Lincoln Beach Hike
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
- Start point: Gleneden Beach Trailhead
- End point: Fishing Rock
- Hike type: In and out
- Distance: 5.0 miles
- Elevation gain: 50 feet
- High point: 50 feet
- Difficulty: Easy
- Seasons: All year
- Family Friendly: Yes
- Backpackable: No
- Crowded: No
Contents |
Hike Description
A six-mile expanse of strand extends south from the tip of Salishan Spit, which encloses Siletz Bay (see the Salishan Spit Hike), to the rocky promontory of Fishing Rock, part of Fishing Rock State Recreation Site. This hike takes in the southernmost 2 ½ miles of Lincoln Beach, a pleasant stroll that gets more interesting as you hike around the lava promontory of Fishing Rock, where you have a good chance of spotting seals, sea lions, and various seabirds. Fishing Rock itself is an island and part of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge and Oregon Islands Wilderness.
From the north end of the parking area at Gleneden Beach, find the paved trail that leads through a shore pine shaded gully to the beach. You’ll turn south and follow the sandy expanse of Lincoln Beach for 2.2 miles before ascending to the Fishing Rock headland. At low tides in the winter, a drowned forest may reveal itself at the wash line. During the last great subduction earthquake in January 1700, most of the north coast dropped several feet, submerging coastal woodlands. Now just the stumps remain to remind us that another great earthquake is about due. As you hike, look back to Cascade Head jutting out on the northern horizon, while to the south the nearest headland is that of Fishing Rock, your destination for this hike. A low sandstone bluff, characterized by colorful layers of succeeding deposits backs the beach. Very soon, however, you’ll pass a public access road to the beach (no vehicles actually permitted on the beach) and then note the riprap against the bluff to protect the homes here. There’s another public access point just before you cross Schoolhouse Creek. Next is a pedestrian access stairway off of El Mar Avenue. Continue walking south to cross another creek. In this section, use of riprap is less frequent, and the bluff is topped by thickets of shore pine and Sitka spruce. You’ll pass several more access points from Lincoln Avenue as riprap again lines the back of the beach. Note that there is very little parking available in Lincoln Beach for those not staying there: if you are just here for the day, park at the Gleneden Beach Trailhead or the Fishing Rock Trailhead.
When you reach the lava headland of Fishing Rock, hike up the path, signed for the Oregon Coast Trail, that leads into a dense Sitka spruce, waxmyrtle, and shore pine thicket. You’ll come to several junctions as you tunnel through this dark thicket, but keeping right will offer you a view over clifftop salal up Lincoln Beach and Salishan Spit to Cascade Head. Finally, emerge on a grassy expanse where you can walk out to get a view over the lava island of Fishing Rock, separated from the peninsula by a churning chasm. Look for basking seals, sunning cormorants, and prospecting oystercatchers. Surf scoters, dark seagoing ducks with bright, multicolored faces, ride the waves. The rounded boulders that compose the point are pillow basalts, formed when a lava flow, in this case the Grand Ronde member of the Columbia River Basalts, hits water.
A trail leads around the south side of the point to offer views south along a series of inaccessible, cliff-backed beaches that are inundated at high tide. An archipelago of low, rocky islets lies offshore. The small cove at Fogarty Creek is out of sight, and behind the next headland to the south is Boiler Bay. You can return the way you came by following the Oregon Coast Trail to your left at a junction in a spruce thicket. Going right will take you out to the Fishing Rock Trailhead.
Maps
- Maps: Hike Finder
- Green Trails Maps: Oregon Coast North #356SX
Fees, Regulations, etc.
- No fees
- Dogs on leash at Gleneden Beach State Recreation Site and at the Fishing Rock trails
- Restrooms and picnic tables at Gleneden Beach State Recreation Site
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Lincoln Beach Hike
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Lincoln Beach Hike
Guidebooks that cover this hike
- Hiking the Oregon Coast Trail by Bonnie Henderson
- 120 Hikes on the Oregon Coast by Bonnie Henderson
- Day Hiking: Oregon Coast by Bonnie Henderson
- Exploring the Oregon Coast Trail by Connie Soper
- Oregon Coast Trail: Hiking Inn to Inn by Jack D. Remington
- Oregon Coast Hikes by Paul M. Williams
- The Oregon Coast Trail Guide by Jon Kenneke (eBook)
- Oregon Beaches: A Traveler's Companion by John Shewey
- Oregon’s Best Coastal Beaches by Dick Trout
- Oregon State Parks: A Complete Recreation Guide by Jan Bannan
- The Dog Lover’s Companion to Oregon by Val Mallinson
- Canine Oregon by Lizann Dunegan
More Links
- Gleneden Beach State Recreation Site (Oregon State Parks)
- Lincoln Beach, Oregon (Wikipedia)
- Oregon Coast Virtual Tour: Fishing Rock State Park a Splashing Good Time (Beach Connection)
- Poking Around Pillow Basalt of the Oregon Coast (Beach Connection)
- “Rock Units and Coastal Landforms Between Newport and Lincoln City, Oregon” (The Ore Bin)
Contributors
- bobcat (creator)