South of Cannon Beach, US-101 rises 700 feet above the Pacific. Nowhere else along the Oregon coast does the roadbed sit so high above an ocean view. Soaring another thousand feet above you on the other side of this WPA-built stretch of highway is Neahkahnie Mountain. Of the dozen marked scenic overlooks and hiking trails in the next 20 miles, your itinerary should include Neahkahnie Wayside, which looks southward at the Nehalem Valley and the ocean between Manzanita and Cape Meares. South of the mountain, and thus spared much of the stormy coastal weather (annual rainfall hereabouts averages 80 inches), is the upscale resort town of Manzanita, where you’ll find one of the coast’s best restaurants, the Blue Sky Cafe (Wed.–Sun. dinner only, no credit cards; 503/368-5712), at 154 Laneda Avenue. The multi-ethnic, seasonally changing seafood specialties here can be very expensive, but are worth it for celebrating special occasions—like a road trip along the Oregon coast.
South of Manzanita, Nehalem Bay State Park (503/368-5154) has a large campground with hundreds of sites and plenty of hot showers. US-101 continues through a series of small towns before winding inland past the sloughs and dairy country along Tillamook Bay.
