If you are new to the central Oregon coast, repeat after me:
Yah-QUIN-uh. YAH-hots.
Happily there is very little road walking on this stretch; you’ll mostly be on the beach. And no boat-hailing drama: you’ll wade one good-sized creek and cross a big river on a big bridge.
From the south jetty at the mouth of Yaquina Bay, walk the
beach south 6.2 miles to the mouth of wadeable Beaver Creek. Someday this will
be a great place to stop for the night. What used to be called Ona Beach State
Park (a day use area and beach access) has been joined with nearby Beaver Creek
State Natural Area and additional acreage to create Brian Booth State Park,
where a new campground is being planned (but won’t be completed sooner than
2016—could be 2018 or even later). Continue south on the beach another 1.7 miles.
Approaching a basalt cliff near Seal Rock State Wayside (note the rocks
offshore), look for the little trail climbing up a ravine to the highway.
Now you’ve got an uninterrupted six-plus miles of beach
walking ahead, but consider stopping for the night at Beachside State Park, 2.6
miles south of Waldport (17.1 miles); look carefully for tents or RVs among the
trees and footsteps leading off the beach. It’s squeezed into a narrow corridor
between highway and shoreline and isn’t the most special of state parks, but
it’s a legal place to sleep.
Or continue south 3.9 miles until the beach ends at a headland
topped with houses. Look for a trail running up the sandstone slope; it becomes
Yachats 804 Trail (Hike 49). Follow it 0.8 mile to Smelt Sands State Recreation
Area. The 804 Trail continues south across a grassy field, through a neighborhood and
along Ocean View Drive 1.1 miles to reconnect with U.S. 101 at the south end of the town of Yachats
(22.9 miles).
There is lodging in
Waldport and in Yachats, including several motels right off the Yachats 804
Trail. The next campground is just a few miles south of Yachats;
see next blog post.