The only stair access to the south side of Yachats Bay has been closed by Oregon State Parks and Recreation after it was heavily damaged by high tides Feb. 18-20.
But repairing it and reopening the access won’t be as simple as some bolts and boards. The wooden top of the stairs sits on one of numerous shell middens along the south side of the bay.
In Oregon, middens are mounds created when Native Americans piled shells, debris and artifacts during their encampments and harvests. Most middens were flattened by settlers, hauled away to mix with soil or used to help pave coastal roads in the early 1900s.
The tides in late February were the last of three months of so-called “King” tides, the highest tides of the year.
The high water took out the top section of the wood stairs down to the beach, but not the newly repaired lower concrete section, which also has removable metal handrails.
The wide, sandy bay is popular with local residents and tourists. Yachats Ocean Road and its easement is owned and managed by Oregon State Parks.
Now that route to the beach is closed. The only other safe access is a fairly level trail from the pullout 300 yards farther south along Yachats Ocean Road. But it is only safe during low tides. Two other trails near the damaged steps involve drops of 4-10 feet over the side of the bay’s bank.
Before the top portion of the stairs are replaced, the agency will need to consult with archeologists to see if rebuilding there is OK, said Dylan Anderson, manager of state parks in Lincoln County.
“That one is going to be a little trickier,” Anderson said. “I have to talk to the archeologists to see what they’ll let us do.”
He said there is currently no timeline for fixing or replacing the structure.
At the north end of town, state parks hopes to have the stairs re-connected to the ramp at the north end of the 804 Trail by March 23, the start of Oregon’s Spring Break. The removable stairs are unhooked from the ramp to prevent damage to during winter storms.
Anderson said Halco Welding of Newport is making a new hinge system for the stairs.
