A beautiful beach town on the Oregon coast is full of charm and offers the opportunity to vacation in perfect peace and quiet.
But with that silence comes very little else to do.
Neskowin, nestled about a two-hour drive from Portland, is famous for its broad ocean vistas, striking rock formations, and the soothing sound of ocean waves gently crashing.
But its pleasant tranquility means the small town requires vacationers and locals to get creative in finding entertainment.
Neskowin, with only about 200 residents, is dotted with quaint cottages and beach houses.
Its main attraction is the beach, stretching four miles from Cascade Head to Nestucca Bay and featuring stunning scenery.
Yet, the town has little to offer vacationers looking for a nightlife scene or a selection of restaurants.
It has just two options for a meal and many instead choose to cook at home, according to The Oregonian.
Café on Hawk Creek offers visitors a delightful dining experience with wood-fire pizzas, seafood, sandwiches, and small bites. There’s also an ice cream stand outside known as The Village Scoop.
Neskowin is renowned for its sweeping ocean views, picturesque rock formations, and the calming sound of lapping waves
The town’s stunning beach allows views of Proposal Rock (pictured), a sea stack wildlife refuge dotted with trees
Despite its charms, the town has little to offer vacationers with just two options for a meal and no nightlife scene
Otherwise, Neskowin Provisions is the local convenience store offering sandwiches and breakfast burritos, as well as coffee and baked goods.
A short fifteen-minute drive provides more choices in Pacific City, where travelers can enjoy Pelican Brewing, Grateful Bread Bakery, and Sportsman’s Pub-n-Grub.
Twenty minutes away, Lincoln City also offers the seafood restaurant Kyllo’s, The Pines Dine food truck, or Thai Bay for a Thai food option.
Neskowin’s size means there are few options to find a place to stay and most of its lodging units and beach houses are all individually owned.
To ensure accommodation, vacationers can book through organizations like Grey Fox Vacation Rentals, which manages properties at The Chelan and Neskowin Resort, or Meridith Lodging for cottages at The Breakers and Proposal Rock Inn.
For indoor entertainment, you can only make one stop: Hawk Creek Gallery.
The art gallery, opened in 1978, showcases creations by local artist Michael Schlicting, who often spends time at the gallery during summers to engage with visitors.
For the vacationer looking to completely escape city life, Neskowin is the perfect destination.
Neskowin’s main attraction is its sandy beach, stretching four miles from Cascade Head to Nestucca Bay
With around just 200 residents, the town is the perfect peaceful getaway fit with quaint cottages and beach houses
Café on Hawk Creek (pictured) allows visitors to dine on wood-fire pizza, seafood, sandwiches and small bites, and offers an ice cream stand outside called The Village Scoop
Neskowin Ghost Forest (pictured), believed to have been formed in the 1700s by an earthquake that left a forest of Sitka Spruces completely submerged
Cascade Head is a 102,110 acre stretch of land offering hikers a network of trails that deliver vast ocean views, with one popular 6.6-mile hike from Knights Park.
The beach provides views of Proposal Rock, a sea stack wildlife refuge dotted with trees that juts from the ocean.
The beach also comes with its very own nine-hole golf course, the Neskowin Beach Golf Course, which opened in 1932.
Neskowin Ghost Forest – believed to have been formed in the 1700s by an earthquake which left a forest of Sitka Spruces completely submerged – is a haunting sea of stumps near Proposal Rock.
The stumps are an eerie attraction that emerge from the sand on the south side of Neskowin Creek, a deep water stream that divides the beach and only became visible after severe winter storms in the late 90s.
The town was intended to be a family town, and its small population allows for slow traffic and plenty of peacefulness.
