Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Coast Cranberry Museum
, 2907 Pioneer Rd., Long Beach (
&
360/642-
5553
). The museum, which is on a demonstration cranberry farm, features
exhibits on all the stages of cranberry growing both past and present. The museum
is open April to December 15 daily from 10am to 5pm. Admission is free.
AREA ACTIVITIES: KITE FLYING, BIRD-WATCHING &
CLAMMING
Active vacations are the norm here on the Long Beach Peninsula, and there are
plenty of activities to keep you busy. However, one activity you won't be doing
much of is swimming in the ocean. Although it gets warm enough in the sum-
mer to lie on the beach, the waters here never warm up very much. Add to this
the unpredictable currents, riptides, undertows, and heavy surf and you have an
ocean that's just not safe for swimming.
Instead of swimming, the beach's number-one activity is
kite flying.
Strong
winds blow year-round across the Long Beach Peninsula, and with its 28 miles
of beach, you won't have to worry about kite-eating trees. You'll find several kite
shops in Long Beach. Another very popular Long Beach activity is beachcomb-
ing. The most sought-after treasures are hand-blown glass fishing floats used by
Japanese fishermen.
Beach access is available up and down the peninsula, but the best beaches are
at the peninsula's various state parks. The beaches of
Cape Disappointment
State Park,
at the south end of the peninsula, are the most dramatic, while those
at
Leadbetter Point State Park,
at the north end of the peninsula, are the most
secluded. Just north of Ocean Park, there is beach access at the small
Pacific
Pines State Park,
and south of Ocean Park, there is additional beach access at
the west section of
Loomis Lake State Park.
This latter park is named for a
popular fishing lake that is in the park's east section.
If you've ever dreamed of riding a horse down the beach, you can make your
dream come true here in Long Beach. On South Tenth Street just in from the
beach, you'll find both
Skipper's Equestrian Center
(
&
360/642-3676
) and
Back Country Wilderness Outfitters
(
&
360/642-2576
). A 1-hour ride will
cost you $15.
Walking the dunes is a favorite Long Beach pastime. Between 17th Street
South and 16th Street North, you'll find the 2-mile-long
Discovery Trail,
a paved
path that parallels the beach. The trail winds through the grassy dunes that sep-
arate the town of Long Beach from the stretch of sand for which the town is
named. For a half mile of its length, the Dunes Trail parallels an elevated board-
walk that provides views of the beach and ocean over the tops of the dunes. In
celebration of the Lewis and Clark bicentennial, which will be celebrated in
2005, the Discovery Trail is slowly being extended from the town of Long Beach
south to Ilwaco. At press time, however, only a few short sections of this new
trail were completed. Along the stretch of trail in Long Beach, you'll find a whale
skeleton, a basalt column, and a bronze statue of the gnarled tree on which
Lewis and Clark carved their names. These monuments have been erected to
commemorate Lewis and Clark's long-ago visit to this area.
If you'd just like to get away from the crowds and find a piece of isolated
shoreline to call your own, head to Leadbetter Point at the peninsula's northern
tip. Here you'll find both
Leadbetter Point State Park Natural Area
and a por-
tion of the
Willapa National Wildlife Refuge
(
&
360/484-3482
). This area is
well known for its variety of birds. More than 100 species have been seen here,
including the snowy plover, which nests at the point. Because the plovers nest
