How to Find Lincoln City’s Secret Beach

2.6 miles

No elevation

Easy

No pass needed

Lincoln City’s secret beach might be more of an open secret than some on the Oregon Coast, but what a beach! Bluffs surround a protected cove at the north end of Road’s End Beach, making it feel like a remote and undiscovered island. Basaltic sea stacks dot the shore, still rough despite millions of years of weathering. Low tide reveals mussels, barnacles, sea stars, and anemones packed so densely that it’s hard to find an inch of bare rock. The trick here is to time your visit around low tide so you can make it there and back safely. Here is everything you need to know about Lincoln City’s secret beach.

Tidepools Lincoln City secret beach — *Ochre sea star and mussels on the sea stacks of the secret beach*

Know before you go

To visit Lincoln City’s secret beach, park at Road’s End State Recreation Site. Parking is free. You don’t need a pass or permit.
Road’s End Beach allows dogs.
Look for restrooms and a few picnic tables next to the parking area.
Use a tide table to time your visit.
Visit the secret beach at low tide. As a general guideline, I’d suggest going when the tide is less than +2 on a calm day. Start walking there 30 minutes to 1 hour before low tide to avoid a rising tide when you’re on the beach. Make sure to return before the tide comes in. My pictures are from when the tide was very low, around -1.5.

Beach access

The parking lot and beach access at Road’s End State Recreation Site is a little over a mile south of Lincoln City’s secret beach. Despite the distance, I’d park here. It’s a large public lot that only fills up on beautiful weekend days, and it has bathrooms.

There are closer beach access points on NW Logan Rd, but when I scoped them out, parking was limited and, let’s say, territorial. Tons of no-parking signs, cones, etc. I got the feeling there have been issues with parking here in the past. Plus, when I looked, every potential public spot was taken before 9:30 AM on a weekday. If you’re staying in the neighborhood, look for beach access trails at the end of 64th St or 73rd St. Otherwise, I’d stick to the lot at Road’s End State Recreation Site. Just a little more walking on a beautiful beach, oh darn.

Road’s End Beach

Lincoln City has over seven miles of public beaches. Road’s End Beach is at the far north end of town and is the first beach access you can reach from Portland. The contours of the headland at its north end make it one of the most interesting stretches of Lincoln City’s coastline. Tall and chunky Road’s End Point juts out from the shoreline, blocking access north except at low tide. Rising steeply behind it is the distinctive hump of The Thumb, sometimes called God’s Thumb. At any time, Road’s End is a beautiful beach to visit, having a winning combination of better scenery (in my opinion) and fewer crowds than Lincoln City’s coastline to the south. At low tide, it’s hands down the best place in Lincoln City to see intertidal life like anemones, sea stars, and chitons.

*Leather chiton and giant green anemones at Road’s End Beach*

The Secret Beach

Distance: 2.6 miles out and back

Elevation gain: Minimal

Difficulty: Easy

Passes required: None

Dog friendly: Yes

ADA access: No, not past the parking area at Road’s End State Recreation Site. The trail down to Road’s End Beach is uneven and narrow. Accessible parking and restrooms.

Road’s End Beach access trail Lincoln City — *Take this trail to the beach*

Directions:

Starting from the parking lot at Road’s End State Recreation Site, take the trail down to the beach. Turn right to head north.

Road’s End Beach Lincoln City Oregon — *Road’s End Point*

After about a mile, you’ll reach the small headland called Road’s End Point. If the tide is low enough, you’ll have plenty of room to walk around it easily. If the waves are getting close to Road’s End Point, don’t go any farther. The secret beach is cool but not worth getting trapped for. You can still find some intertidal critters on the rocks to the south of the headland during a low-ish tide.

Road’s End Beach secret beach Lincoln City — *The secret beach*

Once you’ve rounded Road’s End Point, you’ll be on the secret beach. Cliffs surround this small cove, shielding it from the signs of human development. You’ll see the crest of the Thumb framing the south end of the beach. Cascade Head looms behind it in the distance. Offshore is Rock Island, stained white from frequent seabird visits.

Lincoln City secret beach intertidal — *The secret beach has tons of sea stars*

Dozens of rugged sea stacks decorate the shoreline, ranging in size from small boulders to towering monoliths. Mussels and barnacles cover their lower surfaces up to about the height of an adult. The tops of the taller sea stacks are good places to look for seabirds like gulls and cormorants. Look for a few small caves in the base of the bluffs that form the cove.

Lincoln City secret beach intertidal zone — *Sea stacks on the secret beach*

At the north end of the beach, you’ll see more craggy sea stacks in shapes that inspire comparisons like rhinoceros head and wizard’s hat. Behind them is a glimpse of Cascade Head. This side of the cove is where the beach ends. It’s not safe to continue beyond this point. When I visited, I saw a family get stuck after trying to go farther. They made it back to the beach by a combination of wading through knee-deep water (in pants and shoes) and crushing the intertidal animals living on the rocks. Not ideal. On a day when the ocean is less calm, also dangerous.

Lincoln City secret beach — *End of the secret beach*

Along the same lines, keep an eye on the tide while you’re on the secret beach so you don’t get trapped there. You’ll need to get back around Road’s End Point to return before the tide comes in. Until then, the secret beach has plenty of beautiful scenery to admire, plus countless nooks and crannies to search for intertidal animals.

Tides and tidepools

*Look for intertidal life around the bases of the sea stacks*

I like tidepools so much that low-tide events are on my calendar with more consistency than dental appointments. Since it was my first visit to Lincoln City’s secret beach, I planned the excursion around an unusually low tide, between -1 and -2. These conditions were great, but you don’t need to wait for a tide that low to visit. I saw the secret beach another time from above when the tide was at +1. People were getting around Road’s End Point with room to spare. Much higher than that, approach with caution, especially during a rising tide. Sand levels also vary on the beaches of the coast, so the number on the tide table isn’t the only factor to consider. As a general rule, if it looks risky, it is.

Since you can only walk to the secret beach during low tide, expect to see excellent intertidal life when you go. The rough basalt sea stacks are perfect places to look for critters. Mussels and barnacles cover every rocky surface up to a certain height. Orange and purple sea stars stand out against the dark stone. Closer inspection reveals giant green anemones, aggregating anemones, chitons, sculpins, crabs, seagrass, and kelp.

The highlight of the intertidal zone was seeing a group of sea stars eating mussels, somehow more chilling to watch at slow speed. A prolonged inevitability.

Lincoln City secret beach sea stars eat mussels — *Sea stars eating mussels*

As with all intertidal areas, leave the plants and animals in place. It’s generally okay to gently touch the animals with a wet finger, but don’t touch the center of an anemone (its digestive tract). Step only on sand or bare rock.

Getting there

Address: Road’s End State Recreation Site, 5901 NW Logan Rd, Lincoln City, OR 97367

To reach Road’s End State Recreation Site, drive to the north end of Lincoln City. From Highway 101, turn onto NW Logan Rd. Continue for one mile on NW Logan Rd. The parking area will be on your left.