Difference between revisions of "Neahkahnie Mountain from Manzanita Hike"
From Oregon Hikers Field Guide
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[[Image:Neahkahnie Beach from the viewpoint, OCT, Neahkahnie Mountain.jpg|thumb|400px|Neahkahnie Beach from the viewpoint on Neahkahnie Mountain ''(bobcat)'']] | [[Image:Neahkahnie Beach from the viewpoint, OCT, Neahkahnie Mountain.jpg|thumb|400px|Neahkahnie Beach from the viewpoint on Neahkahnie Mountain ''(bobcat)'']] | ||
[[Image:Spruce and hemlock, OCT, Neahkahnie Mountain.jpg|thumb|250px|Spruce and hemlock on the new section of the OCT ''(bobcat)'']] | [[Image:Spruce and hemlock, OCT, Neahkahnie Mountain.jpg|thumb|250px|Spruce and hemlock on the new section of the OCT ''(bobcat)'']] |
Revision as of 14:12, 15 April 2021
- Start point: Nehalem Road Trailhead
- End point: Neahkahnie Mountain Viewpoint
- Hike Type: Out and back
- Distance: 6.9 miles
- Elevation gain: 1425 feet
- High point: 1,631 feet
- Difficulty: Moderate
- Seasons: All year
- Family Friendly: No
- Backpackable: No
- Crowded: On weekends
Contents |
Hike Description
In 2020, a new 2.1 mile stretch of the Oregon Coast Trail (OCT) was opened between Nehalem Road in Manzanita and the South Neahkahnie Mountain Trailhead. The new section, much of it developed by Trailkeepers of Oregon, crosses the Neahkahnie Headwaters Preserve, a property managed by the Lower Nehalem Community Trust. The new trail is popular with locals, but it’s also an attraction for visitors, allowing for a longer and less crowded approach to the Neahkahnie Mountain Viewpoint.
Check both ways carefully before you cross Highway 101 to the beginning of the new OCT section. The graveled trail is lined with a split-rail fence and passes a clearcut planted in 2019. For the first mile or so, it follows a phone line corridor, a grassy track that undulates and passes into the verging woodland of Sitka spruce and hemlock for short stretches. Highway 101 is never far away to your left.
Passing out of the corridor, the route enters a woodland with an understory of salmonberry, sword fern, and salal. You’ll see a house to your left before you enter a clearcut and switchback up twice. Large slash piles decorate the landscape, and foxgloves bloom profusely here in the summer. There are views up to the forested slopes of Neahkahnie Mountain. Some large spruce trees have been left standing in the clearcut. Switchback up three times to cross an old logging track and enter secondary forest.
Two more switchbacks take you to a view south of Nehalem Bay and the coastal hills above the Nehalem and Kilchis rivers. A sign tells you that you’re leaving the Neahkahnie Headwaters Preserve as you descend an alder-shaded slope with a rushing creek below. Dense thickets of salmonberry cloak the slope above the trail. The trail then switchbacks over a ridge and passes under arching elderberries. There are a handful of impressively large cascara trees in this area. Soon, you’ll emerge at a kiosk and Road 38555. Bear left to hike down the road about 100 yards, passing a gate. You’ll reach the South Neahkahnie Mountain Trailhead, from which you can make the 1.3 mile ascent to the Neahkahnie Mountain Viewpoint.
The trail switchbacks up four times under a canopy of secondary-growth Sitka spruce and a view towards Nehalem Bay from a meadow where checkermallow blooms. Mountain beaver burrow in this hillside, so make sure you don’t twist an ankle in their large holes. Four more switchbacks take you to an even better meadow view before you enter the forest again and switchback up five times, with the trail getting more eroded and rootier. Coast fawn lilies and trilliums bloom here in the spring. Cross the maintenance track that leads to a radio tower, and make a long traverse on the east side of Neahkahnie Mountain’s south ridge. The forest here is dominated by spruce and hemlock. A somewhat sketchy switchback takes you back along a rock face where a rootball of several trees forms an umbrella over the tread. When you reach the ridge, you can head right on a user trail to ascend to the Neahkahnie Mountain Viewpoint, or continue on the trail for a short loop.
If you’re doing the loop follow the trail around to the west side of the rocky spine. Here, since you’re just below the viewpoint itself, the vistas really open up, following Neahkahnie Beach south to the Nehalem Bay Mouth and then all the way to Cape Lookout. Back in the forest, look for a user trail leading left, and then follow this up along the spine, dodging some fallen trees, until you emerge on the rocky basalt crest. The view takes in the town of Manzanita below, Nehalem Spit and Nehalem Bay, Manhattan Beach, Twin Rocks, Bayocean Spit, Cape Meares, Three Arch Rocks, and the two mile-long lava peninsula of Cape Lookout.
When you’re done with imbibing the vista, you can descend the south side of the rocky spine to the trail and return the way you came.
Maps
- Maps: Hike Finder
- The maps below don't show the new trail:
- Oswald West State Park (Oregon State Parks)
- Oswald West State Park (Northwest Coast Trails)
- Adventure Maps: NW Coast Trail Map & Guide
Regulations or Restrictions, etc.
- Open dawn to dusk
- Dogs on leash
Trip Reports
- Search Trip Reports for Neahkahnie Mountain from Manzanita Hike
Related Discussions / Q&A
- Search Trail Q&A for Neahkahnie Mountain from Manzanita Hike
Guidebooks that cover this hike
- none
More Links
- Oswald West State Park (Oregon State Parks)
- Neahkahnie Mountain (Oregon.com)
- Neahkahnie Mountain (Outdoor Project)
- "Neahkahnie Mountain on Oregon coast is No. 9 on list of Oregon's best landscapes" (Oregon Live)
- "Oswald West State Park tempts with Neahkahnie Mountain, Pacific Ocean views" (Oregon Live)
- Neahkahnie Mountain (South Peak) (Summit Post)
- Oregon Coast Trail Maps (Oregon Parks and Recreation Department: State Parks)
- Oregon Coast Trail (Wikipedia)
Contributors
- bobcat (creator)