Arcadia Beach State Recreation Site — Attraction in Seaside

Arcadia Beach Oregon State Park is a parking lot off the U.S. Hwy 101 in NW Oregon County of Clatsop. The restrooms are pit toilets and without running water or electric lighting. There are three picnic tables at the edge of the parking lot and each with an ocean view. The gravel parking lot has a wonderful ocean view. There are two trails to the beach from the parking lot and each with a decline of perhaps 150ft. Incredibly beatiful and wonderful example of public access to a wonderful beach. Fishing is available here. I feel the gravel pathway to the comfort station and uneven and graveled parking area deny those with mobility issues an even higher quality experience at Arcadia Beach. An ocean view and picnic table at the edge of a parking lot is a great start to creating a wonderful access to a high quality...

The entire Oregon Coast is a delight, but Arcadia Beach is my favorite spot. Nothing touristy to be found here - just a gravel parking lot and access to a spectacular stretch of beach. At the north end, rock outcroppings make their way to the waterline, and to the south, just sand and waves. A relative lack of other people just adds to the appeal of this beach. Note: for people who have not visited the coast, please be sure to NEVER turn your back on the waves... the ocean can appear calm at times, and raging at others (both beautiful to behold), but sneaker waves can come visiting at any time. Also, keep an eye on the tides if you are exploring on or near the rock faces at the north end of the beach - your route back to the parking lot may disappear...

I went on a summer weekday afternoon and the parking lot was full, but there was some room for street parking. The path down to the beach is not long (it took less than a couple minutes), but it is uneven, and at the very end there are rocks that could be challenging to walk on. I was very glad I had shoes not just flip-flops for this part. I’m adding pictures of the path for those who need to know about that. I’m also adding a picture of the parking lot.

The beach was nice. Even for a hot day, it was chilly as one would expect in OR. Not many if any people in the water and no life guard, so I only dipped my feet in. There were lots of dogs around (including off-leash dogs who ran up to me). Beautiful scenery. Not many jelly fish on the wet sand (I saw like...