What To Do > Attractions

Tillamook Cheese Visitor Center
Every year, 78,000,000 pounds of cheese with the legendary Tillamook label are delivered to destinations throughout the world. It is a proud tradition in Tillamook County, Oregon. Come visit our gift shop and take a self guided tour to see Tillamook Cheese in the making. After that, you can sample some cheese and eat lunch in the Farmhouse Cafe. Then you can finish off your visit to the Tillamook Cheese Visitor Center with a scoop of their famous ice cream.

The Tillamook Cheese Visitor Center is open year round. Hours are from 8 AM to 6 PM with special summer hours from 8 AM to 8 PM.

Susan Palmer, Director Retail Operations
4175 Hwy 101 North
Tillamook, OR 97141
Visitors Center/Retail, 503-815-1300
Visitors Center/Retail Fax, 503-815-1305
www.tillamookcheese.com/VisitorsCenter

Open 7 days a week, 8 am to 8 pm in the summer and 9 am to 5 pm in the winter. For more information call 503-842-8281 or 1-800-275-0639.

Denny & Chris Pastega
2001 Blue Heron Drive
Tillamook, OR 97141
www.blueheronoregon.com

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Tillamook Forest Center
The Tillamook Forest Center is a new educational and recreational resource 20 minutes east of Tillamook in the heart of the Tillamook State Forest. The center hosts a wealth of innovative exhibits and programs about the Tillamook Burn and reforestation through interactive displays.

Located at the heart of the Tillamook State Forest, the region’s newest interpretive and educational center showcases the legacy of the historic Tillamook Burn through a wealth of innovative exhibits and programs through interactive displays. 

Opened in May of 2006, the Tillamook Forest Center offers visitors a unique setting to learn more about the Tillamook State Forest and the famous Tillamook Burn.

Admission to the center free, it's open seven days a week from 10 am to 6 pm. During the winter off-season (October–April), the center will be open from 10 am to 4 pm Wednesday – Sunday (closed Monday & Tuesday).

The center is located 20 minutes east of Tillamook on Highway 6. For more information, call 503-815-6800 or visit www.tillamookforestcenter.org.

Tillamook Co. Pioneer Museum
The Museum was established in 1935. It is housed in the second courthouse built in the city of Tillamook in 1905. It stands on the site of the original building which burned in 1903. When the present courthouse was built, the old building was turned into a museum through the efforts of the Tillamook County Pioneer Association. A nucleus of 400 artifacts continued to grow until there are now over 35,000 artifacts.
For more information, call 842-4553 or visit the museum at 2106 Second Street in Tillamook.
www.tcpm.org

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Tillamook Naval Air Museum
Over two dozen of the finest vintage flying aircraft in the nation all housed in a World War II blimp hangar ... the largest wooden structure in the world! See our planes - TBM Avenger, F4U Corsair, J2F-6 Duck, SBD Dauntless, Bf-109 Messerschmitt, A-26 Invader, T-6 Texan, PBY-5A Catalina, P-51 Mustang, Mk-8 Spitfire, B-25 Mitchell, AD-4W Skyraider, AM-1 Mauler, FM-2 Wildcat, P-38 Lightning, WWI Spad, and much more!
www.tillamookair.com

Latimer Quilt and Textile Center
The Latimer Quilt & Textile Center in Tillamook is dedicated to preserving, promoting, displaying and facilitating the creation of and to provide education about the textile arts. Approximately five different exhibits a year demonstrate the diversity of the textile arts. Also, classes in weaving, spinning, dyeing, paper-making, quilting, tatting, cross-stitch, needlepoint, and basketry are available.Hours: Sunday, 12 Noon - 4 PM; Tuesday - Saturday, 10 AM - 4 PM; Monday, closed. Located at 2105 Wilson River Loop Road, Tillamook, OR 97141. Call 503-842-8622 for more information.
www.oregoncoast.com/latimertextile

Garibaldi Museum
The Garibaldi Museum - Maritime History, founded in 1986 by Charles M. Parkin Jr, co-author of Captain Gray and the Pacific Northwest, is a 7,000 square foot building of post and beam construction with cathedral ceilings, skylights and stained glass windows. The museum features the story of Captain Robert Gray,  with models of the sloop Lady Washington and the ship Columbia, the two vessels that made this courageous trip around the horn to seek fur trade with China, are on display. Other exhibits include a sea otter pelt, a model of a 18th century Norwegian sailing ship and reproductions of 18th century navigation equipment. The museum is open July 1 to September 30, Thursday - Monday from Noon to 4:00 p.m. Call 503-322-8411 for more information.
www.garibaldimuseum.com

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The Three Capes Scenic Drive
The meandering drive follows a 40 mile route from its northern end, head south on Third Street in Tillamook, turning right after crossing the Tillamook River. You will skirt the southern edge of Tillamook Bay, looking across the water toward Bay City and Garibaldi as you drive toward Cape Meares. The bay, which has many commercially harvested oyster beds, is a vital habitat for much of the county's fish and wildlife. When you reach Bayocean, don't miss reading the signs which tell you the brief story of the ghost community, now gone, that existed there 35 - 55 years ago.

Turning left from the bay, the route climbs up through forested hills toward the entrance to Cape Meares State Park. Within easy walking distance from the Cape Meares parking lot is the legendary Octopus Tree, a Sitka spruce that sends six huge trunks into the sky. Also in the vicinity are Cape Meares Lighthouse and a coastal seabird nesting area that is part of a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Preserve.

Heading south you will encounter the turnoff to Oceanside, a small coastal village that is a popular stopping place with vacationers. Just offshore from Oceanside is Three Arch Rocks. On most spring and summer weekends, you will see hang gliders riding the winds above the rocks until they finally land on the beach. Three Arch Rocks was declared a National Wildlife Refuge in the early 1900s by President Theodore Roosevelt. It is the home for many types of bird life and an area frequented by sea lions.

The next stop is Netarts Bay, three miles south of Oceanside, considered on of the best coastal locales for clamming and crabbing. The scenic route then takes you on a winding drive that moves inland in spots and then to Cape Lookout, another state park, which has camping facilities near the beach. Trails and viewpoints are abundant.

Cape Lookout State Park encompassed nearly every geologic and natural feature found along the Oregon Coast. The park was named for Cape Lookout, a rocky headland extending one and three-quarter miles into the ocean. An overnight camp is located in a typical coastal rain forest.

A rolling, gently sloping beach provides an ideal setting for ocean activities. Continuing on up the hill you will find a parking lot which is the trailhead to some nicely wooded trails that offer splendid views of the ocean and beaches. Take a five mile round-trip hike to the tip of Cape Lookout or a two and a half mile stroll down to the beach.

Continue on the Three Capes Scenic Drive and you will pass some of the Sandlake Sand Dunes, continue for several miles and you will come to Cape Kiwanda State Park. Cape Kiwanda is the smallest of the three capes, but it's one of the best places to experience spectacular wave action.

Continue through Pacific City for a few miles and you will come back to Highway 101, thus finishing this scenic tour.

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Sandlake Sand Dunes
Sandlake is a popular area for all-terrain vehicles (ATVs). Besides Sand Beach Campground, camping is available in the parking lots; a fee is charged for each licensed vehicle. Camping and day use is available free of charge in undeveloped areas, such as along Derrick Road and in the open sand areas. Visitors to Sand Lake Recreation Area during the summer holiday three-day weekends MUST purchase an area entry permit for each street legal licensed vehicle. The permits are issued for a maximum of 1700 vehicles each holiday weekend to prevent overuse of the area. Permits must be purchased in advance. Permit applications are accepted in person or by mail at the Hebo Ranger District, Hebo, OR 97122. (503) 392-3161.

Bird watching
Hundreds of thousands of sea birds representing more than a dozen species return to the Oregon coast each spring to nest. Bald eagles, glaucous gulls, and great Blue Heron are among the feathered friends that are common year round.

Whale Watching
Those great arcs of water spraying beyond the breakers are the glorious signs of migrating gray whales passing by. These enormous mammals travel along the Oregon coast, heading south to warmer water to calve and north to summer feeding grounds. These spectacular creatures can be seen year round, but peak season is November through April.

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Pig-n-Ford Races
Vintage vehicles, daring drivers and squealing porkers. Mixed together, the outcome can only be described as frenzied farm-style fun. Most people would agree that individuals who race Model-T Fords must be strange to begin with. When competitors insist on carrying pigs as passengers, however, it's a sure sign of a rare breed of driver. Yet pigs do race in Model-T's at the Tillamook County Fair.

Each August, an epic madness sets in as Northwest Oregon Coast residents stage what has to be the most unusual auto speed contest in North America. The World-famous Championship Pig-N-Ford Races appear to be as important to our area as cheese. They are truly unique. As some 3,500 spectators jam the grandstand and line the track fence, five stripped-down, brightly painted Model-T Ford, vintage 1918 through 1927, stand along the starting line. Along one side of the track, five intrepid drivers crouch, facing a row of five portable pigpens each filled with two pigs. At the signal, pandemonium breaks loose. Drivers sprint across the track, snatch the 40-50 pound pigs, run to the cars and twirl hand cranks to arouse ancient engines. Competitors leap into their seats and lurch forward through clouds of dust or gooey mud, firmly clutching their porcine racing partners. Most pigs squeal vehemently while being carried- and sometimes escape to lead the drivers on a merry chase- but eventually settle down and seem to relish their ride.

To be crowned champion of this zany affair, a winner must survive a series of elimination heats held over a three-day period. During a heat, each entrant must circle three laps around a half-mile oval, shutting off his car's engine at the end of each lap. Returning his pig to a pen, he then selects another porker for the next lap and repeats the process, hopefully winding up first. Heat winners compete on Saturday for the championship trophy.

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