USFWS · Oregon

Cape Meares National Wildlife Refuge

Cape Meares National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge of the Oregon Coast. It is one of six National Wildlife Refuges in the Oregon Coast National Wildlife Refuge Complex. Located on Cape Meares, the refuge was established in 1938 to protect a remnant of coastal old-growth forest and the surrounding habitat used by breeding seabirds. The area provides a home for a threatened bird species, the marbled murrelets. Peregrine falcons, once at the brink of extinction, have nested here since 1987. The refuge, with the exception of the Oregon Coast Trail, was designated a Research Natural Area in 1987.

From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

National Wildlife Refuge143 acresUSFWSOR
Official page at U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ↗
Cape Meares National Wildlife Refuge
Photo by U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in the public domain, from Wikimedia Commons.

Facts

Where each comes from ↓
DesignationNational Wildlife Refuge
Managed byU.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
StateOregon
Size143 acres
FWS regionRegion 1
Center point45.49° N, 123.97° W
Night skyAbout as dark as the ground gets (Black Marble reading 7)

Boundary map

2 outlines

Boundary, simplified to about 0.005 degrees

The outline is the agency boundary simplified for display, so small parcels and inholdings may not show. The agency page has the authoritative map.

Weather by month

NOAA climate normals →
Weather by month near Cape Meares National Wildlife Refuge40°50°60°January: 13.38 inches of precipitationFebruary: 9.49 inches of precipitationMarch: 10.05 inches of precipitationApril: 7.48 inches of precipitationMay: 4.56 inches of precipitationJune: 3.28 inches of precipitationJuly: 0.92 inches of precipitationAugust: 1.20 inches of precipitationSeptember: 3.58 inches of precipitationOctober: 7.80 inches of precipitationNovember: 13.44 inches of precipitationDecember: 14.65 inches of precipitationJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJanuary: 44.5°F averageFebruary: 44.7°F averageMarch: 46.0°F averageApril: 48.3°F averageMay: 52.4°F averageJune: 55.9°F averageJuly: 59.0°F averageAugust: 59.7°F averageSeptember: 57.6°F averageOctober: 52.6°F averageNovember: 47.2°F averageDecember: 43.5°F average0 in5 in10 in15 inTemp °FInches
The line is the average temperature and the bars are average precipitation at Tillamook, 6 miles from the center point at 12 feet, station USC00358494 in the NOAA monthly climate normals for 1991 to 2020. Precipitation totals about 90 inches a year.

Large units span more than one climate. The station stands in for the center point, and the outer parts of the boundary can be warmer or colder.

Explore

Nearby on the other atlases

National Register listings within 15 miles · 5 in all · Register Atlas

Landmarks are listed first, then by distance from the boundary.

Guidebooks for Oregon

We earn a small commission if you buy through these links. It does not change what we list.

Titles come from Open Library's catalog, matched by subject heading or by title.

Reference

Questions people ask

How big is Cape Meares National Wildlife Refuge?

143 acres.

Source: How acreage is computed

Who manages Cape Meares National Wildlife Refuge?

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

What state is Cape Meares National Wildlife Refuge in?

Oregon.

Source: How states are assigned

How do I get to Cape Meares National Wildlife Refuge?

A point inside the boundary is at 45.489° N, 123.968° W. The official page carries directions and the office address.

Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Are there historic places near Cape Meares National Wildlife Refuge?

The National Register has 5 listings within 15 miles, including Cape Meares Lighthouse and Herschell--Spillman Noah's Ark Carousel.

Source: Register Atlas

Sources

  • Boundary, name: the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service refuge boundary layer.
  • States and territories: computed by intersecting the boundary with Census state polygons and coarse outlines of the territories and outlying islands. A place is listed when it holds at least one percent of the area. A boundary that touches no outline is listed under the nearest one.
  • Acreage: geodesic area of the published polygon. The agency’s official acreage can differ where the boundary includes water, easements or inholdings.
  • Photograph: the image Wikidata records for this refuge (Q5034944), the item linked to its Wikipedia article. Author and license come from the file page on Wikimedia Commons.
  • Description: Cape Meares National Wildlife Refuge on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. The article was accepted because its title contains this unit’s name.
  • Campgrounds: the Campsite Atlas index of federal campgrounds, matched to this boundary at build time.
  • Night sky: NASA Black Marble (VIIRS, 2016 composite) sampled at zoom 6 around the center point.
  • Weather, alerts, air quality, river flow and earthquakes load live in your browser from NWS, AirNow, USGS and iNaturalist when you open the page.