15 min
Overview
This beach hike fronts the coastal community of Tierra del Mar. You will walk north and then south on the sand, heading first to the Sand Lake Estuary and getting excellent views of Cape Lookout along the way. (Stay on the wet sand - north of emergency locator number 34B - from March 15th to September 15th, snowy plover nesting season.) Then head south into Cape Kiwanda State Park (the beach is narrow here and you need to round a point that cuts you off at high tide) to slog up to the top of Cape Kiwanda's Great Dune for views of Haystack Rock and Kiwanda's sandstone headland. The parking area gives beach access for people and cars at the north end of Cape Kiwanda State Park. Walk north past the sign that says No Motor Vehicles. It’s 2.1 miles to the point. Cape Lookout juts out two miles into the Pacific ahead. Behind you, Cape Kiwanda is the prominent promontory. Amble along in somewhat soft sand with the beach homes of Tierra del Mar to your right. Past the homes is a dune line stabilized by dune grass. It backs some brackish fingers of marsh in the lowlands south of Sand Lake. You may step over heaps of giant kelp knotted up on the sand. Little squads of sanderlings, with a dunlin or two mixed in during the winter months, scuttle along the shore, following the wave retreats to stab into the sand for snacks. Look for the little white shells of mole crabs littering the shore. Surf scoters in small groups duck into the breakers. The beach becomes wider at its north end. Notice the stunted shore pines and Sitka spruce in the dunes. Note that the northern end of the spit is a snowy plover nesting area: Between March 15th and September 15th, you can hike on the wet sand only and dogs are not permitted at all during this time. The southern boundary of the nesting area is at emergency locator number 34B. Here, a trail heads in to the Sitka Sedge State Natural Area, a new Oregon state park opened in June 2018 with a trail system of its own (see the Sitka Sedge Loop Hike)]. As you near the end of the spit which encl
Trail Stats
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Photos
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