John M. Vincent/The Oregonian

People make a bonfire on the beach at the D River Wayside in Lincoln City.

As a travel writer in Oregon, it’s one of the most common questions I get: Where can you camp on the beach at the coast?

The idea sounds romantic enough, but in reality beach camping in Oregon is typically unpleasant, dangerous and effectively illegal in most places. While all of Oregon's coastline is public, those who pitch a tent by the ocean – including the rare few who through-hike the 382-mile Oregon Coast Trail every year – find themselves at the mercy of both mother nature and the law.



Oregon's public beach bill gives many people the false impression that overnight camping is legal everywhere. In fact, state and local laws dictate specific restrictions on where camping is and isn't allowed.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

The sun sets over the ocean at Cannon Beach.

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Terry Richard/The Oregonian

Two backpackers lug loads along the beach, looking for a tent site in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area.

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Overnight beach camping is not allowed within or adjacent to any Oregon state park, nor on beaches within most major city limits. Those restrictions alone count out huge swaths of the coastline. But even at beaches where camping is allowed, overnight parking typically isn't, forcing folks to hike in, often from several miles away.



"The gist is beach camping is best suited to people who are through-hiking," said Chris Havel, spokesman for the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. "If there was a convenient place to park a vehicle overnight and camp on the beach, you can bet that place would already be pretty crowded."



However, those through-hikers understand that beach camping is less a luxury and more of a nuisance. Bonnie Henderson, an author and blogger at Hiking the Oregon Coast Trail, said she only camps on the beach as a necessity on some of the long stretches of trail without developed campgrounds or small towns to stay in.



"You have to camp illegally, there's no option," she said.



Even then, camping on the beach isn't ideal. It would be better to tuck away into a forested headland, close to a restroom on the side of the highway, she said. Because while pitching a tent in the sand might sound romantic, in reality it's a pain.



"Sand gets into everything. If it's raining, sand really gets into everything," Henderson said. "Then you just have the problem of, where are you going to take a [poop]?"



Those nuisances don't even take into consideration issues of high tide, lack of drinking water or the discomfort of camping on uneven sand. Hikers on the Oregon Coast Trail only camp on the beach when they have to, Henderson said, since it's not usually an enjoyable experience.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

The Oregon Coast Trail heads north from the House Rock viewpoint in the Samuel H. Boardman State Scenic Corridor on the southern Oregon coast.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

A man stands before a colorful sunset at Cannon Beach.

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It seems like few people actually camp on Oregon coast beaches at all. In turn, that means there's little incentive to provide resources that might make the experience more feasible, like vault toilets or drinking water.



Alan Freudenthal, an Oregon State Parks manager for the coast, said there's some interagency discussion about legal beach camping, but not much. The agency doesn't track the number of people who camp on beaches, but he said it's an infrequent occurrence.



"I haven't heard that many questions about it," Freudenthal said. "We do occasionally."



The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department declined to confirm any areas that are open to legal beach camping.



It may be difficult to keep track of beach campers in the more remote regions of the Oregon coast, but it should be easier in the more populated segments. The northern coast remains one of the most popular tourist destinations in the state, and virtually all of it is off-limits to overnight camping outside of established campgrounds.



Clatsop County Sheriff Tom Bergin said his office gets about 20 to 30 calls every summer about illegal beach camping. Most are tourists who just don't know any better and a few are homeless, he explained.



"We aren't really looking to bust people, we just want people to be safe down there," Bergin said. "But if it becomes a chronic problem then we do have to move them along."



Oregon State Police Lt. Cari Boyd said her station in Newport gets a couple calls a month about the issue. Usually it's a traveler who couldn't get into a campground that night or who misunderstands Oregon's public beach law.



"Most of the time we go down and warn them, and if we see them again we issue a citation," Boyd said. "We do a lot of educating."



State and local officials also highlighted the inherent dangers of camping on the beach, including surging high tides, wind and bonfires setting dune grass ablaze. Conditions on the Pacific coast are often unpredictable, and many beach camping spots leave little room to pitch a tent safely.



So while it sounds nice to wake up beside the ocean, you'd be better off just camping in one of the dozens of designated campgrounds up and down the Oregon coast – places like Nehalem Bay, Cape Lookout and South Beach state parks. Most, after all, are only a short walk away from the beach.



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

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

A sunset seen from inside a driftwood shelter down the beach from Beverly Beach State Park.

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Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

The November sun sets over a stretch of ocean near Nye Beach in Newport.