The wreck of the Peter Iredale at Fort Stevens in Astoria

Image: Robert Bradshaw [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)], via Wikimedia Commons

One hundred years ago this month (February 13 to be exact), the Oregon Legislature, urged on by then Governor Oswald West, inked a bill that permanently secured Oregon's 363 miles of beaches for the public. The legislation protected Oregon's beaches, from low to high tide, as a public highway.

“No selfish interest should be permitted, through politics or otherwise, to destroy or even impair this great birthright of our people,” West wrote in 1915.

Oregon tipped its hat to West when it named one of the state's best beginner surfing spots—Short Sands, just south of Cannon Beach—after the former governor. But that's just one of the many majestic spots West, and later Governor Tom McCall, fought to preserve. In this slide show, we spotlight a few more of our favorite coastal destinations as both celebration of Oregon's foresight and inspiration for those upcoming spring break escapes.