530 Steps

As I traveled back north on 101 I stopped off at Port Orford Heads State Park.  The state park is the location of the Port Orford Lifeboat Saving Station.  The remaining structures consist of the officer-in-charge quarters and the barracks building.  The unusual thing about this station is that because the barracks house is located on a headland and the only way down to the water is by using 532 wooden and concrete steps.    

The barracks house

The Coast Guard rescuers would run down the staircase in an emergency and launch the lifeboats from the boathouse.  Often in the dark and most likely in stormy weather.  

The start of the 530 steps.

A motorized lifeboat.

280 feet below the barracks house was the boathouse.  Today only the concrete pilings remain and can be seen from the trail.  

The remains of the boathouse.

The location of the watchtower are now just small concrete pads in the ground.  

Site of the watchtower.