Great views, rugged history make Port Orford Heads a perfect pit stop on the Oregon coast – OregonLive

One of the first things you see when you show up to Port Orford Heads State Park is a historic lifeboat thats been refurbished, repainted and proudly displayed on a covered wooden platform beside a grassy picnic area.

If only that lifeboat could talk.

The southern Oregon coast destination may boast scenic views in peaceful surroundings, but dont be mistaken: Port Orford Heads State Park has a history thats rife with danger and daring rescue attempts out on the open ocean.

Near the historic lifeboat, visitors will find a few remaining buildings from the headlands time as the Port Orford Lifeboat Station, built in 1934 and manned by the U.S. Coast Guard for nearly four decades. During that time, teams of surfmen kept a lookout for ships in distress, quickly responding to any that wrecked along the rocky coastline.

Today, park visitors can walk the .2-mile Tower Trail to see the site where a lookout tower once stood tall, or the .4-mile Nellies Cove Trail that passes by one the best views in the park: a vista peering south down the coast, overlooking a long concrete structure known as a breakwater that once allowed lifeboats to make it out and back safely.

A historic lifeboat is on display at Port Orford Heads State Park on the southern Oregon coast. Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

A concrete breakwater and old pilings are all that remains of a historic boathouse at the Port Orford Lifeboat Station, now managed as Port Orford Heads State Park on the southern Oregon coast. Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Ocean views are on display on the Headland Trail at Port Orford Heads State Park on the southern Oregon coast. Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

The surfmen only responded to three shipwrecks between 1934 and 1941, according to the Oregon Encyclopedia, reporting no fatalities in the incidents. World War II brought more attention to the Pacific coastline, and with it came more personnel: from 13 to more than 100 members of the Coast Guard. The war also brought some of the most dramatic action they ever saw.

On Oct. 5, 1942, a Japanese submarine torpedoed a U.S. tanker carrying fuel oil north to Portland. The tanker, the Larry Doheny, was rocked by a massive explosion as it passed Cape Sebastian, about 28 miles south of Port Orford. Rescue crews with the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy were able to save 40 people from the sinking ship, though six died.

The Japanese submarine, known as I-25, was previously responsible for an attack at Fort Stevens near Astoria, as well as two failed aerial bombing campaigns along the Oregon coast that used a floatplane tucked away inside the vessel. Destroyers with the U.S. Navy sank the submarine less than a year after the attack on the southern Oregon coast.

Port Orford Heads was quiet after the war, and in 1970 the lifeboat station was decommissioned, bringing an end to the era of the surfmen. The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department acquired the land between 1972 and 1985, converting the head into a public park now known primarily for its stunning views.

Ocean views are on display on the Headland Trail at Port Orford Heads State Park on the southern Oregon coast. Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

One of several historic buildings still standing from the Port Orford Lifeboat Station, now managed as Port Orford Heads State Park on the southern Oregon coast.Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Ocean views are on display on the Headland Trail at Port Orford Heads State Park on the southern Oregon coast. Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Those who pull off U.S. 101 at Port Orford can make the short side trip up to Port Orford Heads, where a quick walk leads out along the headland looking over the ocean. From the .2-mile Headland Trail, all traces of its dramatic past disappear on warm summer days, the park is perfectly serene.

Like virtually every other state park on the Oregon coast, Port Orford Heads is yet another nice stop for a good view, a short walk or a place to have a picnic lunch. But unlike other stops on the coast, theres a deeper, less peaceful history behind the viewpoints.

The old lifeboat on display is just the beginning of the story.

Port Orford Heads State Park is open dawn to dusk daily; the Port Orford Lifeboat Museum is currently closed due to COVID-19; located on Port Orford Highway, Port Orford; 541-332-6774.

--Jamie Hale; jhale@oregonian.com; 503-294-4077; @HaleJamesB

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Great views, rugged history make Port Orford Heads a perfect pit stop on the Oregon coast - OregonLive