Neahkahnie Mountain from South Hike

Overview

The Oregon Coast Trail crosses Neahkahnie Mountain, so you can access the summit ridge viewpoint from the north or the south. This approach is easier and is the one preferred by families with small children. The trail switchbacks up four times under a canopy of secondary-growth Sitka spruce and a view towards Nehalem Bay from a meadow where checkermallow blooms. Mountain beaver burrow in this hillside, so make sure you don’t twist an ankle in their large holes. Four more switchbacks take you to an even better meadow view before you enter the forest again and switchback up five times, with the trail getting more eroded and rootier. Coast fawn lilies and trilliums bloom here in the spring. Cross the maintenance track that leads to a radio tower, and make a long traverse on the east side of Neahkahnie Mountain’s south ridge. The forest here is dominated by spruce and hemlock. A somewhat sketchy switchback takes you back along a rock face where a rootball of several trees forms an umbrella over the tread. When you reach the ridge, you can head right up a rocky fin to scramble to the Neahkahnie Mountain Viewpoint, or continue on the trail for a short loop. If you’re doing the loop follow the trail around to the west side of the rocky spine. Here, since you’re just below the viewpoint itself, the vistas really open up, following Neahkahnie Beach south to the Nehalem Bay Mouth and then all the way to Cape Lookout. Back in the forest, look for a user trail leading right, and then follow this up along the spine, dodging some fallen trees, until you emerge on the rocky basalt crest. The view takes in the town of Manzanita below, Nehalem Spit and Nehalem Bay, Manhattan Beach, Twin Rocks, Bayocean Spit, Cape Meares, Three Arch Rocks, and the two mile-long lava peninsula of Cape Lookout. When you’re done with imbibing the vista, you can descend the south side of the rocky spine to the trail and return the way you came.

Trail Stats

Photos

400px-NeahkahnieSouthMap

400px-NeahkahnieSouthMap

250px-NeahkahnieVP1

250px-NeahkahnieVP1

250px-Spruce_woods%2C_OCT%2C_Neahkahnie_Mountain

250px-Spruce_woods%2C_OCT%2C_Neahkahnie_Mountain

250px-Checkermallow

250px-Checkermallow

400px-Neahkanie3

400px-Neahkanie3

TKO put tools to trail here.png

TKO put tools to trail here.png

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