Siuslaw National Forest

This Forest offers beautiful scenic views that range from coastal mountains to beaches of the Pacific Ocean.


Park Photo

Photo credit: USDA Forest Service

The Siuslaw National Forest is a very diverse and productive region extending from Tillamook to Coos Bay along the Oregon coast. The forest encompasses over 630,000 acres of unique and varying ecosystems. The Forest is situated within the Oregon Coast Range, a mountain range that runs north to south from the Columbia River to north central California. The Siuslaw National Forest is bordered on the east by the Willamette Valley and the west by the Pacific Ocean and is one of only two national forests located in the lower 48 states to claim oceanfront property. Marys Peak, the highest peak in the Coast Range at elevation 4,097, is a prominent view west of Corvallis. Pacific Coast Scenic Byway Highway 101 runs parallel along the west side of the Forest and the Pacific Ocean, while Highways 26, 6, 18, 22, 20, 34, 126 and 38 provide access from the Portland metro area and central and southern Willamette Valley. Two spectacular and culturally rich coastal headlands are distinguished by the native prairie grasses and rare wildflowers of Cascade Head National Scenic-Research Area and the towering trees and jagged, rocky flanks of Cape Perpetua Scenic Area. The Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area on the southern end of the forest constitutes one of the largest expanses of temperate coastal sand dunes in the world. The large oblique dunes found here occur nowhere else in the world. Four major rivers flow out of the Siuslaw National Forest into the Pacific Ocean: the Nestucca, Alsea, Siuslaw, and Umpqua providing excellent habitat for anadromous fish. Many other smaller streams and tributaries add to the annual route salmon and steelhead take to their ancestral spawning ground. Abundant rainfall and mild winters provide growing conditions for a variety of vegetation species. The Siuslaw’s temperate rain forest, coastal influence, ocean-forest interface, relatively young Douglas-fir forest, and cultural history make it unique among all other national forests.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/main/siuslaw/home

Wilderness Areas/Wild & Scenic Rivers

Drift Creek Wilderness - On the Drift Creek Wilderness, towering Sitka spruce and western hemlock, that sometimes reach seven feet in diameter, shade the Coast Range’s largest rainforest stand of old growth.

Cummins Creek Wilderness - Cummins Creek Wilderness features the only old-growth Sitka Spruce forest in the Oregon Wilderness System.

Rock Creek Wilderness - Rock Creek Wilderness is one of Siuslaw National Forest’s most remote wildernesses with no developed trails and trailheads.

Devils Staircase Wilderness - The Wilderness also encompasses some of the most remote and rugged terrain on the Siuslaw National Forest, characterized by steep creek drainages, sheer sandstone cliff faces, unstable soils, and dense vegetation. 

Invasive Species

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