People ask us for hikes more than anything else, so here are the ones we keep going back to. This isn't a list of the best hikes on the Oregon coast, Mt Hood and Eugene in any official sense. It's the walks we do ourselves when we have a free morning at one of the homes, the ones we've done in rain and in fog and in the kind of October light that makes you stop talking for a while. Boots by the door, thermos in the pack, dog usually along.
From The Weekender in Neskowin
Start with the beach itself. Proposal Rock sits right in front of town, and at low tide you can walk around it and out to the Neskowin Ghost Forest — the stumps of a spruce forest that was buried by sand and salt a couple thousand years ago. Check the tide table before you go; you want a minus tide or close to it, and winter tends to give the best ones. The stumps are easy to miss at higher water and unmistakable when the sand pulls back.
For a real hike, Cascade Head is the one. The lower trailhead is at Knight Park, about ten minutes south, and the trail climbs through old spruce and then out onto open headland meadow with the Salmon River estuary below you. Roughly four miles round trip, steady but not brutal. The upper trail and the road to it close in the first half of the year to protect a rare butterfly, so plan on the lower route. Go early on summer weekends; the small lot fills. From the cabin, this is a morning hike followed by a hot tub, which is the correct order.
From Puffin Lane in Manzanita
Neahkahnie Mountain is the mountain you see from the upstairs windows, and climbing it is a satisfying way to start a day. The south trailhead is off Highway 101 just north of town, up a short gravel road. It's about three miles round trip and steep enough that you'll feel it, with a view down the whole beach at the top. Fog is common up there; we've done it twice in a row, once in a cloud and once with Nehalem Bay laid out like a map. Both were good.
Oswald West is the other one. Park in the lot on 101 and walk the easy half mile down to Short Sand Beach, where the surfers are, then keep going on the Cape Falcon trail if you have the legs. That's closer to five miles out and back, mostly in deep, dripping forest before it opens onto the cape. On a calm day you can sit at the end for a long time. Nehalem Bay State Park, a few minutes south of the house, is the flat option — miles of spit to walk with the bay on one side and the ocean on the other.
From Wildwood Basecamp at Mt. Hood
The Old Salmon River Trail is the one we do most, because it's practically next door and it's beautiful in every season. It runs along the river under enormous old-growth cedars and firs, mostly flat, with several spots to get down to the water. Pick it up from Salmon River Road and go as far as you feel like. In the rain it's better, honestly.
Mirror Lake is the classic and worth doing, but the trailhead lot off Highway 26 fills fast on weekends, so leave the cabin early. About four miles round trip to the lake with Mt. Hood reflected in it if the wind is down; the trail continues up to Tom Dick and Harry Mountain if you want more. Trillium Lake is the easy loop, two flat miles, good with kids or after a big breakfast. Ramona Falls is the ambitious one — seven miles, and the Sandy River crossing has no bridge, so we skip it in high water. The screened porch is where all of these end.
From The Eugene House
Spencer Butte is the town's hike. Park at the main trailhead on Willamette Street and take the loop up to the rocky summit; it's under two miles but the last stretch is real climbing over rock steps. Go up for sunset on a clear evening and you'll see the Three Sisters. The Ridgeline Trail connects to it and runs for miles through the hills above south Eugene, so you can make it as long as you want.
Mt. Pisgah, about fifteen minutes out, is the other one. The summit trail is a steady mile and a half up open oak savanna, and the arboretum trails at the bottom are flat and quiet along the river. There's a small parking fee. And from the house, the paved trail out the door is a genuinely pleasant morning walk that ends at a bakery, which is not nothing.
A few things we've learned
On the coast, the tide table matters more than the weather forecast. At Mt. Hood, a sno-park permit is required at most trailheads from November through April, and chains or traction tires are not optional up high. In Eugene, weekends at the Spencer Butte lot get busy by mid-morning. Everywhere, bring a layer you think you won't need.
If you want more ideas, we keep longer lists for each place at Mt. Hood, Manzanita, Neskowin and Eugene. Or just ask us. We'll tell you where we went last weekend.