Northern Oregon Coast Road Trip

The place we stayed at was a quaint and quiet little town of Oceanside near Netarts and Tillamook, Oregon. One of the best parts was literally being right across the street from the most incredible hidden gem of a beach – Oceanside Beach State Recreation Site.

The Cape Cod style home called The Arch House was so cozy and had the most incredible views of the Three Arch Rocks and was less than a 5 minute walk away from beach access! Perfect for catching sunrise and sunset on the beach, or some astrophotography on a clear night!

Stay at The Arch House near Tillamook, Oregon.

A couple years ago, we were on the Oregon Coast for our 7 year anniversary at almost the exact location – and we did not even know about this incredible beach! It wasn’t even on our list of places to go explore. It is the most beautiful beach and hidden gem that we have found on the Oregon Coast thus far! 

Oceanside Beach State Park is located in Oceanside Oregon and is 11 miles west of Tillamook. This beach is a state park of Oregon and is open to the public fee-free. About 1/2 mile offshore is Three Arch Rocks, which is part of the Oregon Islands Wildlife Refuge and if you’re lucky you could come across breeding colonies of tufted puffins or sea lions!

The place we stayed at was literally right across the street from it! Making it super easy to catch sunrise, sunset, and astrophotography on the beach if you’re lucky enough to catch a clear night! If you come here you have to, have to head northeast along this beach during low tide towards the large stack on the beach. As you get closer there is a tunnel that goes directly through it and leads you to the other side of the beach. Be careful walking through here, it is filled with rocks and logs and when we went through it was  knee dip with water. So be prepared to get a little wet, and be very careful to not twist an ankle walking through. 

But once you get to the other side…it was completely breathtaking. Literally another world. I didn’t think this beach could get any better. But oh, it did. The stacks were jagged and otherworldly and filled with sea birds and tidal pools. We also went over during sunset, which made everything a million times more magical. 

The perfect trio that you can hit up all in a day (yes a day) is the Three Capes Scenic Route which includes three of the most stunning rock outcropping that stretch into the Pacific Ocean – Cape Lookout, Cape Meares and Cape Kiwanda. Each cape is distinctly unique and beautiful, and is so worth it to check out all three!

Definitely a must do hike if you are around Tillamook and Netarts. Cape Lookout Trail is an easy to moderate hike racking up 4.7 miles round trip and 810 feet of elevation gain. Travel through a lush old-growth forest and along a beautiful cape with drop dead gorgeous views of the sandy beaches below. This trail is known for being one of the best for whale watching, so bring your binoculars! 

Cape Kiwanda is near Pacific City, Oregon and about a 40 minute (beautiful, scenic) drive from Tillamook. I think this is one of the most unique places to visit on the Oregon Coast and unlike any beach we have ever seen. Filled to the brim with rolling sand dunes, powerful waves, and colorful tidal pools – come explore all this state park has to offer. Climb a sand dune (it looks intimidating, but you must) and transport yourself to the planet Mars. Even better if it just rained, it makes climbing the deep and powdery sand dune a lot easier! The view at the top is stunning and so worth the climb. You’ll thank us later!

The perfect paved trail to explore with your family is Cape Meares to Cape Meares Lighthouse and was only a 5 minute drive from where we were staying in Oceanside, so we knew we had to check it out! Walk along an easy paved path and catch some killer views of the capes around you as well as an adorable coastal lighthouse. 

For our trip back home to Seattle, we decided to take the scenic route of course and do the Pacific Coast Highway and make a fun little trip out of it. No plans, just going with the flow, and whatever place looked cool to check out, we stopped and enjoyed the view and the adventure that awaited! The PCH drive alone is just stunning and worth it even if you don’t stop anywhere. Drive through coastal beach towns, lush forests, and along the coastline with never ending views of the Pacific. 

Skrrrrrt. Don’t pass up this incredible viewpoint along the Pacific Coast Highway of Oswald West State park. Located on HWY 101, just north of Neahkahnie Beach, is a breathtaking view of this Oregon beach. 

I had done research prior to our trip to the Oregon Coast of some killer spots to stop at and explore, and I didn’t even realize that Hug Point Trail was right along HWY 101. I saw the sign for it and told everyone we had to stop here! We pulled over and explore this beautiful beach and soaked in the sunshine. Unfortunately it was high tide since we didn’t plan this and had no idea what the tides would be like. But if you go, plan on going at low tide! You can hike around the cape to find the most magical caves AND waterfall right on the beach! We cannot wait to go back and find these hidden gems, and we hope you find them before us and enjoy!

As we were driving along the highway, I saw a sign for Cape Disappointment State Park. I froze and then squealed with delight! I have been wanting to check this place out for the past two years we have lived in Washington. Just a 30 minute detour from our route home, lied this beautiful place. So we set forth towards it! Cape Disappointment is a headland of the Pacific Northwest and is located at the extreme southwestern corner of Washington. Whenever we see anyone post anything on Cape Disappointment they always say how not disappointed they were. I wish we could say the same! We were a tad disappointed that the famous Dead Man’s Cove was closed due to erosion. You can find Dead Man’s Cove on Cape Disappointment Lighthouse Loop Trail. But we continued our trek up to Cape Disappointment lighthouse and it was beautiful! And we still got some amazing views of Dead Man’s Cove, even if we weren’t right on the beach. We can’t wait to head back in the summer time and check out Dead Man’s Cove once it hopefully opens back up! 

If you are around Tillamook, you have got to check out Tillamook Creamery. Especially if it is the off season because there won’t be as many people there! We tried to go here two summers ago when it first opened, and it was completely packed so we opted out. So we were super excited to finally come check this place out! 

The new Tillamook creamery takes you through a cheesy story (ba dum ch) all about how Tillamook takes pride in producing their cheese and ice cream made from the finest cows of Tillamook County. 

On the bottom floor there are shops to grab scoops of their delicious and creamy ice cream and a cafe that serves ooey gooey Tillamook cheese grilled cheeses. The bottom floor also has a gift shop filled with all the Tillamook cheese to purchase 

Another must-do while around Tillamook is Jacobsen Salt Co.’s Netarts Bay Gift Shop. In local shops around Seattle and Portland I always see jars of this adorable and delicious looking sea salt and sea salt candies. I knew we had to stop at their location near Tillamook. They hand-harvest sea salt from from their salt works from the cold and crisp waters of Netart Bay, Oregon. 

Pro-Tip: It’s on the way to Cape Lookout and Cape Kiwanda, so stop here on the way or on the way back and reward yourself with some sea salt candies. 

We grabbed ourselves some salty caramels and Himalayan pink sea salt. And man, this ain’t no table salt. So pure, flaky, salty and delicious! Not to mention the most adorable coastal shop ever!