Mile Report Browser

Folks and dogs getting ready for a great day at the beach

I was on the mile from 5:40 am to about 8 am. There were two cars and three people enjoying the beach near Cummins Creek. I was fortunate enough to see an octopus, a pair of oystercatchers, a river otter, and several apparently reproductive pile worms (Nereis or something like it) on the beach. The main thing of interest in the sea wrack was an abundance of drift Postelsia. I didn't notice any recent man-made or natural changes. 

Lovely early summer day on coast. Most notable wildlife observations were flocks of brown pelicans. It was nice to see how completely the sand has filled in previously eroded foredune areas. Also remarkable was absence of trash - only saw and retrieved one plastic water bottle, the fewest I've ever seen on the mile during a visit, and the bag of trash I carried out was the smallest I've ever collected.

Wanted to clean up the beach area before the wind increased. Surprised at how many people were walking the beach at around 8.30am. They must have had the same idea. Very few dogs and only a few seagulls feeding. Not much debris today although it may have been covered by sand as we have had strong winds especially over last weekend, Father's Day weekend.

There were 5 people walking on the beach.

There were a few sand dollars and crab casings on the beach.  There were 3 sea stars near Arch Cape.  The beach was very clean.

There were about 30 brown pelicans on and around Gull Rock.

Nice calm foggy day. No body else on the south side of the bay during our visit. 4 people observed walking on the north side of the bay and crab pots were set in the bay but no boats observed. 

Nice calm foggy day. No body else on the south side of the bay during our visit. 4 people observed walking on the north side of the bay and crab pots were set in the bay but no boats observed. 

Very foggy evening. No obvious change in coastline appearance. 

Human activities were typical for tourist season, with numerous people taking in the views along Otter Drest Loop and at the Lookout.  Nobody was parked at access points and nobody was on or near the shoreline. No notable wildlife was observed, just the normal common murres, gulls, and cormorants.  The only notable item on the shoreline was a large cylindrical chunk of what looked to be styrofoam on the first cobble beach north of the Lookout.  (Note the tree platform construction on the marine terrace remnant just north of mile 226.)

Fairly big crowd for mile 211 on a foggy June 21, most of the people as usual near the beach access at Lost Creek Wayside. At least one rocky area on beach had disappeared, and this was one of the first days I did not see any rockhounds.  

Sunny, Temp 60F, winds 18-25 mph

Low tide at 2:09pm listed at 1.64 feet

30 people and one dog observed with the majority just walking on the beach

7 cars in the beach access parking lots.

Sea Perch RV Resort was full and a large number of their visitors were on the beach.

Part of cliff had sloghed off and onto the beach near the north end of the beach. (see pic 15)

Low tides have resulted in quite a wide beach at this time of year. Accesses need to be carefully scrutinized before attempting, as they have changed at least and (some) have become unusable at most.

Despite a fierce north wind and closure of the road to the lighthouse until 6:45, I was surprised that 6 vehicles parked at the lower beach lot. The upper lot appears destined for the sea. Only 3 people, 2 with 3 dogs, were walking north on this half of the mile. A few gulls and lots of wee sand hoppers were the only other life forms. No litter or dead critters, possibly buried by the blowing sands. Drift line was occupied by small stones and shell fragments.      What a difference on the southern half of this mile the next morning. It was calm and foggy at 5:30 and a bit warmer at 55 for a runner and a guy with 2 dogs. No litter or dead things here either. Stone beds, shell fragments and some kelp in the drift line. Gulls, crows and hoppers also here. Beach is building up noticeably closer to the South Jetty, covering large logs for the most part.

Wind is in charge on the beach on this day highlighting rocks and shells on little sand pedestals.

A beautiful, but extremely windy day.  Finding the sea stars was a first.  One orange one and 3 purple ones.

The walk started on a lovely day with people out enjoying the beach.  Then the wind picked up quite strongly and the beach emptied.  The sand has come back in so the cobbles were partially covered making it easier to walk.  On the cliffs were potentilla, armeria and in the wet areas, mimulus.  We counted 17 different species of birds.   The barnacle covered shoe was the most unusual thing we saw.  It had to have been in the water a long time for the barnacles to get that big. 

The sunken Sujameco is exposed.

Overall the beach was very clean, did not see any trash or plastic.  Wind was somewhat gusty at times and on the cooler side.  It was low tide with calm waves. 

A quiet, cloudy morning walk on the southern end of mile 327 reveals considerable trash from human activities around fire pits on the dry sand area above the high tide line. We removed 15 pounds of trash in a SOLV bag and left at mile marker 5, Del Rey beach access entrance road (where the concentration of trash was highest). Notable wildlife sightings: 9 brown pelicans and 2 turkey vulture feathers. 

There were a lot of visitors from all over the USA and Canada, enjoying the park, interested in how the Oregon coast was doing after the bad wind storms earlier this year.

The visitors were just taking pictures 

Really, it's a fairly unused beach, except for the truck access. Most locals know that they can access the beach here to drive to Otter Point. That is the main use. It is also regularly used by kite surfers, but no one was out this day. It was crazy windy this day, and it was just myself and the 2 volunteers that were out walking that day. Nothing else out of the ordinary, and no large trash, except for the drainage pipes. I did find a green hat!

Nice day on beach but very windy (20kts), clean beaches very little debris. Lots of people (more than I've ever seen on my walks). Fish & Wildlife/SEA volunteers at Coquille Point (2) protecting nesting/pupping ares and doing interpertation for visitors. 

Fairly crowded for a weekday. Stairway still in poor condition, handrails missing in many places. Beach clean. Portapotty now available at beach entrance. 

A tourist attempted to climb the west end of the first Bird Rock at Chapman Point for a photo opportunity, flushing two black oystercatcher parents from their nest and away from their chicks.

Everything looked normal.  The only thing unusual was the lack of marine debris.  Typically, there's lots of plastic.

Heavy-duty work continued on the So. Columbia River Jetty (see photo).

Everything looked normal.  The only thing unusual was the lack of marine debris.  Typically, there's lots of plastic.

Heavy-duty work continued on the So. Columbia River Jetty (see photo).

Hiked in and out to Crescent Beach.  Tide pools look healthy and abundant.  Live mussels were dropped at regular intervals along the trail from Crescent Beach to Ecola Road, left to die and decay.  Quite a few of them were crushed or stomped on.  

There are four Snowy Plover nesting sites roped off on Mile 203.

Parts of the beach lost a large quanity of sand over the winter and the sand has not come back.

Graffiti covered up.  Steps to beach repaired.  Beach access to North Neptune rerouted around hazard tree.  A fire ring near entrance to North Neptune Beach.  Beach very clean other than a pallet, one piece of fence post and a beer can.  Lots of visitors enjoying picnic on a beautiful day.

It was a warm day with a low tide bringing lots of visitors to Ocean Beach.  I found an unusual amount of kelp on the beach both in the debris line and along the beach.  It appears that the crab molt is beginning.  I found a large plastic pallet at the foot of the stairs onto the beach.  It has been reported.  I also found some fishing line and a marked buoy, also reported.  There were a significant amount of large plastics on the beach as well.  The exposed rocks today had lots of mussels and sea stars.  I didn't observe any signs of wasting disease.  This was my first visit to the beach since last fall that I have not observed any rock fields. At the north end of the beach by the cave there was a large concentration of driftwood.   

A fair number of people and dogs, but just 10-12 seagulls.  Debris collected was typical...beach toys,pieces of plastic, cans and bottles, plastic bags and wrappers, small pieces of rope, and way too many poop bags.  Also found a large tangle of crabbing rope that had been at sea for a very long time based on the rotting sea life on it.  We collected the smaller items in garbage bags, but we were only able to drag the rope pile up to a beach access for later pick up.

I walked for 2 hours from our home at the north end of Ocean Blvd to the Jetty and through Barview Jetty Campground. Only one hour (combined observation and reporting) was spent on Mile 290. Beach condition was typical, with no concerns noted. 

We carried out a fair amount of trash left behind by visitors.

No new changes noted. Small jelly fish and pyrosomes in the wrack line, rocks, pieces of shell and plant material. No plastic noted today.

Walked along Quarry Cove and Cobble Beach at Yaquina Head. In addition to seeing live common murres, harbor seals, and cormorants, remains of a dead seal pup and 2 dead murres along with cracked murre egg at Cobble Beach were also located. 

A beautiful day on the beach, with lots of visitors for a Monday.  The beach was clean, very little litter.  The tide line had brown foam (diatoms, algae).  Only other remarkable observation was the erosion noted in 2 adjacent backyards. See photos.

Beautiful day on the beach, cloudy and pleasant. There were a surprising number of people on the beach, especially at the Tolovana walk on.  The tideline included brown foam (diatoms/phytoplankton) and algae. 

A quiet day on the beach. Not many people and calm surf.

Construction has begun on OSU's PacWave South wave energy testing project at Driftwood Beach State Recreation Site (see my previous reports). The Driftwood parking lot is closed to vehicles, however PacWave has created a walking path through the woods to provide beach access for local residents. Shipping containers line the western and northern edges of the construction site to reduce noise. The wayside's native Kinnikinnick plant, on which the threatened Seaside Hoary Elfin butterfly depends, has been protectively flagged, and a PacWave biologist monitors Driftwood Beach to insure that no threatened Western Snowy Plovers are negatively impacted by the project. It's an odd sight, walking the beach and looking up at a row of shipping containers, but it's nice to see that this long-planned project is finally underway.

Warm windy day. The insects were out on the sand. One beautiful bug was blown over on its back. Its belly was bright irridescent red. When I went to flip it over the back was a bright irridescent green. Amazing colors on this bug. There were a couple ravens looking for a meal and a couple gulls. The sand was being blown hard so for the most part people were on the other side of the rock at the parking lot playing in the stream. The black flying insect that was 3 cm long looked like a termite of flying black ant or wasp. There were thousands of them there. I would have taken pictures of them but the battery went dead on the phone.

Sand is building back up on the beach. Virtually no debris even after the holiday weekend. Wrackline of empty crab shells, algae, and some sand crabs. 

The pigeon guillemot population here is by far the highest that I have ever seen.

Ladder that is at the tip, south side, may have impacted nesting common murres, none nested on the long ledge near the ladder. This is usually packed with nesting birds. I reported this to a Oregon State Parks ranger.

A motorized para-sailor skimmed the south side above the nesting murres. I reported this to Oregon Fish and Wildlife.

We picked up four kayak load's of trash from a shallow cave just north of where the cape begins. This is usually a tough landing, but reasonable on this day. 

Not much change from last report. Maybe an extra inch or two of rootline, but that could also just have been the wind moving loose sand below.

This was a sunny day over the Memorial day holiday which meant lots of people around.  However, only 22 with one dog wandered down where the beach is marked to protect Snowy Plover nesting. One large group of horses from the rental went a short way along the wet sand, and two other riders leading a third horse came up from the jetty.  The sand was high up on the foredune with no steep cuts as has been the case in past years.  The beach was very long because of the low tides.  There was little wrack or human debris.  No dead birds were found, and only a few crows and gulls were fighting the blustery wind. 

The calm before the holiday weekend.  This report focuses on the new riprap added to several properties just south of Roads End State Park.  Update 6/15:  per Jay Sennewald with Oregon Parks "the “new” riprap you kindly sent photos of is actually the result of a recently completed riprap repair project across two properties.  Riprap structures tend to become damaged over time from wave attack during storms, and these two properties had been previously armored, but the structure was in poor condition.  OPRD has a record of the original  riprap permit (Permit # BA-285-85), issued in 1985 for the structure.The property owners hired a contractor to restore the riprap and the contractor obtained the necessary permit from OPRD to repair the structure.  Unlike new riprap projects, repair permits are issued without a public notice.  In fact, owners are responsible for maintaining and repairing their riprap as needed over time, and repair permits are commonly issued up and down the coast."  Thanks Jay!

Did regular observation of Chinook Winds rocks, NW 44th, Lincoln City, at very low tide and population of sea stars was noticiablely less than in past years at same time of the year and tides. Sea Stars that were there were large and plump. Photos from today and from June and July 2019 for comparision. 

First of all, the Wakonda Beach access at mile marker 159, which was a 12' dropoff due to heavy wave errosion, has been repaired to accommodate trucks and heavy equipment access to the beach. It is once again passable although care must still be taken when going up and down. Pedestrians must be aware of the activities of the trucks and equipment going up and down the access and driving on the beach. The badly eroded property south of the access is not permitted to be armored.

Beach is very flat in most areas and not suitable for Snowy Plover nesting.  Snowy Plover signs have been placed at beach access points. Dogs are not being leashed. Poles being placed vertical is not good for nesting birds.  Serve as perches for birds of prey or corvids to hunt from. Very little bird activity.  Did see 15 migrating whimbrels, the one Black-bellied Plover in winter plumage, a few Western Gulls and Common Crow.  Found tide pool areas interesting and the natural sand formations incredible. 

A visitor was waaayyy out on the rocks at Ecola Point, disturbing nesting seabirds.  Quite a few people walking, tidepooling and playing on the beach.  Five eagles, lots of harlequin ducks and cormorants, a few pelicans, two black oystercatcher pairs (one is nesting).  Some huge sea stars in this area.  

Most of the people on Crescent Beach hiked over before low tide.  The sand bridge by Chapman Point was knee deep at low tide, so a few people crossed to Crescent Beach during that interval.

Definitely a beach to visit for low tide! We walked up and down our mile and fell in love. So many cool tide pools, tons of awesome rocks, great collection of driftwood.

*Bonus scavenger hunt item: find the heavy piece of metal from Portland

A pleasant day to be on the beach. Conditions were good for paragliding, and a number were in the air above the Cape.

Surprisingly few people on the beach given that Memorial Day weekend is almost here. Intrepid boogie boarders were braving the ocean's cold temperatures as a lone sand fortress stood guard. Soft foredunes are forming in the wake of the significant dune erosion from repeated severe winter storms and sand has swept up the access trails obscuring the trail posts from the beach.

The Driftwood Wayside parking area is scheduled to close soon for construction of onshore infrastructure for PacWave South's long-planned wave energy testing project.  Driftwood Beach will still be accessible from Quail Street to the north and from Sandpiper accesses to the south. Construction hasn't begun yet in the parking lot, but there are now PacWave South in-ground markers at Buckley Creek and north of the Driftwood Beach access.

Three bald eagles at Cascade Head

A surprisingly clean beach, given this low tide.  Generally very foggy with very pleasant warm sunny breaks.  Choppy ocean with 4 fishing boats in the denser fog offshore.

Sunny day. Temp-58 degrees F. Wind- 15-20 mph, Low tide at approximately 11 am.

20 people and 5 dogs observed on beach.

6 cars in the parking lots.

Very little driftline debris observed for the second time in a row this year.

All dogs off leash.

Jesse Jones asked about the pipes along the beach. I was working a Covid clinic for Lincoln County at Waldport where I met a county property assessor. I mentioned the pipes along mile 220, and the erosion there (it is affecting several houses). He concurred with my idea that the large cement pipes where probably done at some point by Newport, and that they had been replaced/moved further inland from the pumping station at 68^th Street.

   This is the largest number of people I have seen on the beach in a LONG time. Especially since I try to get there early enough, and bad weather enough to avoid contact. I did get to my usual "Keyhole" location, it was slippery.

   There continues to be cliff erosion. The change in pipes visible or not (depending on erosion to expose them or slippage which hides them.

It was a windy day on Ocean Beach.  Since my previous visit, the sand banks are forming and the rock fields present during the winter are almost completely covered.  The stairs from Oregon Homes that had been destroyed in the King Tides have been replaced.  The concrete footings are still on the beach, not sure about their removal.  The debris line had very few plastics but lots of broken sand dollars, more than I have previously observed.  The only driftwood present is on the north end of the beach.  

Nothing unusual except for the lack of marine debris especially noticeable was the lack of plastics.

Illegal ATV tracks recently made running from south to north and back again. Sand has been deposited against the formerly steep foredunes.  The low tide was too high to allow access of the marine gardens. The dune grass has not turned greener yet.

The park appeared to be in good shape, the visitors were hiking and staying on the trails.

Beach had few visitors. Quiet day. Small amouts of broken clam, mussel and dungeness crab shells on the beach. Major observation was significant amounts of graffiti at the Rock Creek beach access, along the trail and on some large rocks on the beach. Large face carved into the bluff face.

The tide was very low this morning and there was a lot of beach. I didn't find any marine debris/litter, the beach was in a gorgeous natural state. I wonder if there has been a clean up recently? The tsunami siren test happened promptly at 11:00 am. Today was a great bird watching day! I saw Canada geese, a flock of terns, adult and juvenile seagulls, whimbrels, mergansers, and killdeer. There weren't a lot of people/dogs out. Peaceful beach walk with the sun showing itself now and then. 

We have a roped Snowy Plover nest just 20 feet south of the South Jetty access point.  The beach was very crowded on a cold, breezy morning, most of whom accessed at the S. Jetty.  I counted 55 cars parked by the jetty, and more were coming in as I left.

Very cool day with the strong wind. This kept human activity to a minimum. There was a large flock of sea birds flowing something in the water out about 300 yards. We never saw what it was.

Not as many sea stars as I would have liked to see on the minus tide but they are definitely there. Only one sea star looked like it might have wasting disease (see photo)

A beautiful, peaceful morning on Mile 194 at a negative tide. Less marine litter collected than a few months ago. People were enjoying the trail, pebble shoreline and tidepools respectfully. No shoreline wildlife in apparent distress. No physical changes noted. 

Clean beach.  No dead birds.  Nice to see a trash receptacle at the 73rd St beach access.  It was provided by Lincoln City Parks and Recreation.  The Emergency beach access at 64th St was recently graded/graveled.

calm spring morning with significant low tide, several folks with dogs, sparse driftline

Beach did not display any abnormalities as far as erosion or die offs of sealife.  One bag of trash mostly sandwich bags, plastic bags, bottles and bits of blue rope.

Except for myself there were people and vehicles only on the north side of Rock Creek which is called Ocean Picnic Beach. Rock creek was void of humans, pets and vehicles. Nice to see 22 curlews.

At the Bayshore Beach Club beach access, I posted a "Snowy Plovers Are Here!" sign, then walked down to where two plover nests had recently been discovered and roped off. There were no birds at either nest, and later in the day another Plover Patrol volunteer confirmed that both nests had failed--one from unknown causes, the other, based on the condition of an egg at the nest, probably a victim of predation, most likely crows. A few plovers were hanging around near the two roped enclosures, and that afternoon a new nest was discovered with two eggs. Later in the week we'll help Doug Sestrich the Beach Ranger remove the enclosures around the failed nests and rope off the new nest. Last year at this time, the forty or so plovers that wintered here were dispersing to nest elsewhere, but many of the nearby beaches are flat and bare after winter storms, without the sparse vegetation and small driftwood favorable for nesting, so some nesting pairs are apparently trying their luck here, which unfortunately hasn't been very lucky so far.

A few new drainage pipes and a new cement walkway onto the beach at the south end of the Surfland development.  A 1.4 acre ocean-front parcel was recently sold along the northern section of the Pacific Shores development.

Walked the length of Quarry Cove beach as well Cobble Beach, and did not observe anything irregular. I observed multiple visitors recreating on the beaches, but few were staying in such spaces for long due to cold and overcast weather. 

A cool but calm day in a streak of very dry weather.  The harbor seals have returned to their favorite hang-out at the tip of the Salishan Spit and evidently have produced a few pups this season.  Very little trash - we only collected a few small items.

Rip-rap projects are winding down. The presence of additional rip-rap on the beach reduces the width of the beach so walking the complete Mile 238 is often impossible. 

Saw a cement culvert in the water near one of the sea stacks. Found a piece of coral that still had pink on it - not sure if that means it's fresh or not. Did not see any others. Sand was still high enough to cover the shipwreck pieces that I know are on the beach in a few places, one of those being between two mid-point rocks that have arch-tunnels in them. Anemones looked fat and happy. A Canada goose was sitting on a sea stack, almost looking like it was nesting. 

Just a quiet foggy mid-day.  As usual on such days we had the place to ourselves.

Tide was just coming in, and the wet sand area was very clean, but up higher there were a lot of plastics in the process of breaking down - smaller pieces and broken things. Lots of driftwood up high, old wood, likely driven in during winter storms. 

This was a very foggy day on the beach. Temp-47 degrees F. Wind-2 mph

60 people and 18 dogs were observed on the beach which is the most that we have ever observed.

A large section of the bluff slid down onto the north end of the beach.

1 dead sea bird was observed (wing only) and this was reported to COASST.

There were only a few sea birds observed during the survey which is very unusual.

Driftline debris was non-existent which is very unusual.

Dense fog burned off with increasing warm sunshine. There was a SOLVE beach clean up event at Roads End, but that didn't seem to be the driving factor for the large number of people visiting mile 246. Mile 246 did contain more manmade debris in the wrack line than is typical. Small plastics were in abundance as were bottle caps, several small straws and a few pieces of rope. With the exceptionally low tide it was easy to scramble over rocks around the north bluff to access the small cove that's typically only visible from the god's thumb hike.

Elk River backed up by sand bank and not flowing into ocean. Access to this streach of beach just opened back up March 1st.

Nothing unusual.

Appeared to be quite a bit of drfit wood removal (recent chain saw use, truck tires above tide line). Winter storm impacts to foredune.

I walked north from Lone Ranch beach, crossing over, I believe, into mile 11/ Cape Ferrelo. All of the people and dogs I observed were clustered in mile 10. Most were on the beach. Two couples sat on rocks, ocean-gazing. A group of three people with two dogs had the dogs off leash near tidepools. Once the beach gave way to rocks, I saw no more people. There were footprints along the trail above the rocky shore. This area had many, many more turban shells on the beach and in the pools. There were dozens of hermit crabs, some tiny and one as large as a silver dollar. They were very active, zooming around. The tide was dropping (low tide would be in about 3 hours). There was a gentle current flowing through most of the pools. I was surprised not to see any small fish or sea stars. I did not venture far out into the tidepool zone due to safety concerns, but there were enough wet, exposed rocks with crevices and kelp that I would have expected to see at least one. 

I observed a small flock of surfbirds feeding on the kelp-topped tidepool rocks. I had never seen this bird before. They are chunkier than sandpipers and behave like backyard chickens, chasing each other off from feeding spots, vocalizing. They were vigorously mowing through the kelp, plunging their heads into it.

In one of the small rocky coves I saw what looks like a truck axle. It appears to have been there for a long time. 

Litter was not notable. I picked up one (clearly abandoned) plastic turret mold for building sandcastles, and some random bits of plastic cup.

Very windy with blowing sand.  Sighting of 1 Dunlin and 4 Whimbrels probably migrating.  They were feeding in the surf. Overall Mile 203/Driftwood beach is very flat and stretches from the surf to the shoreline vegetation.  There are a few areas where dunes are rebuilding due to wind changes.  Quite warm at 60 degrees. Picked up 1/2 grocery bag of trash.  Less trash is being found, but micro-plastics in driftline. Need to be sifted out, hard to pick up. 

Mid-week calm, quiet day without disturbances or concerns.