Manzanita Beach

The beach begins right at the edge of Manzanita's small downtown, an easy stroll down Laneda Avenue to where the pavement gives way to sand, and then it stretches south in a gentle, unbroken curve. Because it is so long and so wide, there is room to spread out, and even in high summer you can walk far enough to leave the crowds behind and hear little but wind and surf.

This is a beach for the simple pleasures of the Oregon coast: long walks at low tide, kites in the steady breeze, driftwood forts, and sunsets that light the whole sky over the water. Neahkahnie Mountain looms at the north end the entire time, and a climb of the trail up its flank rewards you with one of the great high views of the coastline, the beach unspooling far below.

For generations, people have believed that treasure lies buried on Neahkahnie Mountain above the beach. The story, handed down and endlessly embroidered, tells of a Spanish sailing ship wrecked on this coast centuries ago, and of sailors who carried a chest ashore and buried it high on the mountain, marking the spot with strangely carved stones. Some versions add a grim detail meant to guard the cache and keep the site undisturbed.

The tale is very old and almost certainly tangled with real history, since a Spanish galleon is thought to have wrecked somewhere on the north Oregon coast, and chunks of beeswax and bits of pottery from such a ship have washed up in the Nehalem area for a very long time. Whether any gold was ever buried is another matter, but the legend has drawn treasure hunters to dig into the mountain for well over a hundred years, and it gives an ordinary walk on the beach a pleasant shiver of mystery.

Manzanita has stayed small and gentle where other coast towns grew loud, and its beach reflects that: no arcade, no pier, no boardwalk, just sand, dunes, and the mountain. That quiet is the point. The town has a handful of shops and places to eat a short walk from the water, and the beach itself is left to do what beaches do best, offer a big empty horizon and a place to slow down.

Just to the south, the sand runs on into Nehalem Bay State Park, a spit of dune and beach between the ocean and the bay with camping, horse trails, and paddling on the calmer water behind it. Together, the town beach and the state park give miles of shoreline to explore, all of it under the watchful green shoulder of Neahkahnie Mountain.

Reach the beach by turning off Highway 101 into Manzanita and following Laneda Avenue to its end, where public access leads onto the sand. Parking is on town streets and in a few small lots, so on sunny summer weekends it pays to come early. Like all Oregon beaches, the shore is public, open to everyone, and free to walk.

Bring layers even in summer, since the coast is cool and breezy, and treat the ocean with respect, as the water is cold and currents and sneaker waves are real. Give yourself time for a long walk, a look up at Neahkahnie Mountain, and maybe the trail to its summit view. It is the kind of honest, uncrowded stretch of coast that keeps travelers coming back, quiet, wild, and wrapped in a very good story.

The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.