Regions in Brief

Manzanita

As the crowds have descended on Cannon Beach, people seeking peace and quiet and a slower pace have migrated south to the community of Manzanita. Located south of Neahkanie Mountain, Manzanita enjoys a setting similar to Cannon Beach but without the many haystack rocks. There isn't much to do except walk on the beach and relax, which is exactly why most people come here.

The beach at Manzanita stretches for 5 miles from the base of Neahkanie Mountain to the mouth of the Nehalem River and is a favorite of both surfers and windsurfers. The latter have the option of sailing either in the oceanfront waves or in the quieter waters of Nehalem Bay, which is just across Nehalem Spit from the ocean. Access to both the bay and the beach is provided at Nehalem Bay State Park (tel. 503/368-5154; www.oregonstateparks.org), which is just south of Manzanita and encompasses all of Nehalem Spit. The park, which includes a campground (and an airstrip), has a 2-mile paved bike path, a horse camp, and horse trails. The day-use fee is $3. During the summer, horseback rides are usually available here in the park. Out at the south end of the spit, more than 50 harbor seals can often be seen basking on the beach. To reach the seal area requires a 5-mile round-trip hike. Alternatively, you can take a brief seal-watching boat excursion through Jetty Fishery .

If you absolutely must do something while you're here, you could play a round of golf on the meandering fairways of the 9-hole Manzanita Golf Course, Lake View Drive (tel. 503/368-5744), which charges $18 for 9 holes.

Wheeler

Located on Nehalem Bay, this wide spot in the road has long been popular for crabbing and fishing. However, in recent years it has also become a favorite for sea-kayaking. The marshes of the bay provide plenty of meandering waterways to explore, and several miles of the Nehalem River can also be easily paddled if the tides are in your favor. You can rent a sea kayak at Wheeler Marina, 278 Marine Dr. (tel. 503/368-5780; www.neahkahnie.net/wheelermarina), right on the waterfront in Wheeler or at adjacent Wheeler on the Bay Lodge & Marina, 580 Marine Dr. (tel. 800/469-3204 or 503/368-5858; www.wheeleronthebay.com). Rates range from around $22 to $28 per hour and from $44 to $50 per day; higher rates are for double kayaks.

If you're interested in trying your hand at crabbing, contact Jetty Fishery (tel. 503/368-5746; www.jettyfishery.com), located just south of Wheeler at the mouth of the Nehalem River. They rent boats and crab rings and offer dock crabbing. The folks here also offer a ferry service ($10 per person) across the river to Nehalem Bay State Park, where you can often see dozens of harbor seals lying on the beach. You can also sometimes see seals close up if you sit on the jetty rocks at nearby Neadonna, which is just south of Jetty Fishery.

You can also arrange to go out fishing for salmon or sturgeon with Nehalem Bay Charters (tel. 503/368-5858 or 503/812-6833; www.wheeleronthebay.com), which charges $80 per person for a half day of fishing or $140 for a full day.

Garibaldi

Named (by the local postmaster) in 1879 for Italian patriot Giuseppi Garibaldi, this little town is at the north end of Tillamook Bay and is the region's main sportfishing and crabbing port. If you've got an urge to do some salmon or bottom fishing, this is the place to book a trip. Try Garibaldi Charters (tel. 800/900-HOOK or 503/322-0007; www.garibaldicharters.com), which charges between $75 and $95 for a full day of salmon fishing. Deep-sea halibut fishing will run you about $165 per day. Whale-watching and bird-watching trips are also offered. At the Garibaldi Marina, 302 Mooring Basin Rd. (tel. 800/383-3828 or 503/322-3312; www.garibaldimarina.com), you can rent boats, tackle, and crab rings, if you want to do some fishing or crabbing on your own.

Garibaldi is also where you'll find the depot for the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad (tel. 503/842-7972; www.ocsr.net), an excursion train that runs along some of the most scenic portions of this section of coast. The train usually runs weekends during the summer. Call to see if it's operating when you visit. The round-trip fare is $13 to $16 for adults and $7 to $10 for children ages 3 to 10.

Also here in Garibaldi, you'll find the fascinating little Garibaldi Museum, 112 Garibaldi Ave. (U.S. 101; tel. 503/322-8411; www.garibaldimuseum.com), a small, privately owned maritime museum that focuses on the history of Tillamook Bay and Captain Robert Gray, the American ship's captain who discovered the Columbia River. The museum is open May through October Thursday through Monday from noon to 4pm. Admission is $3 for adults and $2.50 for seniors and children 5 to 18.

Tillamook

Tillamook has long been known as one of Oregon's foremost dairy regions, and Tillamook cheese is ubiquitous in the state. So it's no surprise that the Tillamook Cheese Factory, 4175 Hwy. 101 N. (tel. 800/542-7290 or 503/815-1300; www.tillamookcheese.com), located just north of Tillamook, is the most popular tourist attraction in town. Visitors can observe the cheese-making process (cheddars are the specialty), and there's also a large store where all manner of cheeses and other edible gifts are available. From mid-June to Labor Day, the factory is open daily from 8am to 8pm, and from Labor Day to mid-June, it's open 8am to 6pm.

If the Tillamook Cheese Factory seems too crowded for you, head back toward town a mile and you'll see the Blue Heron Cheese & Wine Company, 2001 Blue Heron Dr. (tel. 800/275-0639 or 503/842-8281; www.blueheronoregon.com), which is on the same side of U.S. 101 as the Tillamook Cheese Factory. Located in a big old dairy barn with a flagstone floor, this store stocks the same sort of comestibles as the Tillamook Cheese Factory, though the emphasis here is on brie (which, however, is not made locally). Farm animals make this a good stop for kids. Blue Heron is open daily from 8am to 8pm in summer and 9am to 6pm in winter.

Quilters and other fiber-arts aficionados will want to visit the Latimer Quilt & Textile Center, 2105 Wilson River Loop (tel. 503/842-8622; www.latimerquiltandtextile.com), which is housed in a 1930s schoolhouse. The center has a large collection of textiles and mounts a variety of exhibits throughout the year. May through September, the center is open daily from 10am to 5pm; October through April, it's open Tuesday through Saturday from 10am to 4pm and Sunday from noon to 4pm (Nov-Feb also closed Sun). Admission is $2.50 for adults, $2 for seniors, and $1 for children age 12 to 17. The Tillamook County Pioneer Museum, 2106 Second St. (tel. 503/842-4553; www.tcpm.org), is also worth a visit for its reproduction tree-stump house and interesting natural-history exhibit. The museum is open Tuesday through Saturday from 9am to 5pm and Sunday from 11am to 5pm. Admission is $3 for adults, $2.50 for seniors.

To learn more about the forests and 20th-century forest fires in the nearby Coast Range, visit the fascinating Tillamook Forest Center, 45500 Wilson River Hwy. (tel. 503/815-6800; www.tillamookforestcenter.org). This modern interpretive center tells the story of massive forest fires that devastated this area four times in the middle of the 20th century. After the fires, it took decades of intensive replanting to bring these forests back to the lush woodlands you see today. At the center, there is a reproduction of a fire lookout tower and access to the Wilson River Trail. In summer, the center is open daily from 10am to 5pm (other months it's open Wed-Sun 10am-4pm).

A hangar built during World War II for a fleet of navy blimps is 2 miles south of town off U.S. 101 and lays claim to being the largest freestanding wooden building in the world. Statistics bear this out: It's 296 feet wide, 1,072 feet long, and 192 feet high. The blimp hangar now houses the Tillamook Air Museum, 6030 Hangar Rd. (tel. 503/842-1130; www.tillamookair.com), which contains more than 30 restored vintage planes, including a P-51 Mustang, an F4U-7 Corsair, and an F-14A Tomcat. The museum is open daily from 9am to 5pm. Admission is $11 for adults, $10 for seniors, and $6.50 for youths 6 to 17.

Between April and September, you can go up in a small plane to see this section of the coast, and you may even see whales. Contact Tillamook Scenic Air Tours (tel. 503/842-1942; www.tillamookairtours.com), which offers tours in a restored 1942 Stinson Reliant V-77 plane and a 1928 Travel Air open cockpit two-passenger biplane. Flights start at $63 per person if you have four people in your group.

Anglers interested in going after salmon or steelhead in Tillamook Bay or area rivers should contact Fishing Oregon (tel. 503/842-5171; www.fish-oregon.com).

Neskown

The quaint little community of Neskowin is nestled at the northern foot of Cascade Head, 12 miles north of Lincoln City. Inland families have spent their summers in these tiny cottages and tree-lined lanes for decades. Quiet vacations are the norm in Neskowin, where you'll find only condominiums and rental houses. The beach is accessible at Neskowin Beach State Recreation Site, which faces Proposal Rock, a tree-covered haystack rock bordered by Neskowin Creek. On the beach, keep an eye out for the stumps of trees that died hundreds of years ago when an earthquake lowered the shoreline in this area.

If you're interested in art, check out the Hawk Creek Gallery, 48460 U.S. 101 S. (tel. 503/392-3879; www.hawkcreekgallery.com), which features the paintings of Michael Schlicting, a master watercolorist.

Just to the south of Neskowin is rugged, unspoiled Cascade Head. Rising 1,770 feet above sea level, this is one of the highest headlands on the coast. Lush forests of Sitka spruce and windswept cliff-top meadows thrive here and are home to such diverse flora and fauna that the Nature Conservancy purchased much of the headland. Trails onto Cascade Head start about 2 miles south of Neskowin. The Nature Conservancy's preserve has been set aside primarily to protect the habitat of the rare Oregon silverspot butterfly; the upper trail is closed from January 1 to July 15 due to the timing of the butterflies' life cycle. However, a lower trail, reached from Three Rocks Road (park at Knight Park and walk up Savage Rd. to the trail head), is open year-round.

On the south side of Cascade Head, you'll find the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology, P.O. Box 65, Otis, OR 97368 (tel. 541/994-5485; www.sitkacenter.org), which runs classes and workshops on writing, painting, ecology, ceramics, and other topics.