Heceta Head Lighthouse

Built in 1893, Heceta is said to be the most photographed lighthouse in the United States. Well, that might be true. It certainly is picturesque. Heceta Head — most people call it Ha-SEE-tah, though a few say HECK-e-tah — is north of Florence and just north of the tunnel on US 101. The lighthouse rises more than 200 feet above the water and looks like it might have leapt out of a New England wall calendar. The small beach nearby is pleasant; a trail leads from the parking lot up the hill to the lighthouse keeper’s house — now a bed and breakfast, if you go in for that sort of thing — and then to the lighthouse itself, which is often open for tours.
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