Hobbit Beach - A Piece of the Middle-Earth on the Oregon Coast

Hobbit Beach is a mesmerizing spot bringing together a thick Pacific Northwest forest full of Sitka spruce that abruptly ends with a sandy beach, incoming waves of the mighty Pacific Ocean, and Heceta Head at its southern end.

The beach sits just 13 miles north of Florence via Highway 101 with a moderate difficulty picturesque trail leading you for about 0.5 miles from the parking area to the beach. The trailhead separates two routes, the right trail leads to Hobbit Beach, and the left trail takes you on the 1.5-mile hike toward the Heceta Head Lighthouse.

Once you step on the Hobbit Trail, you will enter the magical coastal forest of tall mossy Sitka spruce trees and thick rhododendrons. The waiving trail will take you down to the secluded and sandy Hobbit Beach.

At the end of the trail, you can either continue walking the pathway or take a short tunnel created by the water running down the hill under the thick bushes. This little tunnel gives this place a unique charm, almost as if it came out of the pages written by J.R.R. Tolkien, and a hobbit is about to walk out of the nature-made arc at any minute.

The Hobbit Beach trail is a fantastic place to enjoy a scenic walk between the vast Pacific and the dense exotic forest, do some beachcombing and rockhounding, or set up a picnic right on the sand.

When the tide is low, you can walk farther toward the edge of the Heceta Head, where you can see tide pool creatures and oceanic vegetation sitting in between rocks with sea birds walking around. With a fog covering the top of the Heceta Head, you can almost imagine it to be the Misty Mountains.

The Hobbit Beach is easy to miss. The parking lot itself is a small pullout for about 6 vehicles, and it sits about a quarter of a mile south of Highway 101 milepost 177. Keep your eyes open for a gravel pullout on your left (if you come from the north) with a "No Overnight Parking" sign. During the summer season, it is easier to identify it by the vehicles parked there. Carefully cross the highway to get to the Hobbit Trail.

Cautions: Beware of changing tides, rip currents, driftwood, sneaker waves and never turn your back to the ocean.

Attention, Fellow Beachgoers

Unfortunately, our beautiful Pacific Northwest beaches are stained with trash, especially plastic. We at Oregon Discovery, as well as other unaffiliated groups of nature lovers, made a commitment to do our part in keeping our beaches clean, but we need your help too!

Whenever you go out to enjoy nature at your favorite spot, please bring a garbage bag or two and help us pick up garbage. Even picking up a little bit here and there will make a huge difference long term.

Please, help us save our beautiful nature for generations to come!