6 min
Overview
This stretch of dunescape near Taylor and Carter Lakes affords easy access to a fairly isolated stretch of ocean beach south of the Siltcoos River Mouth. The dunes here are becoming established with beachgrass, shore pine, and Scots broom, but there are some active dunes just south of the Carter Dunes Trail. The hike encompasses the typical topography of the dunes area: lakes, forested dunes, transverse dunes, a thicketed deflation plain, low foredunes, and beach. Take the trail to the right of the toilet, and cross the campground road, which is closed from October through April. Enter a spruce/salal forest, and hike above the shore of Taylor Lake. Your best view of the lake is from a weathered boardwalk at its outlet. Stand quietly, and scan the dark, placid waters for beaver, nutria, wood ducks, and buffleheads. Rise up a slope in thickets of rhododendron, salal, and evergreen huckleberry shaded by Douglas-fir and shore pine. You’ll get a glimpse of long, narrow Carter Lake to the south. A viewpoint on the right gives you a look over the dunes and deflation plain to the open ocean. Descend into a zone of dunes being stabilized by invasive beachgrass and Scots broom. Look for lupine, wild strawberry, and kinnikinnick in the sand. The trail makes a sharp left and reaches the Carter Dunes-Taylor Dunes Trail Junction. Go right here into a wood of stunted shore pines. Cross a boardwalk over a sedge swamp, and enter denser thickets of waxmyrtle at a sedge bog. Enter the area behind the foredunes, where vegetation crouches low to escape the pummeling winds. Pass the signage on the crest of the dunes, and descend to the beach. Note that vehicles are allowed to use this beach from mid-September to mid-March; after March 15th, the beginning of snowy plover nesting season, only wet sand hiking is allowed and dogs and vehicles are not permitted. You can hike one mile north to the Siltcoos River Mouth. About halfway, you’ll see the Waxmyrtle Trail arriving at the beach (see the Siltcoos River Hike). Sanderlings scoot
Trail Stats
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28 m
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Photos
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400px-TaylorDunesMap
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