Nehalem Bay State Park Campground

We stayed for a week at Nehalem Bay State Park in June of 2013. It was packed (even during the weekdays) with families. The sites are a pretty close together. We could hear our neighbors around their campfire during quiet hours.

Our site had a trail that led to the dunes and the beach. I've heard that this campground isn't as busy in the fall. It's a beautiful park, however, I would probably only come again during the off season since I prefer a quieter camping experience.

Typical Oregon Coast state park. Paved roads and sites. W/E. During the off-season, one loop is reservable, while two are first-come first-served, and the rest are closed. I stayed here in late October, and the park was pretty empty.

Pretty sites and trees bordering the beach. Sites along the beach side are a short walk through dunes and seagrass to the ocean. A very short drive (or even walk, if the weather's nice) to the town of Manzanita, where there's a decently-stocked grocery store and health food store with fresh produce and several restaurants and bars.

Borders the ocean and the bay for boating.

Nothing really stands out to me, but I would stay again if in the area.

We opted to stay at the State Park rather than the Marina across the bay, even though our sole purpose was to go crabbing. So glad we did! Our kids loved to the climb the gnarled trees all over the campground, the playground was decent, and the little field in the middle of the park was great for frisbee and kicking around a soccer ball.

The dunes do a great job of sheltering the campground from the wind. We were totally fine, even though it was crazy windy next to the water. Loved dune jumping, and the kids hauled out the sand toys and snuggled down between a couple of dunes to play for an hour.

We took a drive into Tillamoock to see the cheese factory on a rainy day, and went crabbing at Kelly's Brighton Marina. Both were great!

I've got majestic photos of my lady, pregnant, hoofing it over these sand dunes. But I won't show them because a) I'm writing this from my phone and they're not on here and b) get your own pregnant lady and make her walk up dunes in the sand if you want to see that stuff.

It's a state park, it's on the Oregon Coast, and the quaint tri-villages of Manzanita, Nehalem and Wheeler are within a long walk, a longer walk and a cold swim, or a short drive away. Definitely the best spot in this part of Tillamook county to stay.

Nehalem Bay State Park is one of the larger ones we've stayed at in Oregon. The location is a spit of land next to 2 miles of beach on one side and a quiet bay on the other. A paved 2-mile loop circles the campground to the bay and back, and there's a new bike lane from the campground to Manzenita, the nearest town just north of Nehalem.

Some tips:
- When in doubt, select a site that is larger than you think you'll need. The angled sites on outer sides of the loops tend to be more spacious and easier to get into. We had originally booked a site on the inner side of D Loop only to find it was impossible to get into with our 28' trailer.
- A Loop appears to have the largest sites in the campground. This is where the yurts are located so there are less people overall.
- All sites have water and power but no sewer. On the plus side, the bathrooms and showers are clean if a little old. The showers do indeed have hot water as advertised.

Best things about this location:
- Well-behaved dogs are allowed to run off-leash on the beach. One of the best dog-friendly places we've stayed.
- Miles of beach and trails. Great biking and walking.
- Good internet and satellite reception from our site, despite the many trees

This is a large campground (256 sites) and it is popular (even after Labor Day). It is fairly busy and noisy during the day but quiet after sundown. There are only 2 garbage/recycling areas for the entire campground and beach, which makes discarding dog doo a bit of a challenge. The garbage is quite smelly and something you'll be aware of if your site is nearby.

Nehalem Bay State Park lies on a 4 mile long sand spit with a picturesque bay on one side and an ocean beach with scenic views of Neahkahnie Mountain on the other. Plus the location of the campground is away from Hwy 101, so no loud road noise.

We were fortunate to get there early enough to secure a long nice site as there was a line to get in and the campground was almost sold out from reservations. Never would have guessed that in this 3-loop, 265 site park after Labor Day. Our site backed right up to the the sheltering dunes that separate the campground from the ocean beach. The dunes also act as a natural barrier from any offshore winds. When you climb and stand upon the dunes, you barely see the campground among the canopy of shore pines.

Although our site was long enough to fit our truck and trailer, it was located on a curve and a tight spot to back into. The loop has many trees bordering the road and campsites are close together, so maneuvering into our site was a tad tricky.

The park offers so many things to do and see…as validated by a campground that was almost full early in the week. You have access to fishing and crabbing on the bay, miles of bike trails that connect to downtown Manzanita and the endless hours you can spend walking the beach and beachcombing for those special treasures.

The rate is for water and electric only. There are 265 campsites in six loops divided into two groups of three loops each. One of the loops was available as first-come first-serve. Sites range from 31' to 54' long. If you arrive without a reservation, pick up a map to check out the length of each site. The park also has a nice looking horse camp area with primitive sites with corrals and an airstrip with primitive sites.

The campground is located on a spit with the ocean on one side and the bay on the other. All campsites are paved with picnic tables and fire rings. There are restrooms and showers and a dump station.

The adorable town of Manzanita is just a few minutes away. It has several restaurants and shops though we didn't spend any time there.

Some campsites (including ours) have trails across the dunes to the ocean side, with a lovely wide beach at the end. There is also a bicycle trail that runs along the bay. Dogs are allowed leash free on the beach.

We were there in November and it was fairly empty, but I can see that it could feel kind of cramped when crowded. The road to access each loop takes you across two other loops as you enter and exit and is fairly narrow. For those two reasons, I gave it a four instead of a five.

This large state park is right behind the dunes of miles of Oregon coast line. Sites are a little tightly spaced, but it's a popular park, and worth it for the access to the beach and the little towns on Manzanita and Nehalem. There's also a bike trail right into town.

We unfortunately could not stay at this state park due to their lack of tree trimming. RVs that are 11’ tall or shorter should be ok, those that are 12’ may have some issues, RVs that are similar to our height (13’4”) should not even consider this state park (unless of course you don’t mind driving through pine tree branches as you drive to your site). Unfortunately the lack of tree trimming would have also made it impossible for us to back into our reserved site without hitting numerous branches (the branches extend into the road, not allowing for the needed maneuvering room to back into a site). Very disappointing; we were looking forward to our stay at this state park.

We stayed at several Oregon State parks this month and Nehalem was our least favorite. Mostly due to the fact it was crowded and sites are very close together. We'd probably come back during a less busy time of year.

The sites are well maintained, clean restrooms and showers, and there is a path over a sand dune area to a lovely beach. Nehalem Bay is beautiful! Nearby is the adorable beach town of Manzanita.

Cell reception:
AT&T - 4 bars LTE - 22 Mb Download, 10 Mb Upload
T-Mobile - 2 bars LTE - 53 Mb Download, 9 Mb Upload
Verizon - 3 bars LTE - 76 Mb Download, 14 Mb Upload