Oregon Film Trail Gets Two New Stops At Ecola State Park And Indian Beach

 

Oregon Film Trail continues at Ecola State Park with two signs and a map panel that were installed last week and officially unveiled yesterday.  They honor Ecola State Park’s starring role as a location in Twilight, Point Break, The Goonies and Kindergarten Cop. The Oregon Film Trail is designed to showcase iconic and interesting film locations in the state.   The signs at Ecola and Indian Beach mark four different filming locations related to the now-classic feature films; Twilight, Point Break, The Goonies and Kindergarten Cop. The signs feature facts and anecdotes about the films. Some visual cues have been added to the map panel and they link Astoria and the north coast to the Ecola locations, to encourage visitors to travel the Trail to see other areas.

Dating back to 1909, Oregon has a rich and interesting film history with over 450 feature films & television shows that have utilized thousands of locations around the state for a wide variety of production backdrops. Today, Oregon continues to be a destination for creative media producers from around the world. From Emmy winning television productions, to Oscar nominated feature films; world-class animated films to award winning interactive games – Oregon is a brand unto itself.

Oregon Film, in partnership with the Oregon Made Creative Foundation, and the Astoria-Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce developed the initial Oregon Film Trail concept and identified the Astoria movie locations as the first signs to be rolled out on the Trail earlier this year with help from the Oregon Film Museum.  The Trail features signage located at strategic points around the state. The creation of the Trail aims to strengthen the correlation between the film/TV industry, economic development, and tourism. The signs at Ecola State Park were a collaborative partnership between the Oregon Film Office (partnered with the Oregon Made Creative Foundation) and Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, and were funded by Oregon Coast Visitors Association.

Fans of Twilight, Point Break and The Goonies have been coming to the coast since the movies released in 2008, 1991 and 1985, respectively.

 “Oregon Parks and Recreation Department is a proud partner of the Oregon Film Trail. This collaborative effort with Oregon Coast Visitor’s Association and Oregon Film highlights how some of Oregon’s most special places have been immortalized in iconic productions spanning decades. We welcome everyone to celebrate the journey as we highlight this next stop on the trail.” Oregon Parks and Recreation Department.

Three Oregon Film Trail signs have been installed at two key locations and points of interest within Ecola State Park – the first sign, at Ecola Point parking lot, points out locations from Kindergarten Cop and The Goonies. A covered interpretive display at Indian Beach Day-use Area near the Clatsop Loop trailhead is now home to a map panel and a sign indicating locations from Point Break Twilight and Kindergarten Cop, with fun visual references to The Goonies and Free Willy.

“We continue to be amazed by the response this program is having,” said Tim Williams, Executive Director of Oregon Film, “we get new suggestions every week and we keep adding them to our fast growing list. Oregon has so many iconic locations that this Film Trail will continue to grow.”

Phase two of the Oregon Film Trail will encompass a digital interface and experience that the many Oregon Film Trail partners will be able to utilize for their own promotions as well as to entertain and educate visitors and Oregonians alike.

Additionally, Oregon State Parks partnered with Oregon Film with the Oregon Made Creative Foundation to install a sign at Gleneden Beach State Recreation Site, three subsequent signs in Brownsville were also unveiled with partners; the City of Brownsville, the Linn County Historical Museum, Brownsville Chamber of Commerce and Oregon Made Creative Foundation, and a further sign on the north coast at the Hammond Marina, Warrenton was installed with partnership from Hammond Marina, City of Warrenton, the Astoria-Warrenton Chamber of Commerce and funding from the Oregon Coast Visitors Association. Two more signs were recently unveiled in Salem at the Oregon Museum of Mental Health and the Department of Corrections, with support from Salem resident, Erik Andersson,Travel Salem, and paid for in part by a grant from Travel Oregon. Other signs are in the process of being installed in other locations around the state with Depoe Bay being the next location.

New locations are being explored and identified all of the time from Ashland to Joseph, Athena to Cottage Grove and Eugene to St. Helens. Suggestions are always welcome ([email protected]).

About Oregon Made Creative Foundation:

The OMCF is a program of The Charitable Partnership Fund, a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. It was founded through the efforts of Oregon Film (a/k/a the Oregon Governor’s Office of Film & Television) as a stand alone non-profit foundation focused on providing opportunity and grants for #OregonMade creators through strategic partnerships and creative connections. www.oregonmade.org

About Oregon Astoria-Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce:

The Astoria-Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce has served the local business community since 1873. Today, with 570 businesses joining forces for common benefit, it also provides visitor services and tourism promotion for the area. For more information, call Astoria (800) 875-6807 or visit http://www.oldoregon.com.

About The Oregon Coast Visitors Association:

(OCVA) is the official Regional Destination Management Organization (RDMO) and promotional entity for the Oregon Coast, as designated by the Oregon Tourism Commission, DBA Travel Oregon.  Our association is comprised of Chambers of Commerce, Visitors Centers/Bureau, resource management entities and 100+ (approximately) private tourism businesses along Oregon’s 363 miles of coastline. We advocate on behalf of the coastal tourism industry by facilitating industry alignment, coordinating industry management efforts and by engaging in cooperative promotional activities, which achieve maximum, measurable benefits for our coastal economy with minimal negative impacts on its quality of life and natural environment.

About Ecola State Park:

Park History: Lands were acquired between 1932 and 1978 by gift and purchase from private owners and the federal government. The original tract of 451 acres was acquired in 1932 by gift and purchase from the Ecola Point and Indian Beach Corporation with corporation members Rodney Glisan, Florence Minott, Caroline and Louise Flanders donating their portion. This land includes much of the ocean frontage in the park, extending from the northern edge of the city of Cannon Beach to Indian Beach. Later, lands were acquired to the north of Tillamook Head extending toward Seaside, providing a route for the Tillamook Head trail. Samuel Boardman, Henry Van Duzer and others worked hard to acquire this parkland for Oregon in the 1930s and 1940s. Sam Boardman stressed the importance of acquiring a wider strip of land to protect the shoreline forest from wind damage and other threats. Some lands were purchased from Crown Zellerbach Corporation after being logged, and the World War II Army radar station tract on Tillamook Head was acquired under Chester. Armstrong’s direction in 1952. The donation of the Elmer Feldenheimer Forest Reserve adjoining the northeast portion of the park aids in park protection from the elements. Ecola Park contains examples of old growth Sitka spruce, western hemlock and habitat for elk and deer. Here, in 1806, Captain William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition viewed burial canoes of the Kilamox (Tillamook) and, looking south from Tillamook Head, he described the view as the “grandest and most pleasing prospect” he had ever surveyed. Ecola Park was developed originally by the CCC under National Park Service direction between 1934 and 1941. Improvements included roads, picnic facilities, trails, the office, workshop and caretaker’s house. Within Ecola Park is a National Recreation Trail dedicated in April, 1972. This is the Tillamook Head Trail extending six miles from Seaside to Cannon Beach. Tillamook Head is a high point on the trail between Seaside and Indian Beach. It is named for the Tillamook tribes in whose ancestral territory the headland is located. The trail follows the coastal exploration route used by Captain Clark in the winter of 1806. The Park’s acreage is 1,023.88 and the annual day-use attendance is 544,510.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *