Cape Blanco is a prominent headland on the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

coast of southwestern

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...

in the United States, forming the westernmost point in the state. Cape Blanco extends further west than any point of land in the contiguous United States (lower 48 states) except portions of the

Olympic Peninsula The Olympic Peninsula is a large arm of land in western Washington that lies across Puget Sound from Seattle, and contains Olympic National Park. It is bounded on the west by the Pacific Ocean, the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, an ...

in Washington, including Cape Alava, the true westernmost point. The cape is part of Cape Blanco State Park and is the location of the Cape Blanco Light, first lit in 1870. The cape may have been named by explorer Martín de Aguilar in 1603 for its appearance, as ''blanco'' means "white" in Spanish. In 1775, Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra named the point Cabo Diligensias. It was later renamed Cape Orford by Captain

George Vancouver Post-captain, Captain George Vancouver (22 June 1757 – 10 May 1798) was a British Royal Navy officer best known for his Vancouver Expedition, 1791–1795 expedition, which explored and charted North America's northwestern West Coast of the Un ...

in 1792, but this name fell into disuse and Cape Blanco became the common usage.

Geology

The cape, a relatively level landform with cliffs facing the sea, is about higher than the ocean. It consists of layers of uplifted marine sediments, ranging in age from 80 million years at the bottom to less than 500,000 years at the top. The uplift is continuing; Cape Blanco is rising by several millimeters each year. Generally, landforms on the north and south end of the Oregon Coast are rising as the ocean floor slides under the continent, while the central part of the coast "seems to be folding down." Landforms near the cape include beaches, bluffs, and reefs. Visible to the south are Needle Rock, Blanco Reef, and

Humbug Mountain Humbug Mountain is one of the highest mountains in the U.S. state of Oregon to rise directly from the Pacific Ocean. It lies on the state's southern coast, about south of Port Orford and north of Gold Beach. The mountain is completely within ...

. To the north are Gull Rock, Castle Rock, and Blacklock Point. Blanco Reef is a group of irregular rocks and ledges that are from offshore and are up to high.

Geography

Cape Blanco is in northern Curry County, about north of

Port Orford Port Orford (Tolowa: tr’ee-ghi~’- ’an’ ) is a city in Curry County on the southern coast of Oregon, United States. The population was 1,133 at the 2010 census. The city takes its name from George Vancouver's original name for nearby Ca ...

, along a mountainous and isolated stretch of the coast bounded to the east by the Coast Range. It lies about west of U.S. Route 101. The Sixes River empties into the Pacific Ocean along the north side of the cape. A walk along the Oregon Coast Trail leads south from the park to the mouth of the Elk River.

Climate

Cape Blanco has very mild temperatures year round, with an all-time record high of only . Annual precipitation is high, but there is a distinct drying trend in summer, which gives Cape Blanco a warm-summer

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

(Csb) according to the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

system. During winter storms, wind speeds can reach at the cape. Extreme winds at the cape and over the Blanco Reef make this part of the coast especially dangerous for ships.

Recreation

Activities at the park include hiking, horseback riding, fishing, camping, picnicking, and beachcombing, among others, and visiting the lighthouse, a pioneer cemetery, or the Hughes House, on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

. The property belonged originally to Patrick Hughes, who came to the cape in 1860 in search of gold and who eventually established a dairy ranch along the lower Sixes River. Restored by the Friends of Cape Blanco, the two-story, eleven-room ranch house was completed in 1898.

Literature

Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraord ...

's early science fiction book '' The Begum's Millions'', a

Utopian A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book '' Utopia'', describing a fictional island socie ...

community named Ville-France is established in 1872 on the South Oregon beach. Verne gives the location of this fictitious community as "eighty kilometres north of Cape Blanco". Cape Blanco is also noted on a map of Brobdingnag in '' Gulliver's Travels''. It is also mentioned in Chapter 3 of ''

Moby-Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship ''Pequod'', for revenge against Moby Dick, the giant white ...

'': "And that harpoon-so like a corkscrew now-was flung in Javan seas, and run away with by a whale, years afterwards slain off the Cape of Blanco."

Gallery

File:Cape Blanco State Park.jpg, North side of the Cape File:Cape Blanco and Lighthouse.JPG, Cape Blanco and lighthouse File:Cape Blanco looking north.JPG, Cape Blanco looking north towards Gulf Rock, Castle Rock and Floras Lake State Park

References

External links

*
Cape Blanco Heritage Society
{{authority control Blanco State parks of Oregon Oregon Coast Landforms of Curry County, Oregon Parks in Curry County, Oregon