Explore: Long Beach, WA
Drive to the Coast
The drive out to the coast is one of my favorite drives. From SW Washington there are two ways out to the coast. US-30 from Longview, WA through Astoria, or US-26 through Portland, OR. We tend to take US-30 to Astoria, there are more towns to pass though along the way and I love going through Astoria as well.
Rogue Public House on Pier 31
One of my favorite stops, that we didn't do on this trip, is Rogue Public House on Pier 31. It is such a unique experience driving out on the pier. I love the atmosphere there and sitting on the dock watching the seals.
Drive Across Astoria-Megler Bridge
To get to Long Beach, WA, you have to drive across the Colombia River via the Astoria-Megler Bridge. This is the longest continuous truss bridge in North America!
Drive on the Beach
Long Beach has over 15 miles of drivable beach, in different sections, that can be driven on all year long. There are are few more sections that may be open, depending on the time of the year. Make sure you have a car or truck that can handle driving on the sand!
Adrift Hotel in Long Beach, WA
We came across Adrift Hotels a couple years ago and we really have enjoyed staying here! They have a beautiful rustic lobby with complimentary beverage like tea from Beach House Teas, coffee, and water for the guests. They also have bicycles for rent in the lobby. Outside the hotel there is a boardwalk and a paved trail along the coast line. The paved trail is apart of the Discovery Trail.
Breakfast at 42nd Street Cafe
This trip we decided to stay in town for breakfast and tried out 42nd Street Cafe. I got the bacon waffle and it was so good! I will definitely be going back there in the future!
Bike the Discovery Trail
As you make your way down to the beach from the hotel you pass a board walk and paved trail, this is the Discovery Trail. We started by going north on the trail up to Clark’s Tree, which is a bronze sculpture of a tree that William Clark had carved his initials into 1805. This was the end of the trail and looped us back into town. We rode the rest of the way down the main street in Long Beach to where we had started from and hopped back onto the Discovery Trail.
Beards Hollow Trail
We departed from the Discovery Trail at Beards Hollow. Up until this point the trail had a few ups and downs but overall was an easy, enjoyable and scenic ride. We then followed the state park trail route from Beards Hollow to the North Head lighthouse.
Cape Disappointment State Park
The ride from Beards Hollow to North Head lighthouse was ALL hill riding. It was a 150ft climb to the top of the hill with few flat spots in-between. This was the hardest part of the ride, but the views were beautiful from up top!
Made it to the top!
This was our last stop on the ride. We turned around and followed the same path back to the car. Our whole trip was around 15miles and took us 2hrs. I would definitely recommend this ride and would do it again myself in the future. I may not go all the way up to the lighthouse again on my bike, but rather turn and take the rest of the Discovery Trail out to the port of Ilwaco.
This lighthouse is one of two lighthouses along Cape Disappointment. This was the second lighthouse to be put into service due to the amount of shipwrecks occurring. It is still in operation today with the use of an automated beacon. The lighthouse does have tours and they are cash only so be prepared for that if you would like to go inside.
Additional Activities not Pictured
Morning walk along the boardwalk with some beach house tea.
Seeing "Jake the Alligator Man" At Marsh's Free Museum. It was as strange as it sounds!
Dinner at Cove Restaurant at the Peninsula Golf Course, for their prime rib dinner that was recommend to us. Which was so good! We made reservations for 6pm, and they told us we got the last of the prime rib for the day, so if you are also looking to do this, maybe go early!