Pacific City Beach — Attraction in Pacific City

What makes the beach at Pacific City unique is its giant sand dune at the North end of the beach. It includes scenic cliffs overlooking crashing waves, caves and tidepools, and a dramatic dune that rises almost 200 feet from the otherwise flat, sandy beach. About a mile from the shoreline is one of two Oregon Coast “haystack rocks,” an iconic Pacific City landmark.

There are two main public entrance points to access the beach. Pacific City parking is limited near the beach, but you can sometimes drive onto the sand in certain places. You can enter at the South end of the beach, where you’ll see Bob Straub State Park signs and Pacific Ave ends. Or there is a public parking lot shared with Pelican Brewing on the North end, which is near more accommodations, coffee, restaurants, the tidepools, and the sand dune.

Bring some binoculars for whale watching in late Spring and Fall. Just be sure to stay within the designated boundaries for safety. Playing on the dunes especially fun for kids and kids-at-heart.

For the brave and bold, you can swim. Even in summer, though, Oregon’s seawater is frigid. Some people find it refreshing, but I am not one of them. People do surf and kayak at Pacific City near the dunes, but wearing a wet suit or dry suit is highly recommended year round. This is not a beginner’s surfing spot so be sure you know what you’re doing.

As the tide goes in and out, you can explore tide pools next to the sand dune. Look for colorful sea anemones, starfish, mussels, and more! Our favorite activity is the simplest: go for a walk. You’ll come across all kinds of interesting shells, shiny rocks, seaweed, tiny crabs, and drift wood. We even saw some majestic bald eagles one morning!

For more recommended things to do in this area, search google for "Intentional Travelers Pacific City" to find more info...

A beautiful beach on the opposite side of large sand dunes in Pacific City, showcasing the gorgeous fake Haystack rock, and what remains of Edith Kiwanda. 😏

Looking south on this beach you will see Cascade Head, which is the landmass that separates the north coast from the central coast, and Neskowin (the next town south) from Otis, The Salmon River and Lincoln City.

A short walk or drive south on the beach you will find Bob Straub State Park, formerly known as Nestucca Spit State Park, along the Nestucca Spit. On the other side of the bay mouth you have Nestucca Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

This is a perfect beach to relax and enjoy yourself picnicking, beachcombing, surf fishing or standing in the surf. Not too busy, likely due to the price tag attached to visiting here, as it has as ridiculous day use parking fee of $10, which I had no idea before I pulled in and promptly did not pay... As everyone else there that day did as well. But don't get me ranting about Oregon charging their own residents a ever increasing amount just to visit our own state parks... Perhaps a video on that will be coming soon on either Trippin' Outdoors or TheCriminalViolin, my YouTube channels that such a video would fit on.

There is a outhouse here as well, but it was easily the worst or second worst OH I've ever been in before. They clearly do not maintain that enough, likely intentionally and I have a theory of why that is. Perhaps that'll also turn into its own video. I think it's a interesting strat of Pacific City if the theory is presumed correct.

Ignoring the price and the crappy (literally) OH, this is a great beach, and gets 5/5 stars. If you include those two aspects, this is easily a...

Absolute best beach in Oregon, great surfing even during the summer months; great hiking up the cape, lots of room. Pretty bad parking situation (which is supposed to improve with the recent project).

The worst part about the beach is that it's a working Beach for the Dory Boats. The charter boats and their drivers are generally pretty nice, but if you go during a contentious time with bad tides or swell, the fishermen can get pretty short. They're dodging people left and right all summer, and they're not very often nice about it. They're very entitled to this beach, a lot of them can be downright rude and dangerous. I've often been out surfing during the midsummer months and Dory boats will just drive right through the lineup without even honking a horn.

The beach gets extremely packed during the summer, but there's plenty of space to sprawl out and lots to see during low tide in the tide pools. Wonderful hiking up and over the cape, with lots of dangerous spots so...