Rocky Creek State Park, Oregon Coast

5. Picnic Tables

Then, the Oregon/Idaho border was situated above a major weakness in the Earth's crust (the very fault which now creates the geysers at Yellow Stone National Park.) Because of it, lava flows hundreds of feet high seared their way over entire forests and ecosystems and across hundreds of miles until they finally end up in the ocean.

When lava cools and hardens into rock it becomes basalt: that black, frequently sharp-looking rock which much of the Coast's dramatic cliffs and headlands are composed of. Such coastal landmarks as Yaquina Head, Tillamook Head, Cascade Head and Cape Perpetua were formed by these, which should give you an idea of the size of these flows.