God’s Thumb and The Knoll

Friday, November 27, 2020

While staying at the coast this weekend we decided to take advantage of a gorgeous day to hike up to God’s Thumb in Lincoln City.

NOTE: Most people who hike to God’s Thumb park at the end of NE Sal la Sea Drive (there’s even a “The Knoll / God’s Thumb Trailhead” marker on Google Maps; it’s also described in the Oregon Hikers Field Guide). As of this writing it’s legal to do so as long as you obey the signs at the very end of the road where parking is not allowed. You can park alongside the road before those signs. It is approximately 1.8 miles one-way to hike from the end of the road to God’s Thumb. The other place to park is at the end of NE Devils Lake Blvd (there are directions in the Oregon Hikers Field Guide). A description of the hike can be found here. Hiking in from the end of Logan Road is no longer recommended, which we didn’t know until after we did this hike.

We parked at Road’s End State Recreation Site and hiked one mile up Logan Road to its end. We took this route because it’s the way I went last time and I didn’t think parking at the end of NE Sal la Sea Drive is allowed (it is).

At the end of Logan Road we walked around the gate where this nothing except a “no parking” sign.

God's Thumb Hike

God's Thumb Hike

But about 0.1 mile further we reached a “no trespassing” sign. The Siuslaw National Forest boundary was just behind that sign, so we kept going:

God's Thumb Hike

The trail was, as expected, quite muddy:

God's Thumb Hike

God's Thumb Hike

Lots of mushrooms:

God's Thumb Hike

God's Thumb Hike

God's Thumb Hike

Almost there:

God's Thumb Hike

The sun shining on the spray from the waves was pretty:

God's Thumb Hike

God’s Thumb came into view:

God's Thumb Hike

God's Thumb Hike

God's Thumb Hike

1.7 miles from the car we reached the top. The view from up there was great! Cascade Head to the north:

God's Thumb Hike

Looking south over Lincoln City:

God's Thumb Hike

Looking west:

God's Thumb Hike

We sat and enjoyed the view for a short while, but it was quite windy:

God's Thumb Hike

We were making a loop out of this hike so rather than returning the way we came we hiked east. This is the way we would have come if we had parked at the end of Sal la Sea Drive:

God's Thumb Hike

There was a very muddy hill to climb going this way. Descending it would be really challenging because it’s so slippery:

God's Thumb Hike

At the top of that muddy hill is this grassy knoll, which makes a great turnaround spot if you don’t want to navigate that hill:

God's Thumb Hike

More mud:

God's Thumb Hike

We saw signs of recent maintenance:

God's Thumb Hike

We reached a big grassy viewpoint known as The Knoll:

God's Thumb Hike

God's Thumb Hike

God's Thumb Hike

God's Thumb Hike

God's Thumb Hike

Descending from The Knoll:

God's Thumb Hike

God's Thumb Hike

We reached the gate at the end of Sal la Sea Drive:

God's Thumb Hike

Then we road-hiked back down to Road’s End where the car was parked. From there we had a nice view looking up at The Knoll:

God's Thumb Hike

And a view of God’s Thumb and Cascade Head:

God's Thumb

Road's End State Recreation Site

Gaia stats: 4.2 miles, 650′ elevation gain