Nehalem Bay State Park

We arrived to our spot (next to beach trail) to about 20 bikes and random sandals, shoes and socks in our campground. In other campgrounds they at least have some trees or something to give you privacy. Sites are too close together and bathrooms were dirty and limited to 2 toilets in our area for 100 plus campers. Beach and area was nice but Oregon needs to do better.

The state park itself is very nice- boat ramp, rental horses available, close to the beach (over some dunes). The campground has clean showers with hot water, which are conveniently located in the center of loops. We spent 3 nights in A37 across from yurts and enjoyed the spot & the sound of the ocean waves. The only down side is that the sites are very close, with very little privacy. If a large group had been next to us, it could have been bad.
We happily found hikes (via AllTrails) and they were lovely, easy treks through forest to the ocean.
Also, as others have said, the fish & chips at Riverside in Nehalem is wonderful.

I liked Nahalem Bay State Park because there are many outdoor activities available. There is the beach that you can walk on for miles. There are trails within the park such as the 2-mile trail out to the jetty. There are biking opportunities on the paved loop trail around the airstrip plus the trail into the quaint town of Manzanita. It's nice being able to bike into town to grab a bite to eat or do some shopping. There is a boat ramp in the park that launches into the river and is therefore suitable for small boats and kayaks as well. There are even horse trail rides on the beach available . Overall, there are many things to keep you busy while staying at the park.

The sites in the park are all paved except for the horse camp. Privacy is somewhat limited as there is little screening vegetation between sites other than the well-tended grass and handful of trees. Some sites only provide 10 feet of space between campsites while others may have up to 30 feet. You'll just need to look at the campsite photos when making a reservation to see what you are getting. The side of F loop closest to the beach had pretty good distances.

One thing to keep in mind is that this park appears to be very popular with families. That's good if you have kids who want to make friends. If you are traveling without kids, do be prepared for the noise and activity, at least during the summer months.

The sites on the outside of the loops are well-angled to make it easy to back in to the site. Oddly, the campsites on the interior of the loops seem to be more perpendicular leading to a bit more difficulty backing in with a long RV.

Wonderful park, one of the best. About 5 miles from Hwy 101, but road to park is in good shape. Nice trails from the campground to the beach. Sites have average spacing with some trees and hedges in between. 50 amp electric and water were serviceable. Bathrooms were the same as the other Oregon state parks, nothing fancy but usable. Showers had hot water.

3 lanes to park in at the entrance station. You must park and walk to the station.

Beach is very walk-able in both directions, we hiked the Nehalem Spit trail and came back on the beach.

AT&T cell service was great, 5 bars of 5G, no need for the booster to easily stream. 20+ HDTV channels most of which came in well.

This is definitely in our top 10 of our trip. Sites are nicely spaced out. Lots of trees. All sites have electric and water. Paved pad. Almost all sites back up to woods. The dunes and beach are beautiful. Would be great to visit in the summer when it is warm enough to really enjoy. Firewood is available for $5 per bundle. The dump station was adequate although the opening is at a funny angle. A little tough to get the hose elbow seated correctly. Visited the farmers market, the pie shop, the pizza pie shop. Drove north to Cannon Beach to see the haystack rock and ate at Mo's. Wife gave a big thumbs up to the clam chowder. My burger was excellent. Drove south to Tillamook Factory, but so did just about everyone in a 50 mile radius. After seeing the long lines to eat there, we skipped it.

This is one of those campgrounds that we try and visit once a year because we like it so much. Beach access is just a short walk and climb over sand dunes. A fun place to bring bikes to with all the paved trails around the campground. The campground is well maintained with plenty of camp hosts. The outer camp sites are easy to back up into with travel trailers. Since it is a coastal campground, the sites do not have much shrubbery between the sites.

oregon state parks are the best!!

pros: nice bathrooms & showers, water & electric at sites, good sized sites, within walking distance to the beach with GREAT views

cons: it was busy even during the week so not secluded or peaceful depending on your neighbors, it was super windy when I was there & the trees are all so low that my roof top tent was rocking all over the place

October – Our 3rd time to Nehalem Bay State Park. The entrance to the park is still very rough and bumpy until you actually reach the park entrance. The roads inside the park are very good, smooth and wide. Our spot B-37 was very nice except the fact of the rain for 2 days that created a pool next to the asphalt our trailer was setting on by the back of the trailer. We used the bathrooms and found the stalls were very tight to close the stall door. You had to stand directly beside the toilet to shut the door. But the bathrooms and showers where very clean and well kept. For that matter the whole park was clean and well kept.

We bought take out lunch 2 times at the Riverside Fish & Chips in Nehalem. The fish and fries were cooked to perfection. The outside of the fries were crispy and the inside was very soft, plus the coating on the outside of the fries were excellent. The fish was not greasy, well cooked and juicy on the inside.