8 Most Memorable Small Towns in the Pacific Northwest
The Pacific Northwest coast runs from the Columbia River bar north through Washington's island country, and a handful of small towns along the way each claim a different piece of it. Astoria stacks Victorian houses on a hillside above the Columbia. Long Beach has 28 miles of unbroken sand on a single peninsula. Westport runs three named surf breaks off a working salmon-and-tuna fleet. Anacortes is the ferry door to the San Juans. The eight towns below cover Oregon and Washington's coastline at its most distinct.
Anacortes, Washington
Anacortes is the largest city on Fidalgo Island and the Washington State Ferries gateway to the San Juan archipelago, with daily sailings to Lopez, Shaw, Orcas, and Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. Deception Pass State Park is about 15 minutes south of town, where the Deception Pass Bridge crosses the strait between Fidalgo and Whidbey islands. Local seafood drives the dining scene, with A'Town Bistro and Gere-a-Deli within a short walk of the marina, and the Majestic Inn and Spa in the historic district downtown.
The downtown core has independent shops, boutiques, and a biannual Vintage Market. The Anacortes Waterfront Festival in early summer and the Anacortes Arts Festival in late summer are the calendar anchors, and the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival fills fields east and southeast of town through April.
Astoria, Oregon
Astoria sits at the wide mouth of the Columbia River, founded in 1811 by John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company and often cited as the oldest American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. Victorian houses climb the steep hill above downtown, giving the town its "Little San Francisco" nickname. The 125-foot Astoria Column, painted with a sgraffito spiral frieze of regional history, sits on top of Coxcomb Hill with the widest view of the river, the bridge, and the Pacific bar. Down on the riverfront, the Columbia River Maritime Museum covers shipwrecks, the Coast Guard, and the bar pilots who still guide ships across the Columbia Bar, one of the most dangerous river entrances in the world.
Several scenes from "Free Willy" (1993) were filmed in the area, with the final jump shot at Hammond Mooring Basin a few miles west in Hammond. An Oregon Film Trail marker stands at the location. Day trips include Fort Stevens State Park, the Bradley State Scenic Viewpoint, and the Lewis and Clark National Historical Park. The Flavel House, an 1886 Queen Anne residence built by river bar pilot Captain George Flavel, is preserved as a museum a few blocks above the waterfront.
Gig Harbor, Washington
About 12 miles northwest of Tacoma across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, Gig Harbor wraps around a small protected harbor on Puget Sound, with views of Mount Rainier on clear days. The town was settled in the late 1800s by Croatian and Scandinavian fishermen, and several boats from the original Croatian-American fleet still tie up at the marina. Skansie Brothers Park keeps the old Skansie net-mending shed and a public pier on the in-town shoreline; Kopachuck State Park, a few miles west, has beach access on Henderson Bay.
The city of about 12,000 keeps its galleries, museums, and waterfront restaurants concentrated along Harborview Drive. Tides Tavern, opened in 1973, is the long-running local for a beer and fish-and-chips on the harbor. Gig Harbor sits at the eastern end of the Kitsap Peninsula, the entry point for drivers continuing west toward Bremerton and the Hood Canal Bridge.
La Conner, Washington
La Conner is a Skagit Valley waterfront village about 20 minutes southeast of Anacortes, set along the Swinomish Channel and crossed by the red Rainbow Bridge built in 1957. Galleries, restaurants, and tasting rooms cluster on First Street within sight of the channel. Fidalgo Island and Deception Pass are a short drive northwest.
The La Conner Daffodil Festival in March and the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival in April are the biggest draws of the year, with bulb fields opening across the surrounding farmland. Three museums sit within walking distance of downtown: the Museum of Northwest Art, the Pacific Northwest Quilt and Fiber Arts Museum, and the Skagit County Historical Museum.
Long Beach, Washington
Long Beach sits near the south end of the Long Beach Peninsula in southwestern Washington, with about 1,500 residents and 28 miles of unbroken sand running north from the mouth of the Columbia, one of the longest continuous beaches in the country. The peninsula is bordered by the Pacific Ocean on the west, Willapa Bay on the east, and the Columbia River on the south, with crabbing, horseback rides, whale-watching, and razor-clam digs available depending on the season. Marsh's Free Museum on Pacific Way, the downtown landmark, is best known for the mummified novelty Jake the Alligator Man.
Long Beach also has the half-mile Long Beach Boardwalk above the dunes and the 8.5-mile paved Discovery Trail, which roughly follows Lewis and Clark's 1805 route from Ilwaco to the north end of town. The Washington State International Kite Festival fills the sky over the dunes each August, and Willapa National Wildlife Refuge across the bay offers paddling and birding through one of the largest estuaries on the West Coast.
Newport, Oregon
Newport sits on the central Oregon coast at the mouth of the Yaquina River, with about 10,200 residents and a working bayfront still active with crab boats and fish-processing plants. The Oregon Coast Aquarium on the south side of Yaquina Bay is the marquee indoor attraction, with a Pacific octopus tank, a jellyfish gallery, and a sea otter pool. Agate Beach to the north sees year-round surf, and Mo's Original Restaurant on the bayfront has been serving clam chowder since 1946. Across the Yaquina Bay Bridge, Rogue Ales runs Brewers on the Bay alongside its production brewery in South Beach.
Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area, a few miles north of downtown, holds the 93-foot Yaquina Head Lighthouse, lit since August 1873 and the tallest in Oregon. The headland's tide pools and offshore rocks support reliable harbor-seal and seabird viewing through most of the year. The historic bayfront is the place for fish and chips, sea-lion watching from the public docks, and walking off the chowder.
Westport, Washington
Westport sits at the south entrance to Grays Harbor and bills itself as the surf capital of the Washington coast, with three named breaks (the Jetty at Westhaven, Half Moon Bay, and the Cove) covering most skill levels. About two and a half hours southwest of Seattle, the working marina runs charters for salmon, halibut, lingcod, and albacore tuna alongside seasonal whale-watching trips. Local docks sell off the day's catch directly from the boats.
Beaches stretch north and south of town for miles in both directions, dog-friendly along most of the run. The Grays Harbor Lighthouse on the south side, at 107 feet, is the tallest lighthouse in Washington and opens for tours and tower climbs through the warmer months. The Marina District is the place to watch the cruise vessels, charter fleet, and crab boats come and go.
Yachats, Oregon
Yachats (pronounced YAH-hots) is a small village on the central Oregon coast where the temperate rainforest reaches the Pacific over a wall of black basalt. The name is generally translated from the local Alsea-Siletz language as "dark water at the foot of the mountain." Thor's Well, a saltwater sinkhole on the rocky shore that fills and drains with each wave, is the headline natural feature; nearby Devil's Churn and Cape Perpetua add tide pools, blowholes, and the highest viewpoint reachable by car on the Oregon coast at about 800 feet.
Cape Perpetua Scenic Area, a few miles south of town, has miles of trails through old-growth Sitka spruce forest, including the 600-year-old Giant Spruce. Restaurants like Ona Restaurant and Lounge run a strong dinner scene for the village's size. The trails and beaches make for solid wildlife watching, with deer and elk in the forest and gray whales offshore during the spring and winter migrations.
Eight Stops That Cover the Northwest Coast
Each of these towns trades on something specific. Astoria is the historical anchor at the mouth of the Columbia. Long Beach has 28 miles of continuous sand. Westport runs the surf and the salmon fleet. Yachats is the rainforest meeting basalt. Anacortes is the ferry door to the San Juans. None of them is more than a long day's drive from Portland or Seattle, which makes the eight together a workable single road trip down the Pacific Northwest coast.
