OCT: Segment 5 — Manzanita to Twin Rocks
- Tina McLain
- Sep 22
- 9 min read
A north segment along the Oregon Coast Trail from Manzanita to Rockaway Beach.
Segment 5 of the Oregon Coast Trail spans the north coastal area from Manzanita to Twin Rocks. It passes through Manzanita, Nehalem, Wheeler, & Rockaway Beach. This section encompasses Neahkahnie Beach, Manzanita Beach, Nehalem Bay State Park, Nedonna Beach, Manhattan Beach, and Rockaway Beach. I did this segment in five parts — one driven section and four as section hikes.
The Oregon Coast Trail spans 362 miles (according to Oregon State Parks) or 425 miles (according to the Oregon Coast Trail Foundation) of the Oregon Coast from the Columbia River in the north to the California border in the south. The trail still has "gaps" in trail that are road walking sections along highways and roads until more trail can be made. The Oregon Coast Trail Foundation works to maintain and expand this interconnected trail system. This long distance trail can be done as day hikes, section hikes, or a thru-hike. There are many ways to recreate and experience this trail and the beautiful coastline it entails.
Blue - driven section | Pink - hiked section
Explore by section:
My Section Hiking Approach
The Oregon Coast Trail is technically incomplete and the road walking sections are "gaps" in trail where no trail exists. So, I decided to do the road sections by vehicle instead of walking on the side of Hwy 101 or other roads that I feel unsafe doing. As more trail is established, I plan to come back and do those sections that were previously road sections. I also plan to add on sections such as capes, spits, and peninsulas to hike as much beach as possible on the Oregon Coast. Some sections I'll do as out and back, round trips when I head out alone and other sections I'll go north or south in a point-to-point hiking style. My intention with section hiking is to cover the Oregon Coast regardless of direction. I don't feel a need for my section hiking to be in a certain continuous direction. I will be trying to do as much of it as possible in a southward direction to avoid winds hitting my front, but besides that my goal is to cover all of the Oregon Coast trail, regardless of how I do it or in what direction. Obviously do whatever feels right for you on your own section hike. My reason for being out is to enjoy exploring and work toward finishing this long distance trail in a way that works best for me and my body.
A note on how I classify “segments”
The number segments of the Oregon Coast Trail are loosely set and based off of the Oregon Coast Trail Foundation maps. Instead of rigidly following the exact start/end of a segment I'm basing my start/end based off of my start/finish of a certain driven/hiked section.
For example: Segment 9 technically starts at Sand Lake Beach, but that's in the middle of a hiking section. So, I moved the "start" for Segment 9 to Sand Lake Fisherman's Area since that's where the start/end of certain hiked/driven sections start for me. I'm not going to break my hiked or driven sections in half so it fits precisely within a segment. So there may be some overlap between different segments due to that.
Each post I make will be for a certain segment and within that post it will be broken up into sections with in it that I drove or hiked. I will list each section from north to south regardless of which direction I hiked it so everything is in a cascading order.
Ocean Rd to Manzanita Ave
Mode of access: Hike
Access: Beach
Direction: North & South (in & out hike)
Distance: 0.98 miles (round trip)
NOTE: Since I did this as an in & out hike, the OCT mileage is half of my total distance since I walked the same section twice with doubling back.
Date hiked: February 28, 2025
I hikes this small section of beach as a short in & out style hike. I was alone and didn't have to option to be dropped off/picked up for a point-to-point hike. I hiked north from Mazanita Ave along the beach until I got to the north end of Ocean Road. I stopped where the driving section started/ended and then headed back down the beach to my car.
I hiked this section when the tide was high and just starting to go out, so there wasn't a lot of sandy beach. I was able to safely hike the section, but it is something to note that the Manzanita section of beach doesn't have as much "sandy beach" since the tideline at high tide basically goes all the way to the base of the small dunes. It was foggy out initially and then the sun popped through and some of the fog lifted when I reached the north end of the beach right around the time I turned around.
Manzanita Ave to Nehalem Bay State Park
Mode of access: Hike
Access: Beach
Direction: South
Distance: 2.38 miles
Date hiked: July 20, 2025
There was a NW wind so I hiked southbound so the wind was at my back. I got dropped off at Manzanita Ave along Ocean Rd and made my way down the beach access trail through the small dunes to the beach. The tide was coming in while I was hiking, but there was still plenty of beach to walk on. there were quite a few people out on the beach especially around the city of Manzanita and the campground within the state park.
The further south I hiked, the less people there were. I got to see lots of pelicans out fishing in the ocean which was pretty cool to watch. Most of the beach was lined with dunes and beach grass above the high tide line. There weren't many shells washed up. just a few dead, clear jellyfish. This section of beach was pretty, but I think the area further south down the spit near the jetty has a more wild feel and less people.
Nehalem Spit — Nehalem Bay State Park
Mode of access: Hike
Access: Beach, Trail
Direction: Round trip
Distance: 6.21 miles
Date hiked: May 6, 2024
I decided to hike this section as a round trip hike since I didn’t want to try and schedule a boat ride across the bay. Plus it worked well since I wasn’t going to be able to get picked up and dropped off for a point-to-point hike since my mom had meetings all day. I needed to drive myself.
I started my hike at 9:15am. The last low tide was at 5:30am so the tide was coming in while I hiked. During the time I hiked the tide ranged from 3.6 ft to 5.8ft. Almost the whole length of the spit is a Snowy Plover nesting area, so from March 15 – September 15 you can only walk on wet sand.
It was a pleasant hike overall. I was prepared for rain but lucked out with not getting rained on. It was even partly sunny which was unexpected. The wind was WSW so I was hiking into the wind at the start of my hike, it definitely made my eyes water. I only came across two other people on the beach. There were a lot of birds out and I even saw two washed up starfish.
I hiked to the end of the spit. The jetty was covered in large driftwood and same with the beach. I decided to try following a trail inland to see if I got any better views on the inlet/bay and if I could spot some harbor seals. I saw a herd of elk in the distant dunes eating away. I saw some seals in the water fishing.
I decided to try making my way in to the bay side of the spit and see if I could hike back that way to create a loop. On the bayside beach there was a whole herd of seals beached. I was able to go up in the dunes above them and watch them.
The trails in this area were overgrown with scotch broom and I was wading through the plants. Once I got to the bay side of the beach I tried hiking up it. But the sand was super soft. I was sinking 6–8 inches with each step. I was annoyed, but decided to turn around and hike back the way I’d come instead. It added more mileage to my hike, but that was better than hiking over 2 miles in soft, wet sand.
The tide had definitely come in more, but I was able to safely make my way down the beach. I really enjoyed this hike. If I hadn’t gone inland the hike would have only been 5 miles round trip, but I think it was totally worth the extra mileage to see the seals.
Nehalem Bay State Park to Nedonna Beach (Rockaway)
Mode of access: Vehicle
Access: Road
Direction: South
Distance: 12.8 miles
Date driven: March 20, 2024
I decided to take the alternate route from Nehalem Bay to Nedonna Beach which is taking Hwy 101 around Nehalem Bay instead of taking a boat across the mouth of the bay. I decided to hike the spit as an in and out instead. I didn't want to deal with the technicalities of scheduling a boat crossing.
This section of road passes through Nehalem, Wheeler, and Brighton. I'd seen mixed things online and on other guides that were saying walking the jetty to Nedonna Beach from Jetty Fishery was sometimes okay and sometimes not. It was a mixed bag of experiences so I decided to bypass that and drive to a beach access at the intersection of Beach Dr and Section Line S. and start the next section from there instead.
The view from the Nehalem River Bridge is always so beautiful. It's one of my mom's favorite stretches of road in this area.
Nedonna Beach to N 5th Ave
Mode of access: Hike
Access: Beach
Direction: South
Distance: 2.76 miles
Date hiked: May 6, 2025
After my mom got off work, we grabbed some dinner then drove up to Nedonna Beach. It was a sunny day and beautiful out. There was a moderate wind that added a bit of wind chill but it was still nice to hike in. I decided to do this section southbound since there was a north wind, so I’d have it at my back.
My mom dropped me at the beach access at the intersection of Beach Dr & Section Line St in Nedonna Beach. The short trail shot me out of the beach just south of the jetty. I started by hike south while listening to a comfort read romance book in audiobook form.
There were people out but it never felt crowded. The tide was coming in, but I had plenty of room to safely hike along the beach. I found some cool shells, even a live one I threw back in the ocean. I got to see a seal in the shallows watching a father and his kid digging in the sand near the water.
There were multiple seagulls as usual along with a few other types of birds. I saw two lady bugs at different points on the beach which was surprising. There was one creek crossing at Crescent Creek. It wasn’t too deep, but there was no way I was able to find to cross it without getting wet so I just went for it. I hiked the rest of the way to N 5th Ave with damp shoes, but it wasn’t too bad. With the gusts of wind I was able to get some pretty pictures of the sand blowing down the beach.
There were more people out as I got closer to the heart of Rockaway Beach, but even still, it wasn’t crowded or anything like Canon Beach or Seaside. I enjoyed my hike and listening to the audiobook really helped my brain stay engaged.
Resources
Area Conditions
Trail Overviews
Information/Maps
Tide
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