STATE FILE · OR
Cryptids of Oregon
What cryptids are in Oregon? The best-known are Bigfoot, Batsquatch and Colossal Claude.
Oregon is classic Sasquatch country: rain-soaked Coast Range forests, the volcanic Cascades and the remote Siskiyou Mountains on the California line. Bigfoot reports come from nearly every forested county, and the state routinely ranks among the top few for reported sightings. The landscapes share a long history of Indigenous traditions about wild, hairy beings of the mountains, which many tribes regard as part of their living culture.
Cryptids reported in Oregon
HOMINID · 1958
Bigfoot
Pacific Northwest forests, reported across North America
North America’s most famous cryptid: a huge, hairy, upright ape-like being reported from the Pacific Northwest to Florida since the 1958 “Bigfoot” tracks.
WIDELY REPORTED FLYING · 1994Batsquatch
Foothills of Mount Rainier, Pierce County, Washington
A winged, ape-like creature with blue-tinged fur said to have landed in front of a stalled pickup near Mount Rainier in 1994 – part bat, part Sasquatch.
LOCAL LEGEND LAKE & SEA MONSTER · 1934Colossal Claude
Mouth of the Columbia River, near Astoria, Oregon
A long-necked sea serpent reported by lightship and fishing crews at the mouth of the Columbia River between 1934 and 1939, nicknamed Colossal Claude.
LOCAL LEGENDThe legends of Oregon
Oregon has some of Bigfoot culture’s most distinctive landmarks. In 1974 a group called the North American Wildlife Research Team built a heavy wooden-and-steel Bigfoot trap in the Siskiyou Mountains near Applegate Lake; now maintained by the Forest Service, it is reached by a short trail and is said to be the world’s only Bigfoot trap. In Boring, outside Portland, researcher Cliff Barackman opened the North American Bigfoot Center in 2019, displaying footprint casts and research gear. The state also shares in the Batsquatch legend from neighboring Washington.
Skeptics note that black bears are common across Oregon and that hoaxes and misheard animal calls account for much of the evidence. Still, the sheer amount of wild land – from Mount Hood to the Wallowas – keeps Oregon at the center of the search.
Hotspots
The 1974 trap near Applegate Lake, reached by a short hike.
Museum and research center east of Portland with casts and exhibits.
Dense Cascade forests close to Portland with frequent sighting reports.
Remote range on the California border, an extension of northern California’s Bigfoot country.
Sightings timeline
- March 1934The lightship crews’ sighting Colossal Claude
Crews of the lightship Columbia and the tender Rose reported a 40-foot creature with an eight-foot neck. Officers refused to let sailors approach it in a small boat.
- 1937The trawler <em>Viv</em> Colossal Claude
Captain Charles Graham and his crew described a hairy, tan animal about 40 feet long with a horse-like head, seen at close range.
- Later in 1937From Devil’s Churn to Heceta Head Colossal Claude
Beachgoers reported a hairy creature, estimated at 55 feet with its head held high above the water, and followed it down the coast until it headed out to sea.
- April 13, 1939The <em>Argo</em> encounter Colossal Claude
Captain Chris Anderson reported the creature passing within ten feet of his fishing boat and apparently stealing fish from the lines – the last widely accepted sighting.
- 1998The Oregon logging-truck story Batsquatch
An anonymous log-truck driver was later said to have reported a huge winged creature with a purple face. The account circulates in cryptid books and websites but has no named witness or contemporary press source.
Latest from Oregon
No recent cryptid headlines from Oregon. See all the latest cryptid news.
Videos
ARCHIVE.ORG3:07
Patterson–Gimlin film (unedited)
Roger Patterson and Bob GimlinThe original 1967 Bluff Creek footage – the most famous and most debated minute in Bigfoot history. Marked public domain on archive.org.
ARCHIVE.ORG4:59
The Film That Made Bigfoot A Star
Oregon Public BroadcastingOPB’s short documentary on how the Patterson–Gimlin film turned a regional legend into a global icon – and the hoax claims around it.
▶ VIDEO
Sts’ailes Sasquatch Days in Harrison Hot Springs
Tourism Harrison River ValleyShows the festival celebrating the Sts’ailes people’s Sásq’ets, the being behind the word “Sasquatch” (no archive.org equivalent).