S. Oregon Coast's Gold Beach Glass Float Drops Now 21 Years Old

Published 03/02/2020 at 4:48 AM PDT
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Gold Beach, Oregon) – Everyone knows of Lincoln City’s famed glass floats drops that now go year-round, drawing in thousands each year for this coveted find alone. There’s more to the story of these glinting treasures on the Oregon coast: the south coast town of Gold Beach has their glass float giveaway, called the Beach Treasure Hunt in Gold Beach.

It’s going on right now. Every year beginning in February tiny, cozy Gold Beach runs this festival until the end of April. 2019 was their twentieth year, which resulted in an extra flood of the glass goodies. This time around, the Gold Beach Visitor Center said they’re dropping “dozens a week,” placed mysteriously and secretively on the beaches once known for actual gold bits.

It’s a new kind of treasure now sought on the southern Oregon coast.

At Gold Beach, the artisan glass floats are dropped along a stretch approximately three miles, from the Rogue River Jetty to just south of Kissing Rock. They are found in the beach grass and dunes areas, to keep from breaking or getting tossed around by tides.

Like the Lincoln City glass floats, they are inspired by the netting weights used by fishermen, especially those from Japan. For decades, smoky glass float balls were found along the Oregon coast, coming from lost net gear by fishermen in the Far East. These are specially made, however, created in wild colors and fanciful designs.

When Valentine’s Day rolls around, the promotion turns to plopping red ones on the beaches. The week of St. Patty’s, look for green glass floats. Once you find one, you can take them to the visitors center and see if you’ve won a prize. There are weekly and monthly prizes given out.

If you can’t reach the beaches, local shops in town have one hidden somewhere among their wares. The visitor center has a list of the participating businesses, and you can poke around with purpose. The fun doesn’t quite stop there, however.

“Shop at one of the stores on the Beach Treasure Hunt map,” the Gold Beach Visitor Center said. “If you spend at least $25 between February 1 and April 30 bring your receipt to the visitor center for your own glass float Beach Treasure.”

See more at the Gold Beach Visitor Center site found here.

Below: glass floats from Lincoln City

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