Neahkahnie Mountain from Manzanita Hike

Overview

In 2020, a new 2.1 mile stretch of the Oregon Coast Trail (OCT) was opened between Nehalem Road in Manzanita and the South Neahkahnie Mountain Trailhead. The new section, much of it developed by Trailkeepers of Oregon, crosses the Neahkahnie Headwaters Preserve, a property managed by the Lower Nehalem Community Trust. The new trail is popular with locals, but it’s also an attraction for visitors, allowing for a longer and less crowded approach to the Neahkahnie Mountain Viewpoint. Check both ways carefully before you cross Highway 101 to the beginning of the new OCT section. The graveled trail is lined with a split-rail fence and passes a clearcut planted in 2019. For the first mile or so, it follows a phone line corridor, a grassy track that undulates and passes into the verging woodland of Sitka spruce and hemlock for short stretches. Highway 101 is never far away to your left. Passing out of the corridor, the route enters a woodland with an understory of salmonberry, sword fern, and salal. You’ll see a house to your left before you enter a clearcut and switchback up twice. Large slash piles decorate the landscape, and foxgloves bloom profusely here in the summer. There are views up to the forested slopes of Neahkahnie Mountain. Some large spruce trees have been left standing in the clearcut. Switchback up three times to cross an old logging track and enter secondary forest. Two more switchbacks take you to a view south of Nehalem Bay and the coastal hills above the Nehalem and Kilchis rivers. A sign tells you that you’re leaving the Neahkahnie Headwaters Preserve as you descend an alder-shaded slope with a rushing creek below. Dense thickets of salmonberry cloak the slope above the trail. The trail then switchbacks over a ridge and passes under arching elderberries. There are a handful of impressively large cascara trees in this area. Soon, you’ll emerge at a kiosk and Road 38555. Bear left to hike down the road about 100 yards, passing a gate. You’ll reach the South Neahkahnie Mountain Trailhead, fr

Trail Stats

Photos

400px-NeahkahnieManzanitaMap

400px-NeahkahnieManzanitaMap

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250px-Snow_queen_%28Synthyris_reniformis%29%2C_OCT%2C_Neahkahnie_Mountain

250px-Clearcut_view%2C_OCT%2C_Neahkahnie_Mountain

250px-Clearcut_view%2C_OCT%2C_Neahkahnie_Mountain

250px-Spruce_and_hemlock%2C_OCT%2C_Neahkahnie_Mountain

250px-Spruce_and_hemlock%2C_OCT%2C_Neahkahnie_Mountain

400px-Neahkahnie_Beach_from_the_viewpoint%2C_OCT%2C_Neahkahnie_Mountain

400px-Neahkahnie_Beach_from_the_viewpoint%2C_OCT%2C_Neahkahnie_Mountain

TKO put tools to trail here.png

TKO put tools to trail here.png

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