Four Irresistible and Unknown Aspects Around Manzanita: N. Oregon Coast Gems

Published 06/13/2019 at 7:53 PM PDT
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Manzanita, Oregon) – The wonders of Manzanita, on the north Oregon coast, are too numerous to stuff into one single article or web page. There’s oodles of surprises around every corner (although the Manzanita / Rockaway Beach Virtual Tour does a fairly comprehensive job of showing these off). So much is obvious and in plain sight, but there’s plenty that isn’t. (Above: the Neahkahnie Overlooks at night).

Here, you’ll find a photo essay on some slightly clandestine aspects of the little town that’s big on amazing features.

Neahkahnie Beach: This is, of course, Manzanita’s biggest attraction. Broad and soft sands generally typify the beach, which runs more than seven miles from the bottom of Neahkahnie Mountain to the tip of Nehalem Bay’s spit. Most of the time, Neahkahnie Mountain itself makes the best photographic capture – or it photo bombs every shot, depending how you think of it. However, atmospheric conditions, i.e. the clouds and such, often dictate you point the camera straight out to sea or even southward, capturing all sorts of fascinating sights. Case in point: this photo, where the sky is reflected in wet sand.

Manzanita at night: few things can be more peaceful and more charming. After dark the area continues to glow, even when everything is all shut down. The sound of the surf is ever present. Storefronts are largely dark, except for smatterings of lights here and there. Get the right kind of camera and do some night photography here and a true glow emerges. The camera, after all, can see things we can’t.

For even more amazing sights, see the Neahkahnie Overlooks at night. Let your eyes adjust to the darkness, and if it’s a fairly clear night where you can see the stars you’re in for a major visual feast.

Docks at Wheeler: The tiny town just inland from the Oregon coast winds up much hotter when sweltering summer weather comes around, but conversely it’s often not quite as raucous during winter storms. But not all the time. That factor of being somewhat cut off from ocean winds and air streams only goes so far in the colder, rainier season. It can still get some extreme winds and rains.

Meteorological inequities aside, you get the best of both worlds: lots of water to gaze out at, even glimpses of Neahkahnie Mountain in the distance, and then some calmer conditions.

It’s the water that matters here. The docks just below the city park are one of the main attractions of teensy weensy Wheeler. Photogenic moments abound here. At night, the area is truly engaging, especially if the famed bioluminescent phytoplankton (that cause “glowing sand”) are around. Then, if you swish your hand around in the water here, you see a bluish, glowing wake from your hand.

Cape Falcon is the official name for the general area: a combo of basalt cliffs that stretch from Neahkanie Mountain to the left edges of Arch Cape, just south of Cannon Beach. But inside it’s all known by many names: Oswald West State Park, the Neahkahnie Overlooks and the mountain itself, Cube Rock, and then there’s Falcon Cove Road and Falcon Cove.

It’s a true hidden spot on the Oregon coast: a tiny, nondescript road that you can barely see as you zip between the northern edges of Oswald West and the Arch Cape Tunnel. At the beachy bottom of a neighborhood and a few streets, this natural wonder lies. It's seen here in springtime, when pastels and wild purples rule the sunset schedules more often than at any other time of year.

It’s also known as “Magic Rocks Beach” because of its penchant for wild clacking noises. Hotels in Manzanita, Wheeler - Where to eat - Manzanita, Wheeler Maps and Virtual Tours

Tradewinds Motel, Rockaway Beach 

San Dune Pub, Manzanita

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