Cape Meares Beach and Bayocean Peninsula sit about 8 miles northwest of Tillamook on the northern Oregon Coast. The peninsula is a narrow sand spit that wraps around Tillamook Bay. It features an open Pacific beach on the west, quiet estuary mudflats on the east, and forested dunes running through the middle.

Here, you can walk for miles and barely see another person. Beachcombing is excellent after winter storms. The bay-side mudflats draw hundreds of shorebirds in spring and fall. And beneath the dunes lies the buried history of Bay Ocean Park, a ghost town gradually eroded by the Pacific over several decades.

Access to the spit is available from both Cape Meares Beach and Bayocean Peninsula Park.

Free parking near Cape Meares Beach provides direct beach access, while Bayocean Peninsula Park (day-use fee required) serves as the main trailhead for exploring the spit.

Beyond the park, visitors continue on foot, bicycle, or horseback. The Bayocean Dyke Road can become muddy, and the beach includes stretches of soft sand.

Things to Do at Cape Meares Beach and Bayocean Peninsula

Cape Meares Beach Beachcombing

The long stretch of beach between Cape Meares and the south jetty is one of the best beachcombing areas on the Tillamook Coast. Winter storms push driftwood, shells, and polished stones onto the sand. Few people walk this stretch, so finds remain undisturbed longer than on busier beaches.

Bayocean Peninsula Sand Spit Hike

The Bayocean Dike Road runs over 3 miles north along the bay to Kincheloe Point near the Tillamook Bay south jetty. The ocean-side beach covers roughly the same distance.

A full loop with road north of Bayocene Peninsula Park, than returning south via the beach runs about 7 miles round trip.

The terrain is flat, but soft sand slows you down, so allow extra time.

Bayocean Ghost Town

Ever walked over a buried town? In 1906, developer T.B. Potter began building Bay Ocean Park here, the so-called "Atlantic City of the West."

By 1914, 600 lots were sold. A natatorium with a heated pool was built and hotels were planned. But the ocean began to slowly erase the shoreline. The natatorium collapsed by 1936, homes fell into the surf, and by the late 1950s the entire town had vanished. Today, sand and dunes cover almost every remaining trace of the town.

Birdwatching

The bay-side mudflats are outstanding for shorebirds. During a moderately low tide in spring or fall, exposed flats attract sandpipers, plovers, dunlins, great blue herons, and bald eagles. Bring binoculars, since the flat terrain makes it easy to scan from the trail.