Gwynn Creek Trail to the right.  Take a right and go up the trail.

The trail has a fairly mild incline up, but it is pretty much all upwards to the top, (the Cape Perpetua Scenic Area map says it's 2.6 miles up, but the signage suggests it's 3 mi), where the Gwynn Creek Trail intersects with the Cooks Ridge Trail.  The loop path for this hike will be to take a left here and head down the trail 2.4 miles to the Visitor's Center.

The following area is one of my favorites, hiking along the ridge, big trees, lush forests, and just before you intersect with the Discovery Loop Trail you will come across an area of really big trees, and just past those you will see the Wizard's Tree, which is a large, quite interesting hollowed out stump of an old growth tree.

As you intersect with the Discovery Loop you can go either right or left, it's going to lead to the same place either way.  There is another large tree area via the left trail (they even put in a bench there so you can sit and admire it).  If you take the left trail it will meet the right trail (it's a loop) and just remember to take a left at that intersection (down), otherwise you'll be walking around the loop yet again.

Once at the Visitor's Center head down the paved trail to the left of the Visitor's Center and a little way down the paved path there is an offshoot to the left that will go across the entrance road to the Visitor's Center, and onto the Oregon Coast Trail .9 mile to where you intersect with Gwynn Creek Trail, and then you just cross the bridge again and head back to the parking lot.

It's really a gorgeous forest walk that does go up and down the other side, but it's not a terribly challenging hike with it's rather gentle climbing trail, and the trail is very good.  I've been on a lot of trails and it's one of my all-time favorites.
~ Robyn Annala 2019