Discovering Washington’s Record Setting Beach, Long Beach

Long Beach, Washington claims their 28 miles long beach is the longest beach in the United States. That makes it a good place to visit because in reality Washington does not have the greatest of beaches. Those in California and Oregon are generally better than Washington’s. Part of that is because a major part of Washington’s coast line is in the Puget Sound region. Here you don’t normally get the crashing waves one thinks of when going to the beach. I must confess I have not been to the beaches in the northern Olympic Park area which I hear are nice. The problem with those is they are remote and not easily accessible.

Long Beach the town is on Long Beach the peninsula. To the west, of course, is the Pacific Ocean. To the east is Willapa Bay or Shoalwater Bay. These are important waters for Washington, especially for oysters which are harvested in these waters. There are other small towns on the peninsula where one can stay and eat, but most people just generally refer to the area as Long Beach.

In some ways Long Beach competes with two other beaches in nearby Oregon. To me each has its own flavor or culture. The furthest south is Canon Beach which has a more sophisticated, artsy vibe to me. It’s also more expensive. Seaside lies just north of Canon Beach, but it has a more family friendly vibe with arcades and a great boardwalk to traverse.

Long Beach is more of an old school beach town with kitschy souvenir shops, arcade activity for kids, and cafe type restaurants. The businesses seem more mom and pop type places. It definitely has its own vibe.

The town does promote tourism including some well known events that can draw a big crowd each year. Their August kite festival is probably among the most popular and can draw quite a crowd. Of course the beach can be a good place to fly a kite any time of year when it’s not raining.

While the beach itself is quite long, it’s not easily seen from town. There is a wide stretch of dunes and grass between the town and the beach so you have to be up high to have a water view. This is perhaps a reason it seems less popular than its Oregon neighbors to the south.

Through this grassy dune is a nice boardwalk that stretches for quite a distance. It’s a good place to exercise and get in your daily walk. Of course if you prefer to walk right on the beach you can do that as well. The beach is generally pretty wide. You can also drive on the beach, which I am not particularly a fan of. Somehow to me driving on the beach spoils the whole beach vibe.

Besides the ocean there are other places of interest on the peninsula. One interesting little town is Oysterville. It is on the Willapa Bay side of the peninsula so it offers a different view than that of the ocean. The bay is kind of muddy here, but you can walk out a ways.

Oysterville is also an historic town. There are a few homes around, but the old church is a favorite place to check out. Inside you can still see the old stove used to heat the church back in the day. Outside the red and white steeple is a photographer’s dream.

At the northern tip of the peninsula is Leadbetter Point State Park. There are place to hike around and some nice views of Willapa Bay and the area around it. We didn’t spend much time there on our last visit, but it is a good place to hike.

To the south is another state park, Cape Disappointment. This park lies at the southeast corner of the state and overlooks both the Pacific Ocean and the Columbia River.This park offers a number of interesting things to see. There are both historical and scenic elements to discover. Speaking of discover, you will need a Washington State Discover Pass to be able to park. These are available as a one time pass, or you can get a yearly pass. For more information on getting one, check out their website.

There are two lighthouses at the park. I found the Northhead Lighthouse to be the more picturesque. The Northhead Lighthouse road takes you to a parking lot, and from there it’s a short hike to the lighthouse. During the summer months the lighthouse is open for tours (for a cost), but since we were there in April, it was closed. Still it is a beautiful lighthouse, and it’s fun to play with the processing of photos to make it even more interesting.

The older of the two lighthouses is the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse. It was built in 1856. It was more of a hike to get to this lighthouse, and the fences around it make it a little more difficult to photograph, but the views from it are pretty spectacular on a clear day.

Besides the two lighthouses, there is the Lewis and Clark interpretive Center which tells the story of this famous journey that opened up the Pacific Northwest to the United States. There is a fee to go in so we chose not to check it out. (Another place to learn about this important journey is at the Sacajawea State Park in the Tri-Cities area.) There are also old military barracks and gun batteries from when Fort Canby was active to protect the mouth of the Columbia River. The park really does have a lot of interesting elements to it, and it’s easy to spend a whole day here wandering around, or if you prefer, spend the night here and camp.

There are two main routes one can take from Seattle to get to Long Beach. The first is down I-5 to Kelso/Longview. Cross the Columbia River there to highway 30 which takes you to Astoria, Oregon. From there you recross the Columbia going north and travel northwest to Long Beach.

However, a different way that can give you a better perspective on Willapa Bay is to get off I-5 at Olympia and head west towards Aberdeen, but at Montesano turn south onto WA 107 (US 101) which will take you down on the east side of Willapa Bay. Raymond is an interesting little town to stop at if you need a break, and we found some other interesting spots as well. The Willapa National Wildlife Refuge is also worth a visit.

Southwest Washington has a lot to offer, and it is a different world than the big city of Seattle. It can be a worthwhile weekend visit or make a week of it. It’s worth checking out if you haven’t been there, or if you have, plan to revisit. You may have missed something the first time around. And be sure to sign up to receive a weekly post from Batteredsuitcase. While posts cover the world, the northwest is often the focus so learn more of our beautiful region.