Heceta Head

{{Short description|Coastal headland in Oregon, United States}}

File:Heceta Head angled.jpg meadows, rhododendrons and Sitka spruce groves, with Parrot Rock to the left]]

Heceta Head ({{IPAc-en|h|ə|ˈ|s|iː|t|ə}} {{respell|hə|SEE|tə}}) is a headland that stands {{convert|1000|ft|m}} above the Pacific Ocean in Lane County, Oregon, United States. The Heceta Head Light is located on its south side. Heceta Head is named after a Basque explorer under Spanish commission, Bruno de Heceta, who explored the Pacific Northwest in the 1770s.{{cite book |last=Bannan |first=Jan Gumprecht |title=Oregon State Parks |publisher= The Mountaineers Books |year= 2002 |page= 58 |isbn= 0-89886-794-0 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=boFO8l8R7BsC}} The headland marks the end of a lower-lying stretch of the coastline to the south dominated by sand dunes; the coastline to the north is more varied.{{cite journal |last=Byrne |first=John V. |date=September 1964 |title=An Erosional Classification for the Northern Oregon Coast |journal=Annals of the Association of American Geographers |volume= 54 |issue= 3 |pages=144–145 |issn=0004-5608 |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |jstor=323856 | doi = 10.2307/323856 }} Devils Elbow is the bay south of the headland at the mouth of Cape Creek, and with the headland formed Devils Elbow State Park, which is now part of Heceta Head Lighthouse State Scenic Viewpoint.{{GNIS|1140948|name=Devils Elbow}}{{cite web |url = http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_124.php |title = Heceta Head Lighthouse State Scenic Viewpoint |publisher = Oregon Parks and Recreation Department |accessdate = March 18, 2009}}