Old Growth Cedar Trail in Rockaway Beach, Oregon

July 26, 2026

The Old Growth Cedar Trail in Rockaway Beach is a really nice boardwalk over swampy land, with a huge cedar at the end. I stopped on the same Highway 101 trip that took me to de Garde Brewing and Tunnel Beach. If you're driving the Oregon coast, it's worth the brief stop to stretch your legs.

Trail details

Oregon Hikers lists it at 1.2 miles round trip with about 20 feet of gain. The trailhead is right on Highway 101 at the Rockaway Beach welcome sign, at the south end of town. A raised boardwalk, opened in 2019, runs about half a mile through the 45-acre preserve to the tree and is built for universal access. An optional loop back from the cedar is rough, rooty and squishy, so wear boots if you take it.

The green and white Old Growth Cedar Trail sign, with an arrow and restroom and accessibility symbols

A boardwalk over the bog

The boardwalk starts out through a thicket, with old spruce draped in ivy overhead.

A wooden boardwalk with railings leading into dense green brush under ivy-covered spruce

Farther in, the bushes crowd in from both sides and close over the top.

The boardwalk running through a tunnel of overhanging branches and leaves

Skunk cabbage fills the wet spots on either side, and the bushes keep encroaching on the boardwalk.

Big skunk cabbage leaves around a fallen log with a shelf fungus on its cut end

The boardwalk curving through skunk cabbage toward tall spruce trees

The boardwalk with wide railings heading into tall cedars and hemlocks, with two people near the end

The big cedar

The cedar at the end is impressive. Oregon Hikers puts it at 154 feet tall and almost 50 feet around, and the boardwalk wraps around it with a platform so you can get close. The trunk is twisted and covered in huge burls.

The giant western red cedar, its trunk covered in burls, behind the wooden viewing platform

Looking straight up the twisted, furrowed trunk of the big cedar

Jereme smiling on the boardwalk in front of the giant cedar's trunk

Is it worth it?

Yes. It's short and easy, and it's right off the highway. If you're driving 101 in Oregon, it's worth the brief stop to stretch your legs. For another short walk to a giant tree, see the Big Tree Trail near Bremerton.