Coastal Ecotourism
Ecotourism along the Oregon Coast is a rapidly growing sector of the hospitality industry. While all of Oregon’s ecoregions have excellent ecotourism opportunities, the Coast Range currently has the greatest economic activity directly linked to healthy fish and wildlife populations. The Oregon coast also enjoys some of the highest expenditures on wildlife viewing of anywhere in the state ($159 million in 2008*). Nestled against the Pacific Ocean, the Coast Range has diverse habitats that people enjoy through hiking, camping, bird watching, wildlife viewing, fishing, and hunting. Here are just a few of the Coast Range’s most popular wildlife-based recreational activities, events, and sites.
When implemented carefully, with properly managed harvest levels and low-impact viewing practices, ecotourism is allowing local communities to capitalize on their natural resources in a sustainable way. These recreational opportunities, and the hospitality jobs they support, depend on healthy wildlife populations and habitats, which Oregonians can maintain and restore by working together.
- ODFW Wildlife Viewing Map: provides information on the best places to view wildlife throughout Oregon.
- Whale Watching: Twice each year, gray whales migrate along Oregon’s coast, traveling between summer feeding grounds near Alaska and winter nursery areas near Mexico. The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department’s “Whale Watching Spoken Here” helps coastal visitors spot, enjoy, and learn about the whales. During winter and spring school vacations, more than 200 trained volunteers are stationed at 24 locations along the coast. The program is popular, as volunteers made over 20,000 visitor contacts during the 2016 spring whale watching week. More information can be found at the Oregon State Parks Whale Watching Center. In addition to land-based viewing, coastal visitors can go on whale-watching boat and airplane tours offered by private charter operations (more information is available from ODFW’s Marine Resources Program).
- Exhibits: The Oregon Coast Aquarium and Oregon State University’s Mark O. Hatfield Marine Visitor Science Center, both located in Newport, have live animal exhibits, interactive displays, films, guided tours, and other educational programs.
- Tidepool Viewing: Along the rocky portion of Oregon’s coastline, tidepools harbor fascinating creatures that live in a world of shifting light, water, and salinity. Tidepool viewing is a popular activity, especially for families. Several areas provide educational programs and information on low-impact tidepooling. More information can be found at Oregon State Parks Tidepools, the Oregon Institute of Marine Biology, and the Hatfield Marine Science Center.
- Recreational Fishing, Clamming, and Crabbing: One of the biggest reasons people visit the coast is to go fishing or to harvest shellfish. Salmon, steelhead, Pacific halibut, surfperch, flatfish, groundfish, albacore tuna, razor clams, bay clams, and Dungeness crabs offer diverse recreational opportunities. For example, angler trips on the ocean in 2014 numbered almost 226,000, razor clamming trips to the more heavily used beaches numbered 88,000, and trips targeting Dungeness crabs and bay clams in heavily utilized estuaries numbered 51,000 and 36,500, respectively. In all, ODFW estimates that there were more than 401,000 recreational saltwater fishing, crabbing, and clamming trips made by people that year. See ODFW Saltwater Fishing for more information.
- Elk Viewing: During the winter months, elk often congregate in large numbers where plentiful forage is available. At ODFW’s Jewell Meadows Wildlife Area (located northwest of Portland) and Dean Creek Wildlife Area (located east of Reedsport), visitors are treated to up-close views of 120-200 elk. Paved parking lots, viewing areas, and interpretive signs help make these sites popular tourist stops.
- Sea Lions and Sea Lion Caves: Located along the coast (e.g., Newport waterfront, north of Florence, Strawberry Hill, and numerous other locations), sea lion viewing is a popular activity with many coastal visitors.