1 min
Overview
Manhattan Beach is the northernmost of the three communities between Barview, at the mouth of Tillamook Bay, and the mouth of the Nehalem River (the others are Twin Rocks and Rockaway Beach). The beach walk described here begins at Rockaway Beach, where the strand is wide and shallow and is named Manhattan Beach (!). Views south are to the arch and stack of Twin Rocks and then Cape Meares. Walking north and crossing Spring Creek to Nedonna Beach, you are faced with a skyline of Coast Range icons: Neahkahnie Mountain, Angora Peak, and Onion Peak. At the Nehalem Bay Mouth, look for harbor seals and surfers riding the tidal bores. The moniker “Manhattan” was probably given to this location as a real estate hook to attract property buyers. Nedonna Beach is a quiet escape from Manhattan Beach to the south, and you have to wade Spring Creek to get to it, which keeps the crowds away. From the Rockaway Beach Trailhead, go down to the beach. The large sea stacks of Twin Rocks are visible to the south. On a summer's day, volleyball and badminton nets are set up and sandcastles are a-building. Cross Rockaway Creek on logs and head up the wide sandy beach. After about a mile and a half, cross Spring Creek, where you can get views of the bridge over Highway 101 and the hills behind. Cottages have lined the low dunes up to this point, but from here you're in the Manhattan Beach State Recreation Site, so the dune grass is backed by a thicket of shore pines and Sitka spruce. The beach (now named Nedonna Beach) is a little steeper here and the waves don’t wash as high. Trails lead in through dune grass, salal, and Sitka spruce to the Manhattan Beach Trailhead. Continuing north, a panorama of coastline peaks opens up from left to right: Neahkahnie Mountain, Rock Mountain, Angora Peak, and Onion Peak. When you reach the Nehalem Bay Mouth and the South Jetty, look for surfers waiting for the tidal bores. You can hike along the rip rap at the river mouth, but be careful: the south side of the jetty wall has been “filled” with
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Photos
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