thumb|Cape Blanco from space, October 1994
Cape Blanco is a prominent headland on the Pacific Ocean coast of southwestern Oregon in the United States, forming the westernmost point of the state's mainland. Cape Blanco extends farther west than any point of land in the contiguous United States (lower 48 states) except portions of the Olympic Peninsula in Washington, including Cape Alava, the true westernmost point. The cape is part of Cape Blanco State Park and is the location of the Cape Blanco Light, first lit in 1870. In 1775, Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra named the point Cabo Diligensias. Generally, landforms on the north and south end of the Oregon Coast are rising as the ocean floor slides under the continent, while the central part of the coast "seems to be folding down."
Geography and climate
Cape Blanco is in northern Curry County, about north of Port Orford, along a mountainous and isolated stretch of the coast bounded to the east by the Coast Range. It lies about west of U.S. Route 101. Extreme winds at the cape and over the Blanco Reef make this part of the coast especially dangerous for ships.
|source 2 = XMACIS (snowfall)
Recreation
Activities at the park include hiking, horseback riding, fishing, camping, picnicking, and beachcombing, among others, and visiting the lighthouse, a pioneer cemetery, or the Hughes House, on the National Register of Historic Places.