Cape Meares Oregon Map

About Cape Meares, Oregon

Cape Meares is a locality in Tillamook County, Oregon, United States. It is a small community with a population of 135. The population density is 20.8 people per km². Cape Meares is located at 45.5242°N, 123.9502°W. It observes the Pacific Time (America/Los_Angeles) timezone. ZIP code: 97141.

Cape Meares rises as a rugged promontory where the dense, salt-sprayed forests of the Pacific Northwest collide with the relentless churn of the Pacific Ocean. It lies 41.1 miles west of Forest Grove, OR (from Forest Grove, OR: bearing 267°T), and is situated 6.0 miles west-northwest of Tillamook. Coleman Creek cuts a narrow, shadowed path toward the tide, carving through the earth before its freshwater pulse is swallowed by the brine. High above the surf, the landscape is defined by the Cape Meares National Wildlife Refuge Research Natural Area, a protected sanctuary where ancient spruce trees lean against the prevailing winds, their boughs heavy with lichen. A mile offshore, the jagged silhouette of Pillar Rock stands as a sentinel against the horizon, while inland, the quiet stillness of Cape Meares Lake offers a sheltered contrast to the violent maritime theater unfolding on the cliffs. On the clearest of days, the distant, hazy spine of the Coast Range emerges like a phantom across the eastern sky, grounding the wild fringe of the continent in a broader, continental scale.

History here is written in the slow reclamation of the land by the weather, a process that has shaped the local economy away from the frenetic pace of the interior toward a quiet, observant stewardship of the natural world. The maritime legacy of the region lingers in the solitude of the headlands, where the necessity of survival once dictated every human endeavor. In the modern era, the rhythm of Cape Meares is dictated by the seasonal shifts in the avian populations that utilize the refuge, drawing those who find solace in the stark, unadorned beauty of the cliffside. Life here lacks the artifice of more developed locales, favoring instead the raw texture of driftwood and the persistent, gray light that filters through the canopy. The economy is quiet, sustained by a delicate balance between preserving the integrity of the ecosystem and accommodating the occasional traveler who seeks the silence found only where the land finally yields to the deep.

About This Cape Meares Map Page

This page provides an embedded street and satellite map of Cape Meares, Oregon. Coordinates: 45.524248, -123.950202. Live weather conditions are sourced directly from the National Weather Service. Real-time local and world news feeds keep the page current.

Detailed location data for Cape Meares includes the ZIP code (97141), telephone area code (503, 971), county seat of Tillamook County (Tillamook), and school district assignment (Tillamook School District 9).

Location data is drawn from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) and cross-verified against 2020 US Census records by coordinate proximity. Population figures are sourced from the 2020 US Census.