Go for the beach
We stayed a few nights midweek in July and the campsite was full. The campsites are admittedly close together, but where we were on loop C had plenty of trees and foliage at the rear and most had a one or two trees to help delineate boundaries on the sides of sites. The main attaction here is really the beach and ocean. The campsite seems to be just a place to rest and eat in between walks on the beach or other activities further out. The sites had tables and fire rings as well as water and electric hookups and a short paved driveway. There was a good mix of tents, trailers and RVs.
The beach is BEAUTIFUL. It’s also big so even with plenty of people it never felt crowded. The North side of the beach was still open to dogs (parts of the south side are closed to protect local birds seasonally … I think they are endangered) and the dry part of the beach was quite warm in the sun. The wet sand by the waves was cold. It all seemed to balance out and was a great place to relax. The walk from the campsite loops through the dunes was very sandy from the start - plenty of people took off their sneakers and flip flops and carried them. Teva style sandals and hiking boots seems fine. Before you wander too far on the beach make sure to note which big yellow numbered sign is near where your path back to the loops was so you can find your way back later on.
The bathrooms were busy but clean and located in the middle of Loop B (loops A, B and C are connected). There were showers too that plenty of people seemed to use but we didn’t use them. There was a playground/structure in a small field next to the bathrooms and some of the campsites were situated on the same field and they didn’t have any bushes or privacy. You’ll want to actually want to be near the playground if you’re in loop B, if not for easy access to the play area and bathrooms then foe the happy and audible noises of kids playing. A big trash compactor was at the entrance in loop A, there weren’t any smaller bins around the loops that we noticed. Plenty of bikes and scooters and dogs were out and about walking the loop, especially in the mornings and evenings. The overall vibe was nice and family friendly and one neighbor was especially sweet - he spent a good hour or so making giant bubbles for people passing by to pop on their evening walk. Lots of string lights and hammocks added to the atmosphere.
We didn’t notice too many bugs, but we do think we might have put a tent stake into a offshoot of an ant path since our tent had maybe a dozen ants on the outside of our tent each morning, but gently spraying them off with some water worked well and we didn’t notice any more at other times of the day.
This seems like a place people book early and for more than a few days. We’ll probably come back again - there seem to be plenty of small beach towns to explore too if we ever got tired of Nehalem bay.
