People hoping to take a coastal hike at Cannon Beach’s Ecola State Park will have to take a rain check.
Parts of Ecola State Park are closed until further notice after a landslide damaged a section of the park’s only entrance road. Officials discovered that a 100-foot section of the Crescent Beach trail had slid over a cliff.
Visitors can still access the park’s Indian Beach Day-use area via the Tillamook Head Trail, but can’t travel further south into the park.
According to the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, the affected section was an old repair made from compacted gravel and was damaged again over the weekend by the slide. Officials say the gravel surface became uneven and unsafe. The sliding hillside also disconnected the park’s main water line, which shut off running water in the park.
Park rangers safely escorted all visitors out of the park Sunday afternoon.
Ben Cox, park manager, said there’s no timeline on when the park will reopen.
“We’re still evaluating the extent of the road damage and forming a plan for repairs,” said Cox in a statement. “The land may continue to slide too, so we’re being cautious.”
Park rangers will continue to monitor the trail and entrance road over the next few days.
Oregon Parks and Recreation encourages visitors to explore other nearby state parks like Oswald West State Park, Arcadia Beach State Recreation, and Hug Point State Recreation Site.