When people staying with us ask what's down the road, we send them to Rockaway Beach Wheeler Oregon style: one town on the bay, one on the sand, both a short drive south of Manzanita and both quieter than they deserve. Here's how to spend a day or an afternoon in each.
Wheeler: the bay town
Wheeler is five miles from Manzanita, tucked against a hillside where Highway 101 meets Nehalem Bay. It's small enough to walk end to end in fifteen minutes. There's a marina, a couple of antique shops, a historic hotel, and a lot of herons standing around looking judgmental.
Start at Wheeler Marina. They rent kayaks and crab rings and will point you to the good spots on the bay. The Nehalem is calm here, and paddling upstream toward the town of Nehalem on an incoming tide is easy and pretty. Time it with the tide table so you're not fighting the current both ways. Crabbing from a rented boat or the dock is a real option in Nehalem Bay; you'll need an Oregon shellfish license (12 and older) and a way to measure Dungeness, males only, five and three-quarter inches across.
Eating in Wheeler
The Salmonberry Saloon sits right on the water with a deck over the bay. Good fish, good beer, and a view of the same herons. The Rising Star Cafe is tiny and beloved; if you want dinner there, call ahead. For crab you didn't catch, Kelly's Brighton Marina, a few minutes south on 101, rents rings, sells bait, and will cook your catch on the spot. Bring a cooler for the drive back.
Rockaway Beach: seven miles of sand
Another seven or so miles south is Rockaway Beach, a proper old-school beach town with a wayside right on 101 and a long, flat, walkable beach. The landmark is Twin Rocks, a pair of sea stacks just offshore with an arch through one of them. Best at low tide and best at sunset. Dogs are welcome on the beach; keep them close around the creek mouths where birds feed.
The town's other claim to fame is the Pronto Pup, which locals will tell you was invented here in the late 1930s when a hot dog vendor's buns got soggy in the rain. The stand on 101 has a giant corn dog on the roof, so you'll find it. Judge for yourself.
The Old Growth Cedar Preserve
Our favorite thing in Rockaway isn't the beach. Behind town, a short boardwalk trail leads through a wetland to a Western red cedar that's estimated at several hundred years old and roughly fifty feet around. It's a ten-minute walk, flat, kid- and dog-friendly on leash, and it feels like a different planet from the highway. Park at the trailhead off Island Street and follow the boardwalk. Go after rain, when the whole thing drips.
The train
The Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad runs vintage excursions between Garibaldi and Rockaway Beach, along the bay and beach, on weekends in season and on holidays. It's about an hour and a half round trip, kids lose their minds, and grown-ups pretend they aren't also into it. Check the schedule online before you plan around it; it's seasonal and sometimes uses a diesel instead of the steam engine.
Putting it together from Manzanita
- Morning: Coffee on Laneda, then drive to Wheeler. Kayak or crab on the rising tide.
- Lunch: Salmonberry Saloon deck, or Kelly's if you've got crab to cook.
- Afternoon: Rockaway. Cedar trail first, then the beach toward Twin Rocks as the tide drops.
- Evening: Back to Manzanita for sunset. Twenty minutes, tops.
The whole loop is under thirty miles. You'll be back at Puffin Lane in time to rinse the sandy dog on the deck and get the cedar hot tub going, which, after a day of cold bay water, is very much the point.
Wheeler and Rockaway aren't destinations so much as the reason Manzanita feels like a base instead of a stop. They're where you go on day three, when you've walked the seven miles and want something different without getting on 101 for an hour. More ideas up and down this stretch are on our Manzanita things-to-do page, and if you're planning a summer trip, we've got notes on Fourth of July on the coast, when Rockaway's fireworks over the beach are among the best on the north coast.