Tahkenitch Dunes Loop Hike

Overview

This loop in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area takes you to a rather remote beach and an even more remote lake. A good portion of the hike is in dense forest, so the sandscapes are somewhat limited, but you’ll get some higher views from a forested dune ridge. Those wishing to do a backpack can camp on the beach between mid-September and mid-March or at or near the north end of Threemile Lake any time of the year. (The beach is closed to camping during snowy plover nesting season.) The Tahkenitch Dunes Trail, a designated National Recreation Trail, begins near the restrooms and leads up through dense thickets of evergreen huckleberry, rhododendron, and salal under a canopy of Douglas-fir, cedar, and Sitka spruce. When you reach a junction, the beginning of the loop, head right to keep on the Tahkenitch Dunes Trail. The trail traverses up a slope and then gently descends, winding through thickets and switchbacking down to make another traverse, this time across an open dune area. You’ll enter a more open wood of shore pine and spruce stabilized also by beach grass. Look for beach strawberries ripening in the sand here. A sandy turnpike takes you through waxmyrtle thickets in the deflation zone behind the foredunes. Keep left at the junction with the Tahkenitch Creek Trail (see the Tahkenitch Creek Loop Hike), and pass a split rail fence with a sign about snowy plover nesting season. The trail proceeds under an arbor of shore pine to reach a junction with a beach access trail. Stay right at the junction, passing a view over Tahkenitch Creek where it spills out to the ocean. You’ll reach the beach at emergency locator sign #115 and turn south. (Bear in mind that you’ll need to hike on the wet sand in plover nesting season, mid-March to mid-September, and dogs and camping are not permitted at all on the beach during that time.) It’s easier to hike at the edge of the wave wash where the sand is firm. Looking north, you can make out Cape Mountain (see the Cape Mountain Loop Hike) and Sea Lion Point. Soon,

Trail Stats

Photos

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