Our Favorite Northern Oregon Coast Road Trip: Long Beach, Astoria, Cannon Beach & Manzanita
From shipwrecks and puffins to bike rides, elk sightings, and sunsets with our dog Daphne, our family's northern Oregon coast road trip reminded us why we love calling Portland home. Join us as we explore Long Beach, Astoria, Cannon Beach, Manzanita, and Nehalem Bay State Park, and why life here is about so much more than where you live.
Portland Lifestyle
A classic Oregon coast view that never gets old.
One of my favorite things about living in Portland is that adventure never feels very far away.
When summer arrives, our family starts dreaming about salty air, bike rides, campfires, and the kind of long beach walks that somehow make life feel a little simpler. To kick off Summer this year, we packed up the trailer, loaded the bikes, brought Daphne, and headed out on one of our favorite traditions: a northern coast road trip with stops in Long Beach, Astoria, Cannon Beach, and Nehalem Bay State Park. It reminded me once again why I love calling Portland home.
Our first stop was Long Beach, Washington, where miles of sandy shoreline and easygoing beach town charm made it easy to settle into vacation mode.
One of the highlights was Cape Disappointment. Despite its unfortunate name, the views are anything but disappointing. Standing above the Pacific and imagining the explorers who first arrived here always gives me a sense of just how wild and beautiful this part of the country really is.
Exploring Astoria and Fort Stevens by Bike
One thing we almost always bring on our coastal trips is our bikes, and this year they probably got more use than anything else. From our campsite in Astoria, we were able to hop on the trail system and ride all the way through Fort Stevens State Park. Along the way, we explored the historic army barracks, wandered through old bunkers, and eventually made our way to the Peter Iredale shipwreck. There is something special about experiencing it all at bike speed. You notice more, stop more often, and somehow feel more connected to the landscape. It ended up being one of our favorite days of the trip.
Cannon Beach on Two Wheels
Cannon Beach offered a completely different experience. We loved being able to ride our bikes into town for coffee, browse the shops, and enjoy the little conveniences that make beach towns so charming. One of the things I appreciate most about the Oregon Coast is how each stop has its own personality. Even though these communities are relatively close to one another, they all feel remarkably different.
Puffins and Bird Watching
We even managed to spot puffins during one of our outings, which quickly became one of the highlights of the trip. Bird watching wasn't exactly part of the original plan, but sometimes the unexpected discoveries become the memories everyone talks about later.
If told you this was halfway around the World, you might believe me. Instead it was just another reminder of how lucky we are to cal the Pacific Northwest home.
Nehalem Bay State Park: Miles of Trails and Endless Beach
One of the most magical moments of the trip happened at Nehalem Bay State Park. Over the course of our stay, we spotted multiple elk throughout the park, but one evening, we looked up to find a member of the herd calmly walking right through our campsite. As if it owned the place, it continued along the same trail we used each day to reach the beach. It was one of those moments that makes you stop everything and simply appreciate where you are. Between the elk, the miles of bike trails, the endless beaches, and the quiet beauty of the coast, it felt like we had stepped into another world, despite being only a few hours from home.
The Elk we saw had fuzzy, velvet-covered antlers that were still growing, and none of us realized that elk actually regrow their antlers every year.
Experiences like these are part of what I love most about living in the Pacific Northwest. Adventure doesn't have to mean boarding a plane. Sometimes it's as simple as loading up the bikes, packing up the dog, and heading west. What struck me most was how dramatically the scenery changed from stop to stop. The forests around Astoria felt lush and wild. Cannon Beach had a different rhythm altogether. And Nehalem felt softer and quieter, with windswept dunes, beautiful stands of shore pine, and beaches that seemed to stretch forever. It's amazing how much variety exists within just a couple hours of Portland. Some evenings, it felt as though we had the beach entirely to ourselves.
Daphne taking in another Oregon coast sunset. I’m pretty sure this was her favorite stop of the trip.
Why We Love Living in Portland
People often ask me what makes Portland so special. For me, it's this.
Within just a few hours, we can trade city life for shipwrecks, puffins, bike rides, elk wandering through camp, campfires, and beaches that stretch for miles.
This trip reminded me how fortunate we are to live somewhere with so much variety and beauty packed into such a small corner of the world. Each stop felt completely different, from the historic charm of Astoria to the wide-open beaches of Long Beach, the bustle of Cannon Beach, and the quiet forests and endless trails of Nehalem Bay.
Adventure doesn't have to mean boarding a plane. Sometimes it means loading up the bikes, packing up the dog, and heading west.
And perhaps no one enjoyed it more than Daphne.
Watching our sweet English Shepherd race across the sand and then settle in to watch the sunset quickly became one of my favorite memories of the entire trip. If happiness could be captured in a photograph, I'm pretty sure it would look exactly like Daphne gazing out toward the Pacific. Because life here isn't just about where you live.
It's about how you live.
