Bayocean Peninsula

This hike on Tillamook Spit can take you all day - but you'll see lots of different habitat while you're there. Starting off at the parking lot, you'll pass through bulrush tidal flats. The bulrushes and other plants that grow here are incredibly productive, able to hold together a loose, sandy sediment with masses of roots. Look offshore in the bay for crab boats and other fishermen. As you head out onto the end of the spit, the scenery changes from the tidal flats and inner Tillamook Bay to a sandy, wave scoured point. Indeed, the jetty at the end of the spit keeps the sand from closing off the shipping channel during large storms. Heading back on the ocean side of the spit, you'll see the typical flat Pacific Northwest beach, able to take the huge waves of winter. Finally, after cutting back across the dunes to the road, you'll come back on the high side of the dike and find a freshwater pond, Cape Meares Lake. The area surrounding this pond is frequented by elk coming down from the hills to feast on tidal flat grasses.