48 Hours in Manzanita on the Oregon Coast

A beach resort since 1912, the tiny, impossibly picturesque coastal Oregon town of Manzanita is perched in a unique location on the Pacific Ocean. It is partially split from the mainland by Nehalem Bay and under Neahkahnie Mountain, which looms overhead like a protective mother.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the sleepy little town underwent a small boom, with well-off Seattlites buying up property as escapes from the big city and to live a healthier, more people-free lifestyle. Though it’s still hardly bustling — the population hovers around 600 in an area of less than a square mile — Manzanita’s earned a reputation as a perfect spot for a respite along the Oregon Coast. This is a quiet town in the off-season and much more crowded and bustling — but not overwhelming — in the summer.

Here are a few ways to spend 48 hours in Manzanita.

Hang Out on Manzanita Beach

The quintessential Oregon coast walking beach, Manzanita Beach is a short walk from anywhere in town. It stretches for 7 miles of hard-packed white sand from Neahkahnie Mountain to the north to the mouth of Nehalem Bay to the south. Whether you get a clear view of the mountain or it’s wreathed in morning fog, it’s a wonderful, calming place to get in light exercise, take the dog for a walk, or just soak in the Pacific Ocean vibes as the waves lap at America’s shores.

Get Coffee at a Local Coffeeshop

Mornings by the ocean can be bracing, so it makes sense to caffeinate first thing in the morning at a friendly place like Manzanita News & Espresso, which combines a place to get coffee drinks and pastries with a small newsstand and garden seating. It’s right on Laneda Avenue, which serves as the main street and commercial drag for the town.

If you have your own private coffee ritual in the mornings, you can get supplies at Manzanita Grocery & Deli “The Little Apple,” which is also on Laneda Avenue and has wines.

Hang Out in a Cozy Bookshop

Though it’s a small town, Manzanita has its own bookshop, Cloud & Leaf Bookstore, where you can load up vacation reading or just nestle into the cozy reading room and while away the hours between trips to the beach or mountains.

Eat in Town

There are a few laid-back restaurants in town, too, like El Trio Loco 2, but the area also features seafood, American, Thai, and pizza. It’s surprisingly easy to find enough variety to keep families with picky kids entertained and fed for a long weekend.

Go to Haystack Rock at Low Tide

One of Oregon’s most famous landmarks, Haystack Rock in Cannon Beach is only a 20-minute drive from Manzanita. It’s a 235-foot tower of basalt that rises up from just off the coast, and you can walk there at low tide. Though you’re not allowed to climb the rock, kids love to venture out there to explore the tide pools, where you can find starfish and colorful anemones among the rocks.

Check Out the Oregon Coast Oddities

The Oregon coast is proud of its quirky character and eccentricities, so just wander around from seaside town to seaside town and discover the fun little landmarks. Finding oddities like a wooden statue of an old-timey sea captain or a monument to the region’s Nordic settlers is a kind of egg hunt you and your companions can play the entire trip.

Go to Mo’s for Chowder

Mo’s is a beloved chain of chowder houses along the coast owned by a seafood company. The original is in Newport, but Manzanita is close to one on the beach in Cannon Beach and about an hour by car from one right on the pier in Astoria, Oregon. Mo’s clam chowder is somewhere between brothy and creamy and generous with the potatoes. It comes in a sourdough bread bowl, and if you order the slumgullion, it comes topped with a heap of pink bay shrimp.

At Mo’s, you can also order freshly shucked oyster shots. The kids menu has the usual fare, too.

Follow in Lewis and Clark’s Footsteps at Fort Clatsop

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark were tasked with surveying the West, and Fort Clatsop is the log cabin settlement they constructed at the mouth of the Columbia River to spend the winter of 1805 to 1806 after finding the Pacific Ocean.

A recreation of Fort Clatsop is on the Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail inside Lewis and Clark National Historical Park and includes the fort and a pleasant boardwalk trail along the water.

Explore a Shipwreck

Fort Stevens State Park, near Astoria, is the final resting place of the Peter Iredale, a four-masted steel sailing barque that ran aground in 1906 on its way to England carrying wheat from Mexico. No hands were lost, but the vessel was a total loss, and it’s slowly rusted to its present skeletal form on the beach about an hour north of Manzanita and not far from Astoria.

You’re free to explore the wreck of the Peter Iredale. You can either park your car at the nearby lots on the other side of the dunes or drive your car on the beach via the sandy slope — though you should, of course, take care not to get stuck in the sand.

Visit the Tillamook Creamery

Whether you’re a fan of its cheeses or ice creams, if it comes from a living cow, chances are the Tillamook Creamery makes it. This Oregon farmers cooperative has gained a national reputation for quality.

The creamery is in Tillamook, about half an hour south of Manzanita by car, and is open to visitors. You’ll know you’re there when you get the barnyard whiff of cows as you get out of your vehicle.

Though the creamery offers 40-minute tours and tastings a couple of times a day for $15, you can cover much of the same ground with a free self-guided tour, which takes you through a kid-friendly series of interactive exhibits. You can learn about about dairy farming then head up to the second floor to the observation level, where you can peer through glass windows at the creamery workers turning hefty blocks of cheese into the wax-wrapped cheesy portions you get at the grocery.

The creamery has a large, open cafeteria, too, with pretty much everything made with a touch (or much more) of Tillamook products, like fried cheese curds ($12) or creamy macaroni and cheese ($17) in an individual-size cast-iron skillet.

Across from the savory counter is the ice cream counter, where you can get a flight of 3 scoops of seasonal or classic flavors like chocolate or marionberry (an Oregon favorite) for $10.

Final Thoughts

Whether you go when it’s wetter and colder but less crowded or sunnier and warmer but a little busy, the cozy little town of Manzanita on Oregon’s beautiful coast is a relaxing but fun-filled way to spend a couple of days in America’s Pacific Northwest.