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CoastWatch Mile 326 County Clatsop Description Clatsop Plains, Gearhart Golf Course, Gearhart north Boundaries N 46° 2.515', W 123° 55.71' to N 46° 1.588', W 123° 55.669' Google Maps Nearby Roads, Directions to/from, Google photos, Satellite image, Terrain overlay OPRD Map Columbia River to Necanicum River (3) Vehicles • Motor vehicle travel is allowed at any time between the Peter Iredale Road (46° 10.6950', Mile 336), southerly to the beach ramp at Gearhart (46° 01.8570', Mile 326). • Motor vehicle travel is prohibited between the beach ramp at Gearhart (46° 01.8570', Mile 326), southerly to the Clatsop County-Tillamook County line (45° 46.9902', Mile 306), except as follows: Operation or parking of motor vehicles used for and engaged in towing dory boat trailers or essential dory boat launchings from Sunset Drive (45° 53.2830', Mile 313) in Cannon Beach southerly to Warren Way (45° 52.3566', Mile 312) with access from Warren Way only. Weather Current Weather Conditions at nearby stations (may take a minute or two on a dialup connection) Tides The NOAA Tide Predictions site may be found here. Click on the station nearest to your location to see predicted tides in graphical and tabular formats. Photo Near Gerhart beach access road   8/13/07 Picture taken from top of foredune looking NW along Mile 326 seasurf

11 REPORTS FOR MILE 326: seasurf Dec 23, 2009 11:45 AM   After long weeks of wind and rain this was a perfect day on the beach. Blue sky, sunshine, no wind just a light haze along the surf line. The surf was very mild, none of the roaring and snarling over the past few weeks. More like a summer day on the coast. And none of the crowds to spoil it all.   MORE  seasurf Sep 18, 2009 10:20 AM   Coast watch beach report for September 18, 2009 - Weather: warm, no wind, clear except for a light haze at the beach. Temperature 66 degrees. Tide incoming. Surf moderate to light. 4 vehicles on the vehicles allowed portion of the beach. 9 people, four walking their dog, two more pairs walking together. One walking his dog. Beach was clean of debris, just some kelp and seaweed here and there and shell castings from crabs. What was remarkable was the number of small fish of some kind on the beach. I am not an expert on sea life, but if I was guessing I would have to say they were smelt. About 6 to 8 inches in length, slim and streamlined with a pronounced 'V' tail. Tops were a blue-gray, sides and belly silver with an irisdescent stripe on the side between the blue-gray top and the silver sides. Counted 12 of them in a 25 ft. square of beach sand, most pecked by birds. Not many birds considering the feast on the sand, they must have been sated with fish. I did notice as driving to the beach that the estuary of Wahanna and the Necanicum was just white with seabirds of some kind. Couldn't identify the birds from the highway, but it looked like snow on the beach. Like the work got out that today was the day for a huge fish feed, and all the available birds put in an appearance. As an aside - The town of Gearhart had laid down a rock subbase for a one lane road parallel to the beach and about 150 feet seaward from the houses fronting the beach. This is probably 1,000 feet of beach grass and shore pines from the foredune. At the moment a large well drilling operation is going on the southern end of our mile of beach (326). I believe the outfit doing the work is Boart-Longyear, or something similar to that.   MORE  seasurf Jun 19, 2009 11:05 AM   Very quiet morning on the beach. There was quite a bit of rain a little earlier that must have convinced people to stay indoors. It was actually pretty nice on the beach. I did see beach toys - plastic buckets, shovels and the like in one spot. Almost as if the children left momentarily and would be right back. No fresh footprints since the rain in that spot. There was a washed up fishing buoy, or float. And in one spot a sort of sculpture of driftwood near the high tide line. I saw no wildlife to speak of, or at least that drew my attention. Didn't even spot any seabirds. The clouds were low, obscuring the top of Tillamook Head.   MORE  seasurf Dec 8, 2008 10:45 AM   During the fall quarter we have experienced some storms and there was an episode where driftwood came on the beach, but it was sparse. And a week later most of it was gone. The same can be said for kelp. On the reporting date the beach was relatively clean and free of any wildlife. As of the 8th of December there had been no erosion of the foredune, in fact there seems to be more accumulation of sand due to some high winds from the SouthWest.   MORE  Liza Gadsby Oct 17, 2008 10:00 AM   California sea lions in large numbers off shore.   MORE  seasurf Jun 2, 2008 10:15 AM   Quiet day on the beach compared to Memorial Day Monday. The people count for the holiday was perhaps 50-60 people, today (6/2) it was back to normal. Gasoline prices may have something to do with this. The tide was receding, surf was gentle, the breakers hardly noticeable. At low tides there have been quite a few clammers working the sand, but that was not the case at the time of this observation.   MORE  seasurf Jan 6, 2008 9:30 AM   We visit the beach on our mile once or twice a week when we are in the area. The biggest difference between the beach during this winter is the amount of sand that has accumulated on the top of the foredunes. Right now the beach drops off quickly and at high tide the water laps the bottom of the foredune leaving about a 4 foot vertical drop that can tend to trap someone at high tide as I can attest with some boots full of sand and water. Another change over years past is the number of people walking on the beach in the winter. Almost all with dogs, and almost all those dogs are running uncontrolled. I and my Labrador Retriever love to play fetch in the surf, but when I see someone approaching I put my dog on the leash until they are past. Other folks do not bother and we have had some tense moments with loose dogs approaching us in a threatening manner. Their owners do not seem to care that their animals are intruding on our space. There is no leash law in Gearhart, but there is such a thing as responsible pet ownership.   MORE  seasurf Aug 13, 2007 10:45 AM   Calm, quiet day. Seems as though there are more people than last summer, however very little, if any, litter or visible impact on the beach. Surf was gentle, a fog bank on the horizon. Picture perfect day at the beach.   MORE    Near Gerhart beach access road    Description: Picture taken from top of foredune looking NW along Mile 326 seasurf May 3, 2007 10:30 AM   Quiet day on the beach. No sign of birds or wildlife. Seems foredune has increased in height over the winter, most of the beach grass is currently buried under the sand for about 50 feet inland of the crest. No visible erosion this year, which is a bit unusual.   MORE    mile 326    Description: South terminus of mile 326 looking to the NW from crest of foredune. Date: May 3, 2007 12:00 AM Liza Gadsby Mar 30, 2007 2:00 PM   dead adult horned puffin found at high tide line. Not possible to estimate condition due to deterioration   MORE  seasurf Jan 24, 2007 10:30 AM   Actually a pretty quiet day, the surf was low, more like a summer surf. The sun was warm, and the few people were all just enjoying the walk. Our access to the beach is on a trail crossing the european beach grass and dunes for maybe a quarter mile to the beach. Some of the residents of the homes on the edge of the dunes have recently cut down the shore pines that were obstructing their view. Appreciate submitting it this way, will submit photos with future reports - Thank you!   MORE