Things To Do in the Tillamook Area
| Hiking /
Biking| Boating / Kayaking |
Clamming / Crabbing | Fishing Charters / Guides
|
| Three Capes Scenic Drive
| Sandlake Sand Dunes
| Bird Watching / Whale Watching
| Golfing
|
Hiking & Biking
| From the sandy beaches of Tillamook County to
the mountain trails of the Coast Mountain Range, Tillamook
County offers some spectacular hiking & biking for you and
your family to see and enjoy! |
Seagulls on the beach in Tillamook County
Don Best/Best Impressions Picture Co. |
From the sandy beaches of Tillamook County to the mountain trails of the
Coast Mountain Range, Tillamook County offers some spectacular hiking for you
and your family to see and enjoy!
Neahkahnie Mountain
Take the 1 ½ mile hike up to an elevation of 900 feet to enjoy a breathtaking view of Manzanita.
The trail is located off Highway 101 just south of Oswald West State Park on the east side of the highway.
Cape Meares Lighthouse & Wildlife Refuge
Located ten miles west of the city of Tillamook is the Cape Meares State Scenic viewpoint. This area has many hikes, with historical sites such as the Cape Meares Lighthouse built in 1890, The Arch Rocks National Wildlife Refuge and the Octopus Tree (featured in Ripley’s Believe it or Not). For more information visit their
website at www.capemeareslighthouse.org.
Munson Creek Falls
The highest waterfall in the Oregon Coast Range: Few visitors to the Oregon
Coast even notice the small sign marking the road to Munson Creek Falls, just
south of Tillamook on U.S. Highway 101. But the short walk to this 266 foot
waterfall makes a worthwhile detour in any weather. Hikers can choose between
two well-marked trails. The 1/4 mile path to the base of the falls ends at a
picnic table. The other, a 3/8 mile trail to a higher view point, is more fun;
wooden walkways clinging to the cliff lead to a small viewing platform. Because
rainfall averages more than 100 inches, the vegetation in this narrow gorge is
exceedingly lush.
Located about seven miles south of the city of Tillamook is the highest waterfall on the Oregon coast. Hike the ¼-mile path and you will end up at the base of the 266-foot waterfall. For more information call (800) 551-6949.
Bay Ocean Spit
Situated on Tillamook Bay, the spit was home to a popular beach resort in the early 1900’s. The community included a hotel, natatorium, gas station, railroad and various other entities including residences and a tent city. The entire resort was washed away when a jetty was constructed at the mouth of Tillamook Bay. The spit is now a popular destination for hiking, horseback and bike riding, bird watching, and various other outdoor activities. Take State Route 131 (Third Street westbound) and turn right just west of the Tillamook River toward Cape Meares. Take the dike road to the parking lot.
Kings Mountain Trail
Located on Highway 6, about 20 minutes driving time east of Tillamook into
the Coast Mountain Range, the
Kings Mountain trail offers a great view of the Tillamook Forest and the Pacific
Ocean, while giving
you a challenging uphill climb. The trail climbs 2400 feet in 2 ½ miles. Pack a lunch and bring your camera.
Boating / Kayaking
Boating
The Tillamook Area offers exceptional opportunities for boating.
Whether on a drift boat while fishing one of the many rivers,
kayaking any of the sloughs, canoeing on the bays or taking your
boat out on the Pacific Ocean, you'll find the Tillamook Area a
great place to be on the water.
Boats can be launched on many of the rivers at designated ramps.
Bigger boats can use the Port of Garibaldi.
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Kayaking
Beautiful Tillamook County offers
five estuaries, four bays, oceanic wildlife, coastal
rainforests, and an extensive watershed system flowing from
the Oregon coastal mountain range.
Kayak rentals are available
throughout Tillamook County. Contact
the Tillamook Area Chamber for rental information!
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Kayaking
in Tillamook Bay
Don Best/Best Impressions Picture Co.
|
Clamming / Crabbing
Tillamook County bays and ocean beaches have the largest area of
clam beds of any Oregon county. Many people have never dug clams but
it is an exciting sport that provides excellent food any month in
the year. Thousands in Tillamook County and elsewhere have never dug
clams because they don't know how. Request a booklet that gives the
information that will get you started on a year round hobby.
Tillamook County offers fine boat moorages, guides, boat launching
ramps, sporting good stores, motels, resorts, and parks for camping.
Both razor clams and bay clams are found in Tillamook County, but
the razor clam is the only ocean clam, while there are many
varieties of bay clams.
Fishing Charters / Guides
The Tillamook Area is home to world class
fishing and the most popular fishing area of the Pacific
Northwest! To make your fishing experience even more exciting,
The Tillamook Area has many experienced Fishing Charter Services and
Fishing Guides.
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Fishing for the delicious Chinook Salmon and Albacore Tuna is
just the beginning, with Pacific Halibut and many varieties of
bottom fish just offshore waiting to be caught.
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The seven rivers of the Tillamook Area abound with abundant Coho
Salmon and wild Steelhead Salmon. The Nestucca, Nehalem and
Tillamook Bays make up the most popular crabbing and clamming area
in the entire Pacific Northwest.
Three Capes Scenic Drive
The meandering drive follows a 40 mile route from its northern
end, head south on Third Street in Tillamook, turning right after
crossing the Tillamook River. You will skirt the southern edge of
Tillamook Bay, looking across the water toward Bay City and
Garibaldi as you drive toward Cape Meares. The bay, which has many
commercially harvested oyster beds, is a vital habitat for much of
the county's fish and wildlife. When you reach Bayocean, don't miss
reading the signs which tell you the brief story of the ghost
community, now gone, that existed there 35 - 55 years ago.
Turning left from the bay, the route climbs up through forested
hills toward the entrance to Cape
Meares State Park. Within easy walking distance from the Cape
Meares parking lot is the legendary Octopus Tree, a Sitka spruce
that sends six huge trunks into the sky.
Cape
Meares Lighthouse
Don Best/Best Impressions Picture Co. |
Also in the vicinity are Cape
Meares Lighthouse and a coastal seabird nesting area that is
part of a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Preserve. |
Heading south you will encounter the turnoff to Oceanside, a
small coastal village that is a popular stopping place with
vacationers. Just offshore from Oceanside is Three Arch Rocks. On
most spring and summer weekends, you will see hang gliders riding
the winds above the rocks until they finally land on the beach.
Three Arch Rocks was declared a National Wildlife Refuge in the
early 1900s by President Theodore Roosevelt. It is the home for many
types of bird life and an area frequented by sea lions.
The next stop is Netarts Bay, three miles south of Oceanside,
considered on of the best coastal locales for clamming and crabbing.
The scenic route then takes you on a winding drive that moves inland
in spots and then to Cape Lookout, another state park, which has
camping facilities near the beach. Trails and viewpoints are
abundant.
Cape
Lookout State Scenic Viewpoint encompassed nearly every geologic and natural
feature found along the Oregon Coast. The park was named for Cape
Lookout, a rocky headland extending one and three-quarter miles into
the ocean. An overnight camp is located in a typical coastal rain
forest.
A rolling, gently sloping beach provides an ideal setting for
ocean activities. Continuing on up the hill you will find a parking
lot which is the trailhead to some nicely wooded trails that offer
splendid views of the ocean and beaches. Take a five mile round-trip
hike to the tip of Cape Lookout or a two and a half mile stroll down
to the beach.
Continue on the Three Capes Scenic Drive and you will pass some
of the Sandlake Sand Dunes (see below), continue for several miles and you will
come to Cape
Kiwanda State Park. Cape Kiwanda is the smallest of the three
capes, but it's one of the best places to experience spectacular
wave action.
Continue through Pacific City for a few miles and you will come
back to Highway 101, thus finishing this scenic tour.
Sandlake Sand Dunes
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Sandlake is a popular area for
all-terrain vehicles (ATVs). Besides Sand Beach Campground,
camping is available in the parking lots; a fee is charged for
each licensed vehicle. Camping and day use is available free
of charge in undeveloped areas, such as along Derrick Road and
in the open sand areas.
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Visitors to Sand
Lake Recreation Area during the summer holiday three-day
weekends MUST purchase an area entry permit for each street legal
licensed vehicle. The permits are issued for a maximum of 1700
vehicles each holiday weekend to prevent overuse of the area.
Permits must be purchased in advance. Permit applications are
accepted in person or by mail at the Hebo Ranger District, Hebo, OR
97122. (503) 392-3161.
Bird Watching / Whale Watching
Bird Watching
The entire coast along Highway 101 is a wonderful place to view
the hundreds of thousands of sea birds representing more than a
dozen species that return to the Oregon Coast each spring to nest.
Bald eagles, glaucous gulls, and great Blue Heron are among the
feathered friends that are common year round.
While there is never a time of year without exciting bird
watching, Tillamook Bay is one of the best spots in the state of
Oregon for birding from early August to March.
Whale Watching
Those great arcs of water spraying beyond the
breakers are the glorious signs of migrating gray whales passing by.
These enormous mammals travel along the Oregon coast, heading south
to warmer water to calve and north to summer feeding grounds. These
spectacular creatures can be seen year round, but peak season is
November through April.
Golfing
The Tillamook area currently has two golf courses. Alderbrook
Golf Course is an 18 hole course located 4 miles north of town on Alderbrook
Road. Bay Breeze Golf Course is a 9 hole facility located at the corner of Latimer road and highway 101 north, near the cheese factory.
Bay Breeze also has a covered driving range and 18 hole putting course.
- Top of Page -
| Hiking /
Biking| Boating / Kayaking |
Clamming / Crabbing | Fishing Charters / Guides
|
| Three Capes Scenic Drive
| Sandlake Sand Dunes
| Bird Watching / Whale Watching
| Golfing |
- Top of Page -
|
