Tillamook’s giant WWII blimp hangar reopens October 29, and it’s big enough to hold six football fields
One building on the Oregon coast is 175 feet tall and 1,072 feet long, and it was built to hide blimps. After almost ten months shut down, the Tillamook Air Museum reopens inside it on Thursday, October 29. If you’ve been waiting for a reason to drive the coast this fall, this is a good one.
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The hangar is the main attraction
The Navy built two enormous wooden hangars in Tillamook in 1943 to house the K-class blimps that patrolled the West Coast during World War II. They were made almost entirely from Oregon Douglas fir. One of them burned down in 1992, and the survivor, Hangar B, is the one you can walk into today.
Hangar B is nearly 300 feet wide, which adds up to roughly six football fields of floor space. Standing inside, the scale is the thing you’ll remember: the ceiling feels like weather. The aircraft collection includes an F-14 Tomcat and an AV-8B Harrier II.
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Why it closed, and why it’s back
The museum shut down in December 2025 after a winter windstorm tore a hole of about 200 feet in the hangar’s roof. This August, a Utah aviation museum owner agreed to buy the hangar for $1 and the remaining museum assets for $20, and the sale has since closed. Roof repairs are still underway, and the new owner has talked about restoring the building in stages and growing the collection.
My honest take: go soon. A reopening week is when everyone on the north coast will be curious, but it’s also the version of the museum before the big plans kick in. Check the museum’s website for current hours and tickets before you drive out.
Turn it into a full Tillamook day
The Tillamook Creamery is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with free admission and a free self-guided tour. You can peek through the viewing gallery into the cheese factory and work your way along the sample counter. It closes for Thanksgiving and Christmas, so plan around those two days.
Want to stretch your legs after all that cheese? The Kilchis Point Reserve in Bay City is a 2.2-mile network of easy loops with only about 20 feet of elevation gain. Boardwalks and footbridges wind through coastal wetlands, and at low tide you can spot wading birds feeding on the mudflats across Tillamook Bay. Leashed dogs are welcome.
Still hungry for more? Our guide to the best things to do in Tillamook covers the rest of the town, from the coast to the forest.
So, what would you rather see first: a fighter jet under a wooden roof the size of a small town, or a wheel of cheese aged five years? Tell me in the comments.
Trip tips: grab a rental car to get out here, lock in your hotel before the good rooms are gone, or skip both and book a camper van instead.
Rules and fees change, so always confirm current requirements before you go.
