Father dies, 3 kids rescued after 200-foot fall at increasingly deadly Oregon hiking area

SALEM, Ore. – A 36-year-old man died and three children were rescued on Saturday after an attempt to visit a famous beach on Oregon’s coast went horribly wrong , authorities said.

The incident happened on the state's southern coast near Brookings in the Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor, a popular but rugged park of steep cliffs and hidden beaches, the Curry County Sheriff’s Office. The area has become increasingly popular in recent years but has also seen an uptick in accidents. Three people have now died in accidents at the park in the last three years.

Ryan Acord, of Grants Pass, died after a roughly 200 foot fall while an 8-year-old son was taken by helicopter to a hospital but is expected to recover. A 12-year-old was taken to the hospital by air ambulance after a smaller fall, while a second 8-year-old was rescued without injury.

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Google Maps pointed group to wrong access point, sheriff says

The group was attempting to reach Secret Beach, a beloved but challenging beach to access within the Boardman Corridor. The man and kids apparently began from an incorrect location, the Curry County Sheriff’s Office wrote in a press release.

“They followed Google Maps and it pointed them in the wrong spot and they thought they were in the right spot so they parked and went down the wrong trail,” Curry County Sheriff John Ward told KOBI in Medford.

Family members claimed in an online fundraiser the trail was not marked clearly.

Ward told KOBI that Acord saw the kids go over the cliff, and in trying to save them, he slipped and fell to the rocky beach below.

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Rescuing the hikers who went off the cliff

Law enforcement located Acord’s vehicle at the Spruce Island Viewpoint and then identified the trail they went on, the news release said.

A pair of first responders rappelled to the beach and located Acord and the 8-year-old who had fallen 200 feet below the trail they had been following.

The news release said first responders provided medical assistance to the 8-year-old and determined Acord was dead from the fall.

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter lowered a rescue swimmer to the beach and airlifted the 8-year-old to Curry General Hospital in Gold Beach before being flown by Air Reach to Oregon Health & Science University in Portland.

Two of the other children had fallen off the trail but not all the way to the beach.

The 12-year-old fell off the upper portion of the trail and “was hanging onto a small tree stopping him from falling the rest of the way,” officials said. The child was rescued and transported by Cal-Ore Life Flight to Curry General Hospital where he was released to his mother. A second 8-year-old had also fallen off the trail in the upper portion, was uninjured and released to his mother.

“Ryan was a courageous, brave, brilliant, adventurous husband and dad, he will be missed dearly,” the family's GoFundMe said. “His passing has left (his wife) and her sons deeply saddened and forever changed by this tragedy. She not only lost her husband but her best friend and their boys not only lost their daddy but their rock and provider.”

A challenging but popular beach to reach on Oregon's south coast

Secret Beach has become a popular spot at Boardman, but it's tricky to reach.

“Those who wish to explore the beach itself will need to go at low tide, and must scramble down a rock face, then cross a small stream to do so – this is a tricky climb that requires sure footing, and is not recommended for everyone,” Oregonian reporter Jamie Hale wrote.

As park numbers have grown, the number of unmarked "social trails" have proliferated at Boardman, said Oregon Parks and Recreation Department spokesman Chris Havel. They often confuse visitors and can take them to dangerous spots, he said.

"These are unauthorized routes created by people repeatedly going off-trail – and they can confuse new visitors," Havel said. "This is one of the reasons we implore people to stick to designated trails: taking shortcuts doesn’t just affect you, but everyone you share a park with."

The Boardman Corridor's popularity has increased by 34% since 2018. But that increase in popularity has led to an uptick in fatal accidents. A North Carolina woman visiting the Natural Bridges section of the park died in a fall in in 2021. A California man died when he fell from the Natural Bridges Viewpoint in 2022. Another man was rescued from the area in 2022.

“We’ve had issues along that whole coastline,” Ward told KOBI.

Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 15 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast. Urness is the author of “Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon” and “Hiking Southern Oregon." Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Oregon father dies, kids rescued after fall at Samuel H. Boardman park