Long Beach Peninsula Travel Guide

Introduction

110 miles NW of Portland, 180 miles SW of Seattle, 80 miles W of Longview/Kelso

With 28 uninterrupted miles of sand, the Long Beach Peninsula, a long, narrow strip of forests and sand dunes, claims to be the world's longest beach open to vehicles. For more than a century, all those miles of sand have been attracting vacationers from the Portland area and parts of southwestern Washington, and today the Long Beach Peninsula is Washington's most developed stretch of coast. There are dozens of resorts, motels, rental cabins, vacation homes, and campgrounds up and down the peninsula.

Each of the peninsula's towns has its own distinct personality. In Seaview, there are restored Victorian homes. In Long Beach, go-cart tracks and family amusements hold sway. Klipsan Beach and Ocean Park are quiet retirement communities, while Nahcotta is still an active oystering port, albeit in a very attractive setting. Last is the tiny community of Oysterville, a National Historic District of...