Out and About

Tillamook Forest Center
Fun, Fact-filled – and Free!

By Marie Sherlock

As a child growing up in the Portland area in the 1960s, the Oregon coast was my family’s summer vacation destination of choice. We rented the same cabin in Rockaway each year and spent a week playing in the world’s biggest sandbox.

To get to Rockaway, we took Highway 6, which runs from Portland to Tillamook, and then headed north on Highway 101. I recall that the most memorable part of that annual drive was passing through the “Tillamook Burn” area – a massive, desolate and otherworldly parcel of scorched earth that seemed, to my young mind, to stretch forever.

For the uninitiated, the first of the fires that created the Tillamook Burn occurred in 1933, roaring through 375 square miles. The big burn of 1933 was followed by several additional wildfires in the next two decades. By the 1960s, when I was viewing the area, reforestation had begun, but the landscape hadn’t changed significantly. I don’t remember ever having been told how the burn started or any other particulars about the fire, except that even school children were asked to help plant new trees, my oldest brother and his Boy Scout troop among them.

So it was a thrill to discover that the Oregon Department of Forestry had constructed an interpretive center smack in the middle of the old Tillamook Burn, a place that would satisfy my lifelong curiosity about Oregon’s most infamous wildfire. A recent visit with my family to the center did just that.

The first thing you’ll want to do when you arrive at the center is view the 18 minute film, “Legacy of Fire,” that runs continuously in the Tillamook Burn Theater. Special lighting effects convince you you’re surrounded by fire as the film begins, a perfect lead-in to the information that follows. We learn that the Tillamook Burn began when a snag scraped against some logs and the sparks from the friction ignited in the dry heat of Aug. 14, 1933. The fire eventually boasted hurricane force winds that barreled the fire along at 200 acres a minute. The film communicates the power of the fire with facts, actual footage of the burn and those convincing special effects.

By the time cooler weather and rain in September stopped the flames, 249,000 acres of timber had been scorched, making it the most devastating Oregon fire of the 20th century. But the burning wasn’t over. Another forest fire swept the area in 1939 – and 1945 and 1951. Locals began calling the fire recurrences, the “six year jinx.” All together the four fires burned over 360,000 acres.

Reforestation began (it actually started in 1949, before the last fire) and within two decades 72 million fir seedlings had been planted. By 1983, those trees were large enough to begin logging again.

With a solid background on the Tillamook Burn, your family will be ready to take in the rest of the interpretive center. There are literally dozens of exhibits and displays – many very hands-on – that educate visitors on trees, forests, forest animal life and how forests are sustainably managed. Youngsters will particularly enjoy the large tree with “pull out” drawers that explain forest facts like how to read tree rings and the importance of animal life in the forest ecosystem. Kids can use phones to listen to tapes of survivors and witnesses reminiscing about the Burn. Another exhibit tells about the Civilian Conservation Corps workers who toiled on the reforestation effort, earning $30 a week – and sending $25 of that home to their parents (I pointed out this fact to my two sons!) And a “Forest Challenge” game lets school age children test their knowledge of trees and related topics. All of the exhibits are geared to educating visitors about sustainable forest management, an effort that attempts to balance environmental, economic and social values.

But the interpretive exhibits are only part of your Tillamook Forest Center experience. Outside families will find a 250-foot long pedestrian bridge suspended over the Wilson River, two short trails to hike and picnic tables (pack a lunch or buy treats at the center).

Then there’s a huge kid-favorite, a 40-foot tall replica of a fire lookout tower. Climb up for a view and for more information on forests and on the individuals who lived in the towers. (I really enjoyed the profiles of the female college students, dubbed “Cloud Girls,” who “manned” the towers during the summer.)

With all of these amenities, the Tillamook Forest Center rates very high on the “Four Es” rating system for family outings: It’s Educational, Entertaining, imparts Environmental information and, with free admission, it’s Economical. A nearly perfect family daytrip!

If You Go:

Location: The Tillamook Forest Center is located about an hour west of Portland. Take Highway 26 west to the Highway 6 exit (toward Tillamook) and follow Highway 6 about 29 miles until you reach the center.

Cost: Free!

Summer Hours (beginning Memorial Day Weekend): Daily, 10 am to 5 pm. Winter Hours (Labor Day to Memorial Day) 10 am to 4 pm Wednesday through Sunday; closed Monday and Tuesday.

Information: www.tillamookforestcenter.org or 503-359-7439.

Marie Sherlock is the editor of Metro Parent.

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