Bayocean Spit 2-1-23

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bobcat
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Bayocean Spit 2-1-23

Post by bobcat » February 2nd, 2023, 9:07 pm

Tillamook County Parks now charges $10/day for parking, but I actually visited two county parks on Wednesday (the other was Anderson Hill), so I thought it was quite a bargain at $5 apiece. Last time I was at Bayocean Spit, it was free, but now there’s a convenient credit card booth at the trailhead.

I took the trail out to the beach and then started walking north, getting views towards Neahkahnie Mountain, with Tillamook Head behind, as well as Angora Peak and West Onion Peak. Turning around, I could see back to Cape Meares with Pillar Rock and Pyramid Rock offshore. The day was calm, cold, and sunny. Droves of sanderlings were scooting in and out with the wash, and I also spotted a lone snowy plover on the beach. There are four trail signs on the dune crest which indicate the trails that cross the peninsula to the bay side.

Parking area and fee station, Bayocean Spit.jpeg
View to Green Hill, Bayocean Spit.jpeg
Cape Meares, Pillar Rock, Pyramid Rock from Bayocean Spit.jpeg
View north to Neahkhanie Mt. and Angora Peak, Bayocean Spit.jpeg
Foraging sanderlings, Bayocean Spit.jpeg
Trail sign, Bayocean Spit.jpeg

When I got to the South Jetty, I turned into the bay, following the dike road. Where the road was washed out, I crossed a cobbled depression to where the track resumes as it cuts across Kincheloe Point. A lovely county outhouse welcomes all comers. Then I was truly on the bay, above tidal flats and calm waters teeming with bird life, including herons, egrets, various species of duck, and brant geese. A bald eagle flapped lazily overhead. I passed the other end of each trans-peninsula trail as it emerged from dense spruce and shore pine woods.

View to Barview from the dike road, Bayocean Spit.jpeg
Cobbled inlet, Bayocean Spit.jpeg
Beach at Kincheloe Point, Bayocean Spit.jpeg
Outhouse, Kincheloe Point, Bayocean Spit.jpeg
View to Garibaldi, Bayocean Spit.jpeg
Spruce on the dunes, Bayocean Spit.jpeg
Dike road in the spruce forest, Bayocean Spit.jpeg
Great blue heron, Bayocean Spit.jpeg
Tidal marshes, Bayocean Spit.jpeg

I cut back to the center of the spit following the Bayocean Townsite Trail. Bayocean was a planned and platted community that was advertised in 1906 as the “Atlantic City of the Pacific” and fronted by a 140-foot high sand dune. But it all came to a sorry end, courtesy of the Army Corps of Engineers, which constructed the North Jetty at Barview in 1917. The jetty altered the local currents, and over just a couple of decades, the entire peninsula moved in towards the bay and in short order it became an island. The Pacific shoreline is now 600 feet west of where it once had been. Houses tumbled into the ocean, and the great protective dune was leveled (the highest point is now 50 feet above sea level). In fact, nothing remains here of the 600 buildings that once stood although a few of the homes were moved out by truck and the Bayocean schoolhouse is now in Cape Meares. A few posts among the ubiquitous Scots broom tell where the store and hotel, which were on the bay shore, once stood, but most of the Bayocean townsite is now offshore under the surf and ocean swells. In the 1960s, the construction of the South Jetty stabilized the area, the peninsula reattached itself to the mainland, and a flat expanse of low dunes filled in the gap between the jetty and Kincheloe Point.

Townsite sign, Bayocean Spit.jpeg
Mitchell Store and post office site, Bayocean Spit.jpeg
Bayside Hotel site, Bayocean Spit.jpeg
Interpretive panel - Demise, Bayocean Spit.jpeg

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Don Nelsen
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Re: Bayocean Spit 2-1-23

Post by Don Nelsen » February 2nd, 2023, 9:30 pm

Thanks for the TR and great photos!

My dad worked for the Corps of Engineers back in the fifties to early seventies and knew the history of Bayocean well. (He had nothing to do with those jetties, though). He told me about what it looked like in the thirties when he was first there, and it was hard to believe so many homes and businesses had disappeared into the ocean.

He'd load me and my brothers and sisters in the car and we'd all go down to the beach every couple of weeks all summer long back in the fifties. Bayocean was fun to explore and when tired of that, we would head out into the bay if the tide was low enough and catch clams. Back then, there were so many of them in the tidal mud and sand you could find them with your bare feet as you wandered about. We would sometimes go home with hundreds of them. Many fond memories.
Last edited by Don Nelsen on February 6th, 2023, 9:36 am, edited 2 times in total.
"Everything works in the planning stage" - Kelly

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RobFromRedland
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Re: Bayocean Spit 2-1-23

Post by RobFromRedland » February 3rd, 2023, 5:54 am

Don Nelsen wrote:
February 2nd, 2023, 9:30 pm
Thanks for the TR and great photos!

My dad worked for the Corps of Engineers back in the fifties to early seventies and knew the history of Bay Ocean well. (He had nothing to do with those jetties, though). He told me about what it looked like in the thirties when he was first there, and it was hard to believe so many homes and businesses had disappeared into the ocean.

He'd load me and my brothers and sisters in the car and we'd all go down to the beach every couple of weeks all summer long back in the fifties. Bay Ocean was fun to explore and when tired of that, we would head out into the bay if the tide was low enough and catch clams. Back then, there were so many of them in the tidal mud and sand you could find them with your feet as you wandered about. We would sometimes go home with hundreds of them. Many fond memories.
So you actually saw some of the old Bayocean town back in the 50's? That would be a pretty cool memory.....

I haven't been there in quite a few years but did several hikes and backpacking trips with the scouts. It is a really interesting and sad story.
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: WOW! What a ride! - Hunter S. Thompson

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Don Nelsen
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Re: Bayocean Spit 2-1-23

Post by Don Nelsen » February 3rd, 2023, 12:41 pm

RobFromRedland wrote:
February 3rd, 2023, 5:54 am

So you actually saw some of the old Bayocean town back in the 50's? That would be a pretty cool memory.....

I haven't been there in quite a few years but did several hikes and backpacking trips with the scouts. It is a really interesting and sad story.
Yep, saw the remains, but the memory is dim since I was only 5 or 6 when the spit completely washed out, I think in '52 or '53. Before that, you could drive to near the main town site. A causeway was built for a road to reconnect the now island and that stabilized the peninsula. Here's a 70 year old photo taken on the beach of my mom and me and two of my siblings. This was taken the summer before the ocean washed through. By the time we could get out to the town again, there wasn't a lot left, but as kids, it was still fun to explore.

Image
"Everything works in the planning stage" - Kelly

"If you don't do it this year, you will be one year older when you do" - Warren Miller

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RobFromRedland
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Re: Bayocean Spit 2-1-23

Post by RobFromRedland » February 3rd, 2023, 3:41 pm

Don Nelsen wrote:
February 3rd, 2023, 12:41 pm
Yep, saw the remains, but the memory is dim since I was only 5 or 6 when the spit completely washed out, I think in '52 or '53. Before that, you could drive to near the main town site. A causeway was built for a road to reconnect the now island and that stabilized the peninsula. Here's a 70 year old photo taken on the beach of my mom and me and two of my siblings. This was taken the summer before the ocean washed through. By the time we could get out to the town again, there wasn't a lot left, but as kids, it was still fun to explore.

Image

Cool picture! I also think it interesting it was a rocky beach before it all washed out and now it is all sand.
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming: WOW! What a ride! - Hunter S. Thompson

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teachpdx
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Re: Bayocean Spit 2-1-23

Post by teachpdx » February 4th, 2023, 6:00 pm

Bayocean has always been one of my top coast camping spots and the $10 parking fee is news. Thanks for bringing it to my attention. Were there any other changes you noticed regarding overnight parking, like is it still allowed? How do you purchase tomorrow’s parking if you stay overnight? $20 to camp one night out in Bayocean seems kinda steep now.
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west_linn_hiker
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Re: Bayocean Spit 2-1-23

Post by west_linn_hiker » February 4th, 2023, 7:19 pm

I camped at Barview Jetty Campground last September (north spit), and the car registration placard for the rear view mirror also served as an access pass all for Tillamook fee areas. (nightly fee was $22, + $11 transaction fee. hot showers onsite)

Just a heads-up about the notice below; not sure if this refers to the area being talked about.


***********************************
https://www2.co.tillamook.or.us/gov/Parks/FAQs.htm
Can I camp on Bayocean Peninsula?

No, camping is not allowed on Bayocean Peninsula. We are aware that there is information circulating that states that camping is allowed, but this is false information. Bayocean Peninsula is owned and managed by many entities, and only private landowners are allowed to camp within the confines of their own individual parcels of land. All others may be subject to fines.

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Charley
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Re: Bayocean Spit 2-1-23

Post by Charley » February 5th, 2023, 3:56 pm

west_linn_hiker wrote:
February 4th, 2023, 7:19 pm
No, camping is not allowed on Bayocean Peninsula.
What!? That's news to me. I've camped there with my wife several times. On the sand, in the trees, etc. I'm bummed that's no longer legal. This is also the first time I've sen that the sandy beach that is technically a state highway is also verboten for camping.

So I did a little research:

According to visittheoregoncoast.com,
Overnight camping is allowed on sections of the Oregon Coast, not adjacent to Oregon State Parks, not within the city limits of Cannon Beach, Lincoln City, Seaside, Newport, Bandon, Gold Beach, Rockaway Beach and Manzanita.
So I checked and the northern part of the Cape is not adjacent to a State Park:
PUBLIC LANDS.png
(the "Bayocean Peninsula Park" is managed by Tillamook County, so it's not a State Park: https://www.co.tillamook.or.us/parks/page/day-use-areas).

It's also not within the city limits of the Cities listed above:
MEARES.png
Which means that the public property on the beach (the "state highway" part of the beach) should be open to that use. On the other hand, as a practical matter, since the only convenient parking is at a day use area, there's not a good place to park. So you'd have to be thru-hiking the "Oregon Coast Trail" which is more of a neat idea than a real thing, and which wouldn't take you to this spit, because the spit dead ends, anway.

I missed this article (https://www.oregonlive.com/life-and-cul ... s-out.html) when it came out. Hales sums up the problem well:
Overnight beach camping is not allowed within or adjacent to any Oregon state park, nor on beaches within most major city limits. Those restrictions alone count out huge swaths of the coastline. But even at beaches where camping is allowed, overnight parking typically isn't, forcing folks to hike in, often from several miles away.
I find all of this a bummer, because there are a lot of good feelings and positive marketing about hiking the Oregon Coast, but the reality is quite less accessible and developed. Towns that would (marginally) benefit from increased tourism from thru-hikers camping on the beach have literally made it illegal to camp on adjacent beaches. Perhaps they're concerned about out-of-control overuse from non-thru-hiking people (yahoos) or people without homes, and projected costs would outweigh the projected benefits.

I haven't done it, but it seems like riding the highway on a bike would be about as good as hiking the route, because you have to walk sections of the highway anyway, and the distances between logical campgrounds make more sense with daily bike mileage than walking mileage.
Believe it or not, I barely ever ride a mountain bike.

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teachpdx
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Re: Bayocean Spit 2-1-23

Post by teachpdx » February 5th, 2023, 8:24 pm

Maybe Tillamook County implemented the day use fee to further dissuade overnight camping on Bayocean Spit, since it’s really hard to patrol and enforce. And it was getting a bit over-loved, but it was the obvious result of being one of the only places where it was legal to park overnight along the entire Coast.
I can’t think of anywhere, really, where one can park for free and have a relatively short hike into a patch of coastline where camping is allowed.
RIP Bayocean Spit, I guess.
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retired jerry
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Re: Bayocean Spit 2-1-23

Post by retired jerry » February 6th, 2023, 6:21 am

North of Cape Blanco is a good beach access point to camp on beach. I've only checked out the trailhead next to that airport. I keep meaning to do that sometime.

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