Oregon's Hill-Hugging Coastal Town Has Breathtaking Arch Rock Views And A Tunnel To A Secret Beach

Mother Nature was feeling pretty darn generous when she went and conjured up old Oregon. This cut-out of the West Coast is brimming with sublime nature. Yep, an adventurer's bucket list for the Beaver State would whisk you through the deepest lake in the United States, over the forest-clad Cascades, and along the breathtaking 'Highway of Waterfalls' (spoiler: it's got loads of waterfalls!). And that's not even mentioning the coastline, which is where you'll find hill-hugging Oceanside, a town that surely deserves a spot on said list.

Why, you ask? Well, for one, the whole thing spills down a steep coastal mountain on the edge of the Three Capes Scenic Loop, a byway that links up some of the state's most dramatic shoreline — think seas of sand dunes next to great rock buttresses that rise like cathedrals from the Pacific. On top of that, there are rare sea lion breeding grounds on the jagged rocks off the shoreline, and strips of wave-bashed Oregon sand that you can only get to by passing through shadowy tunnels carved out of the cliffs.

The bijou town center of Oceanside oozes a real local charm. Just 500 people called it home at last count, and you'll get views of the waves and wave-splattered rocks no matter where you look. Expect the journey in to be as scenic as they come, involving a detour off Highway 101 from Tillamook that's all shellfish-strewn beaches and rugged capes. And while it might feel like you're on the edge of the world here, it's a mere 90-minute drive in from Portland, and just two hours from the city's major airport at PDX.

If there's one thing that really defines the lay of the land around Oceanside, it's the Pacific. The power of the world's largest ocean has chipped, whittled, and shaped the shoreline and beaches of the town into something seriously special. Basically, if you like your coast with a hefty pinch of the downright dramatic, Oceanside will oblige.

The Three Arch Rocks National Wildlife Refuge is a case in point. It might rank among the smallest national wildlife refuges in the country, but it's the stuff of superlatives. Not only is it the oldest refuge in the western U.S., but it also hosts one of the biggest seabird colonies in the Beaver State as a whole — and one of the few birthing grounds for rare types of sea lions. No visitors are permitted within the reserve, but you can spot the kaleidoscope of bird life and marine animals from the beaches of Oceanside itself.

The Cape Meares National Wildlife Refuge, meanwhile, strings its way up the coast to the north of town. It's a place where lush rainforests roll all the way to the edges of sheer-cut cliffs. There's a quartet of hiking paths weaving this way and that around the cape, including one that takes you all the way to the largest Sitka spruce in the state — it's thought to be 800 years old, and stands a whopping 144 feet high.

Beaches abound between and below the great cliffs that mark the coastline around Oceanside and this jaw-dropping portion of the north Oregon coast. You only need to stroll off Pacific Avenue, the main coastal road cutting through town, to start pressing your footprints into the sands of the Oceanside Beach State Park. It's got punchy surf throughout the summer, and prime agate hunting during the stormy winter months.

But that's really just an appetizer. Look to the north end of the city beach. See the small tunnel entrance carved right into the bulky headland? It leads to a passage that cuts 90 full feet through the rock to take you to a clandestine cove on the far side. Duck through to find jagged rock stacks rising from the ocean and clusters of glinting sea glass in the surf.

Meanwhile, the underrated coastal town of Pacific City is less than a 40-minute drive to the south of Oceanside. It offers a chance to crank up the adrenaline factor with hikes up huge sand dunes and consistent surf on its long urban beaches. You can break up the trip there with a pitstop at Cape Lookout State Park, which offers whale watching from its coast bluffs and waterfalls hiding in its virgin rainforests.