One of the country’s prime oystering grounds, Willapa Bay is sheltered from the Pacific by the Long Beach Peninsula and fed by the Nasalle, Willapa, and North Fall Rivers. There are very few towns or even villages on this stretch of US-101, which winds past tidal marshes, cattle ranches, and some engaging roadside sculptures of people canoeing, bird-watching, cycling, fishing, and generally enjoying the Great Outdoors. The landscape is also marked by extensively clear-cut forests—which billboards proclaim to be “America’s first industrial tree farm,” giving dates of harvest, planting, and re-harvest, on a roughly 40-year cycle.
At the northeast corner of Willapa Bay, on the south bank of the Willapa River, stand two towns that jointly embody the natural resource–based history and economy of the Pacific Northwest: Raymond (pop. 2,975) has the lumber mills, while South Bend (pop. 1,807) calls itself the “Oyster Capital of the World”—a claim supported by the piles of oyster shells flanking the road outside packing houses like Bendickson’s Seafood on the north side of town. South Bend’s other claim to fame is its landmark Pacific County Courthouse (Mon.–Fri. only), which since 1910 has loomed like a mini–Taj Mahal on a hill just east of US-101. Step inside for a look at the 30-foot stained-glass dome above the rotunda, and wander through the lushly landscaped park next door.
If you want to stretch your legs, Raymond and South Bend are linked by a nice walking and cycling path, which follows an old railroad right-of-way along the Willapa River.
