After the mini cliff continue cruising down the beach, and come to the not-so-mini-cliff. The trail is unsigned but is obvious on left hand side. The climb off the beach isn't too bad but there is a rope there it assist folks.
The trail climbs up to a nice little meadow area with several different wildflowers.
Foxglove
Definitely not foxglove.
The trail ascends upwards switchbacking through some interesting forest. There are some nice old growth trees and a lot of dense brush. It's obvious how strong the winds get here because of the number of massive uprooted trees.
Bleeding old growth
The trail has a few nice viewpoints overlooking the village of Cape Meares, Cape Meares Lake, the bay, and of course the ocean.
Snag with what looks like some large bird nest?
The trail levels out and passes a trailhead that can be driven to from Oceanside. From this trailhead one can walk to the Cape Meares lighthouse(The road between Oceanside and Cape Meares is permanently closed so despite being a couple miles apart, they are like a 20-30 minute drive away.) Stay straight on the trail to see Oregon's biggest Spruce. It is still very impressive but it looks like the top was blown down at some point. Nearly 16' diameter!
Terrible perspective of very large spruce
I headed back to the trailhead and walked the road to the Cape Meares lighthouse and world famous octopus tree. There are some magnificent views up there! There are also a lot of seabirds but my phone camera couldn't quite zoom in enough to capture them
Huey posing with the octopus tree
It's a short hike that could be done by most people, just be careful climbing off the beach and going around the mini-cliff. I also headed up the spit along the beach for a ways. Cape Meares has no stores or restaurants but is a wonderful destination for outdoor enthusiast looking for a quiet and relaxed vacation. There's a fair amount of hiking, a lake for kayaking, and a ton of fishing opportunities.
~Dan