How to Find China Beach, a Secret Beach on the South Oregon Coast

1.2 miles

400 ft gain

Moderate

No pass needed

China Beach is one of Oregon’s least visited beaches, and it’s not because of the scenery. The unpromising parking area looks like somewhere you’d only pull over if you had urgent car trouble. The trail is steep, narrow, often muddy, unlabeled, and easy to lose. If you manage to avoid the several potential wrong turns on the way, the beach at the end is gorgeous and deserted. After ironing out the problem spots through trial and error (getting lost), here is how to find China Beach in the Samuel Boardman Corridor.

Know before you go

It’s free to visit China Beach. You don’t need a pass or permit to park.
Parking is limited, but chances are the only car there will be yours.
The trailhead does not have restrooms or other amenities.
Leashed dogs are welcome on the trail.
The hike to China Beach is steep at times but doesn’t have difficult scrambles or drop-offs. The unfenced North Island Viewpoint (an optional side trip) is near cliffs.
You can access more of China Beach at low tide. My pictures are from a visit close to high tide (around +5). There was still plenty of beach to explore. If you want to hike beyond China Beach, visit at low tide.
This trail is hard to follow. Watch carefully for trail junctions. They’re easy to miss.
Wear long pants. One of my hiking companions wore shorts and got a blistering rash after brushing against poison oak. Parts of the trail are so narrow that it is hard to avoid.

China Beach trail Oregon — *The trail leads from Highway 101 to China Beach*

On the trail to China Beach

Distance: 1.2 miles out and back (or 1.6 miles if you also see the North Island Viewpoint)

Elevation gain: 400 feet (or 600 feet)

Difficulty: Moderate

Passes required: None

Dog friendly: Yes, leashed dogs are welcome on the trail.

ADA access: No

Season: All year. Best at low tide.

Finding the trailhead

The hike to China Beach starts at the North Island Viewpoint Trailhead. Don’t try searching for it in Google Maps, it’s not there. The parking area is a dirt pullout on the west side of Highway 101, 0.2 miles north of the Thomas Creek Bridge. It’s easier to find if you’re coming from the south. After crossing the bridge, look for the first place you can turn left. It will look wrong. You’ll see a sign on the guardrail with day-use hours but no name. Set back in the trees is the trailhead sign, which is a lot easier to see after you park.

North Island Viewpoint trailhead sign — *The trailhead*

I drove by this trailhead twice before using GPS coordinates to find it. Click the Google Maps link on Oregon Hikers. These coordinates are accurate and will bring you to the trailhead.

North Island Viewpoint hike (optional)

Distance: 0.4 miles out and back

Elevation gain: 200 feet

Difficulty: Easy

The North Island Viewpoint is not on the way to China Beach but it’s a quick and easy side trip starting from the same trailhead. I went to it before hiking to China Beach, honestly, because I walked past the beach trail without realizing it. If you go to the viewpoint intentionally or unintentionally, it’s a rewarding destination where you can admire China Beach and a large sea stack called North Island from above.

Directions:

About ten steps past the trailhead sign is an unlabeled fork in the trail. The branch to the left is the more distinct of the two and leads to the North Island Viewpoint. The easily overlooked trail to the right goes to China Beach.

Following the trail to the left, continue down a switchback through sword ferns and Sitka spruce. You’ll soon leave the tree cover and reach an open bluff. Grasses obscure the narrow trail, brushing against you as you walk. I went after a rain and quickly got soaked from the waist down. Wear long pants in case of poison oak contact. Watch for slugs and snails. They were surprisingly abundant here. The other wildlife highlight was a gigantic dragonfly, likely a survivor of radiation exposure or the Jurassic Age.

The trail leads to the edge of the coastal bluff overlooking North Island. It’s on a slope and unfenced, so approach with care.

At the end of the trail, there’s a little loop on top of Thomas Point. Look north for views of China Beach from above. It’s next to steep drop-offs over the ocean. Proceed with caution if you go. Return the way you came.

China Beach Trail

Okay, now the hard part, finding China Beach. Despite having a map, I went every possible wrong way before getting to the beach. Go ahead and feel confident that I’ll point out all the potential hiccups.

Basic directions:

Starting from the North Island Viewpoint Trailhead, walk until you reach an unlabeled trail junction just past it.
Take the fork to the right.
In about 0.1 miles, keep right at a second unmarked fork.
Continue until you’re at the beach.

The details:

Starting from the trailhead, walk about ten steps until you reach an unmarked trail junction. It’s easy to miss if you aren’t looking for it. Take a right onto the fainter trail (if you’re returning from the North Island Viewpoint, take a left).

*At the first junction, follow this trail to the right*

Head down a few switchbacks through the forest. Watch carefully for a second unmarked trail junction. It’s easy to walk past without realizing it. Or so I’ve heard…

*The trail winds through a beautiful coastal forest*

When you reach the second junction, go right. You’ll be heading north, parallel to Highway 101. The fork to the left looks like a more established trail and heads downhill, which made me think it would lead to the beach. It doesn’t. It eventually meets up with the North Island Viewpoint Trail, essentially a longer way to get there on a rougher trail. This wrong-turn trail also splits off into even wronger trails, many of which end in muddy salal thickets next to steep drop-offs. The cover photo for this article was at one of these dead ends, so if you see that view, turn around.

From here, the trail is more straightforward. It’s flat at first and then begins descending toward the beach. It gets steeper as you go but nothing intense. After emerging from a dense thicket and walking past some chest-height sword ferns, you’re almost at the beach.

After a half mile, a break in the tree cover will give you a glimpse of China Beach.

*I begin to believe we'll make it to the beach*

Soon you’ll leave the trees and finish the hike down the bluff. The trail is narrow but you won’t need to do any scrambling to reach the sand.

Like North Island Viewpoint, the trail to China Beach was covered with slugs and snails when I went. We’re talking one every ten or so steps, especially in the narrower parts. Watch your step.

The hike’s destination makes up for (at least in my case) the frustration of making repeated wrong turns. You’ll see breathtaking China Beach framed by dramatic coastal bluffs and decorated with sea stacks. The beach was deserted when my friends and I visited on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in August. The only people we saw on the trail were a couple of hikers who we passed on our way back from one of the dead-end trails. So out of five total hikers, five of them went the wrong way. Just saying.

On the south end of the beach is Thomas Point, the headland with the North Island Viewpoint trail. To the north is the most famous stretch of the Samuel Boardman Corridor, known for its dramatic conifer-covered cliffs and curious islands near the shore. Along the beach are many craggy sea stacks. These rocks are what remains of an eroded coastline that once extended farther west.

If you visit China Beach at a medium or high tide, spend some time on the beach and then head back. If you visit at low tide, you have a few options. The south end of the beach below Thomas Point has tidepools. Or, you can continue hiking north on the Oregon Coast Trail. Read on for details.

Beyond China Beach

*Heading north on China Beach will connect you to the Oregon Coast Trail*

The trail to China Beach is the start of a longer hike that connects incredible destinations along the Samuel Boardman Corridor. The hike is only possible at low tide when you can round the headland at the north end of China Beach. If you tackle it, I’d suggest using a car shuttle between the North Island Viewpoint trailhead and Arch Rock, the hike’s endpoint (5.6 miles). The roundtrip hike is over ten miles of rough terrain and would be difficult to time with the tides in both directions. Alternatively, you can return along Highway 101 for an 8-mile hike.

To continue, walk north on China Beach. Round the headland at the end of the beach. Then, look for the Oregon Coast Trail just past the creek on the other side of the headland. The rest of the journey has phenomenal coastal scenery with many ocean views, including Natural Bridges, Secret Beach, and Arch Rock. For detailed directions, check out Oregon Hikers.

Getting there

The North Island Viewpoint Trailhead is 0.2 miles north of the Thomas Creek Bridge. If you’re coming from the south on Highway 101, cross the bridge and look for a roadside turnout on your left. A sign reads Day Use Only. The trailhead sign is set back in the trees and is difficult to spot from the highway.

Coming from the north, drive about 18 miles south of Gold Beach and look for turnout on your right at milepost 347.5 just before crossing the Thomas Creek Bridge.

Google Maps doesn’t show the North Island Viewpoint trailhead or its parking area. I suggest using GPS coordinates: 42°10'12.0"N 124°21'35.3"W.

The drive from Brookings to the North Island Viewpoint Trailhead takes 15 minutes. From Gold Beach, 25 minutes. From Portland, 6 hours.

How to Find China Beach on the South Oregon Coast

Know before you go