8 Of The Most Captivating Small Towns on the Pacific Coast
At Cape Flattery, a boardwalk trail ends at the northwesternmost point of the contiguous United States, with Tatoosh Island offshore and gray whales passing below. The Pacific Coast is lined with small towns like the one behind that trailhead. In another, you can stroll the beach by a historic shipwreck where the mighty Columbia River meets the sea. Farther south, there is a village where you can taste wine grown in a vineyard perched above the coast. And yes, there is even one town made famous by reality TV whose actual reality is far more artistically interesting than you might realize.
These are eight of the most captivating small towns along the Pacific Coast, running north to south.
Neah Bay, Washington
Perched at the northwesternmost corner of the Olympic Peninsula and of the contiguous United States, the Washington town of Neah Bay is a fine place to take in the Indigenous culture and natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest. Begin at the Makah Cultural & Research Center, home of the Makah Museum, which holds artifacts recovered from the Ozette village site along with current work to preserve the Makah language. While in town, stop at Calvin's Crab House for freshly caught local seafood and an assortment of baked goods.
From there, head out to Cape Flattery and walk the boardwalk trail to the point, where observation decks look across to the Tatoosh Island lighthouse and down onto sea lions, sea otters, and migrating gray whales. If you want to touch the ocean, drive down to Hobuck Beach for the region's best surf, and see Shi Shi Beach for a stretch where the rainforest meets the sea. One thing to sort out before you go: Cape Flattery, Shi Shi, and Hobuck all sit on Makah tribal land, and a Makah Recreation Pass is required to park at any of them. It costs about twenty dollars, is valid for a year, and is sold at the museum and several businesses in town. Overnight trips to Shi Shi also need an Olympic National Park wilderness permit. For a longer stay, Hobuck Beach Resort is an Indigenous-owned business offering cabins, RV spaces, and tent sites.
Seabrook, Washington
Located around 139 miles southwest of Seattle, Seabrook is a purpose-built seaside village, founded in 2004 and laid out so that you are never more than a short walk or bike ride from Seabrook Beach, a wide expanse of sand with a steady churn of waves. For more shoreline, head south to Roosevelt Beach for whale watching and clam digging, and north to Pacific Beach State Park for surf fishing and shellfishing.
When you are in the mood for something sillier, hit the Gnome Trail to wander into the rainforest and find the little gnome houses that locals say are occupied. It is a good hour with kids.
Warrenton, Oregon
Only about 95 miles northwest of Portland, Warrenton sits where the Columbia River meets the sea. Stop at Lewis and Clark National Historical Park to see the coastal forest and wetlands much as they were in the early 19th century, and tour the replica of Fort Clatsop, where the Lewis and Clark Expedition wintered after reaching the Pacific in 1805. Then head to Fort Stevens State Park to see the remains of the military fort that guarded the mouth of the Columbia for more than eighty years, beginning in the Civil War and ending after World War II. The park also has a long stretch of oceanfront, including the beach where the rusted skeleton of the British barque Peter Iredale has sat since it ran aground in 1906.
Once it is time to refuel, try South Jetty Dining Room & Bar, a friendly local pub and seafood restaurant. From there, pop over to the South Jetty Inn, a clean and welcoming place to stay in town.
Lincoln City, Oregon
Oregon has plenty of towns along its coast, yet few have made as much of glass as Lincoln City, about 58 miles west of Salem. At Lincoln City Beach, you will find a long stretch of shore for beachcombing and tidepooling, and through the Finders Keepers program local artists hide handblown glass floats on the sand for visitors to keep. To see how they are made, head inland to Volta Glass Gallery for works by local artists, then cross the street to the Lincoln City Glass Center to meet a glassblower and try it yourself.
If you feel like a walk on the wild side, head south to Siletz Bay National Wildlife Refuge, a wetlands preserve good for year-round wildlife watching, with green-winged teals and mallards in the fall and Pacific loons, red-necked grebes, and gray whales in winter. When you are ready to claim your own refuge, check into the Lincoln Sands Oceanfront Resort.
Jenner, California
At first glance, Jenner may look like a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. Once you explore this slice of the Sonoma Coast, roughly 100 miles west of Sacramento, you will understand why it earns a place here. At Jenner Beach, a driftwood-strewn stretch of sand marks where the Russian River flows into the Pacific Ocean. On the other side of the river, Sonoma Coast State Park takes in Goat Rock Beach, good for sea stacks, harbor seals, sandpipers, and migrating whales between December and April. Note that the harbor seal haul-out at the river mouth is closed to approach during spring pupping season. Drive north to Fort Ross State Historic Park for diving and tidepooling, and for the remains of a Russian colonial settlement established in 1812 and sold off in 1841.
Though Jenner feels far removed from most of Sonoma County's better-known wineries, you can still explore the local scene, with a designated driver, on this coastal side of wine country. It is worth the drive to Fort Ross Vineyard, which sits above the fog line in the Fort Ross-Seaview appellation, to taste estate-grown wines with chef-prepared food. Back in town, River's End Restaurant and Inn is another good place to eat local fare, and it has vintage cabins where you can spend the night.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, California
At the south end of the Monterey Peninsula, around 120 miles south of San Francisco, Carmel-by-the-Sea is a seaside village with serious artistic history, founded as an artists' colony in the early 1900s and still carrying more galleries per block than almost anywhere its size. Mosey over to Edi Matsumoto Art & Design to see her paintings and wearable art, and check out Aaron Chang Ocean Art Gallery for nature photography. If you want inspiration to make your own, try the shores of Carmel Beach, which is also good for surfing and beachcombing.
Just south of town, Carmel River State Beach includes a lagoon bird sanctuary good for spotting waterfowl and songbirds. It also includes Monastery Beach, a well-known site for experienced scuba divers, and one that deserves a warning: a steep underwater drop-off just past the surf line produces violent backwash and rogue waves, and California State Parks cautions that even wading here can be deadly. Locals call it Mortuary Beach. Admire it from the sand. To cap off your visit, book a stay at L'Auberge Carmel, a 1929 property that is now a Relais & Châteaux hotel with the Michelin-starred Aubergine restaurant.
Montecito, California
Just east of Santa Barbara sits a refined California Central Coast community that draws a good number of A-list residents. You might spot one while exploring Coast Village Road, but even if you don't, it is worth the trip to shop at Whiskey and Leather and have lunch or dinner at The Honor Bar. For a different kind of Montecito, drive up to Lotusland, an estate whose grounds began as a commercial nursery in the 1880s and were remade in the 20th century by Ganna Walska into a botanical garden holding roughly 300 species of cacti alongside its other collections. Visits are by advance reservation only, and the daily capacity is limited, so book well ahead.
No Montecito trip feels complete without the beach. Butterfly Beach is the scenic one, good for swimming, surfing, kayaking, paddleboarding, and sunbathing, and it faces south, which makes it one of the few California beaches where you can watch the sun set over the water. For more time by the ocean, stay at the Rosewood Miramar Beach, a five-star resort with lavish rooms and suites.
Laguna Beach, California
Roughly two decades ago, shows like MTV's Laguna Beach and Bravo's The Real Housewives of Orange County made this town a star of the reality TV scene. Make the journey about 60 miles south of Los Angeles and you will find there is a great deal more to Laguna Beach behind the scenes. It has been an artists' colony since the early 1900s, and the Laguna Art Museum, founded in 1918 and the oldest museum in Orange County, holds a wide array of works by California artists. Just across Pacific Coast Highway lies Laguna's Gallery Row, where Sue Greenwood Fine Art and Lu Martin Galleries show work by local and regional artists. In summer, the Festival of Arts and its Pageant of the Masters, running since the 1930s, stage live recreations of famous paintings using costumed volunteers.
Steps from the museum and Gallery Row is Heisler Park, fronting a string of coves that make up some of Southern California's best tidepooling, diving, and snorkeling. These coves sit inside a state marine reserve, so look but take nothing. Treasure Island Beach to the south is another fine option, with clear water and a grassy bluff-top park. It is also where you will find the Montage Laguna Beach, Orange County's premier luxury resort, with celebrated dining, the Spa Montage, the Mosaic Pool, and a range of rooms, suites, and residences.
Choosing Between Them
These eight split cleanly by what you want out of a coast. Neah Bay and Warrenton are the ones with the deepest history, Makah at one and Lewis and Clark at the other, and both sit where the land runs out in dramatic fashion. Lincoln City and Laguna Beach are the art towns, one built on glass and the other on a century of painters. Jenner and Seabrook are the quiet ones, with Jenner the wilder of the two by a wide margin. Carmel-by-the-Sea and Montecito are where the money went, and both have the gardens and hotels to show for it. The practical note is distance: Neah Bay to Laguna Beach is well over 1,300 miles of driving, so pick a stretch rather than the whole coast.
