Neahkahnie Mountain

Neahkahnie Mountain is a mountain, or headland, on the Oregon Coast, north of Manzanita in Oswald West State Park overlooking U.S. Route 101, that has a pass elevation of approximately 620 feet (190 m), which is the third highest point of the highway in Oregon. The peak is part of the Northern Oregon Coast Range, which is part of the Oregon Coast Range. It is best known for stories of Spanish treasure said to be buried either at the foot of the mountain, or on its slopes.

In earlier times, Native Americans would set fires to clear the mountain slopes so deer and elk would have tender vegetation to eat in the spring. Pioneers afterwards did the same so their cattle and sheep would have grass to graze on. Since at least 1990, however, this practice was discontinued and the slopes are heavily forested in many places.

The name comes from the Tillamook language, although according to Lewis A. McArthur, an Oregonian geographic historian, the meaning of the word is controversial. Neah-Kah-Nie (other spellings, although obsolescent include "Ne-a-karney" and Ne-kah-ni) is translated as "the place of the god", whose name has been transcribed as Acarna.