Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

If you didn’t know Short Beach was there, you’d probably drive right past it. Nestled into a cove between Oceanside and Cape Meares, the small beach is one of the best open secrets on the north Oregon coast, a beautiful oasis practically hidden from view.

The half-mile beach features breathtaking scenery, including a small sea stack in the surf and two waterfalls – one natural and one human-created – that pour from the forested cliffs. The beach itself is stone and sand, and is known as a good place to find agates and jasper.

It's also part of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge, which means it's protected habitat for marine life, including the oystercatchers, gulls and other shorebirds that flock to feed on mussels when the tide is low.



Short Beach, also known by locals as Hundred Step Beach, is one of the most beautiful spots on the north Oregon coast, but it’s just not set up to accommodate growing crowds.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

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The path to the beach is on the side of Cape Meares Loop north of Oceanside, just south of Radar Road. An official sign marks the trail that leads down a series of wooden stairs through the forest, but there isn’t much parking to speak of. Only about a dozen cars can fit in the dirt pull-outs on either side of the road at the trailhead. On weekends or beautiful summer days, parking can fill up fast.

It's only been about 20 years since the public has had safe access to Short Beach at all. It was around 2000 that neighbors banded together to create the walkway down to the beach, according to a story by Oregon Coast Beach Connection, after too many people injured themselves trying to navigate the muddy hillside.



The wooden steps lead through densely-forested corridors, some strung with nautical decoration, leading down to one platform looking out at the ocean view, and another over top of a concrete channel that turns Short Creek into a waterfall cascading to the beach.

The steps wind down to the southern end of the beach, and when the tide is out it’s easy to walk the half mile north along rocks and sand past natural Larson Creek Falls to the edge of Cape Meares.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

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Those wooden steps and railings are prone to deterioration, but they appear to be kept up and maintained – though it’s not clear who’s actually responsible. The beach is technically part of Oregon’s public coastline and managed by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department, but the forested trail is not. Adjacent land is either privately owned or managed by the Oceanside Water District.

Kirk Barham, Oregon state parks manager for the Cape Lookout unit, said he wasn’t sure who owned the property. However, the trail appears to be jointly cared for by neighbors, hikers and the parks department, all of whom have a vested interest in keeping up public access.

And in recent years, much more of the public has been visiting Short Beach. Barham said crowds had really started to swell in the last few years, likely driven by social media. Now, the parking can fill up even on weekday afternoons.

But as public parks around the state grapple with growing crowds, it’s unlikely anything will change at Short Beach. Barham said there’s no conversation about expanding parking at the trailhead, and geologically speaking there wasn’t much space for new parking anyway.

That means the hidden little beach is in no danger of overflowing with people any time soon, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be crowded. A beautiful destination with limited parking, Short Beach is destined to remain both popular and elusive – an open secret on the popular Oregon coast.

--Jamie Hale | jhale@oregonian.com | @HaleJamesB

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian