Long Beach

Called the "longest beach in the world," the broad sandy shore of the Long Beach Peninsula continuously extends for roughly 28 miles, stretching from North Head all the way north to Leadbetter Point State Park.

The site has been a coastal attraction ever since the Ilwaco Railway and Navigation Company began a narrow-gauge rail line in 1889 that ran the entire length of the peninsula.  The primary stop along the line was the town of Long Beach. Then called Tinkerville, named after Henry Harrison Tinker who made the original land claim on the site, the main destination was Tinker's Hotel, later renamed the Long Beach Hotel.*

Today the town of Long Beach and its half-mile interpretive boardwalk are still the epicenter of tourist activity along the peninsula.  The beach itself is home to numerous summer activities including beach combing, kite sailing, horseback riding and sand castle building. The SandStations team sand castle building competition is a must see, taking place the second week of July every year.  Further, be sure to bring your bikes to enjoy the 8-mile paved Discovery Trail that meanders through the beach and grassy dunes from Long Beach through Cape Disappoinment State Park and all the way down to Ilwaco.

* The Long Beach Hotel was unfortunately Tinker's second hotel; his first burned down in 1894.