Meaning “little apples” in Spanish, Manzanita is named for its abundance of manzanita plants. The beautiful oceanfront town is linked with the nearby riverfront towns of Nehalem and Wheeler, and all are collectively known as the Nehalem Bay Area and/or the Tri-Villages area. On this stretch of the Northern Oregon Coast, the Nehalem River meets the ocean and forms a large bay that’s tucked behind a 4-mile-long sand-spit peninsula, home to Nehalem Bay State Park, a favorite Oregon coast camping site.

Manzanita and the Nehalem Bay Area offer numerous opportunities for outdoor recreation. The bay offers excellent Dungeness crabbing and fishing for sturgeon, steelhead trout and Chinook salmon, while the river offers a Coho salmon fishery. Surfers from all over the world seek out the sheltered cove at Short Sands beach in Oswald West State Park to the north, standup paddleboarders and kayakers love to explore the river and bay, beachcombers and whale watchers explore the beaches and hikers make the trek up Neahkahnie Mountain. Whether you want to sleep in a yurt, spot bald eagles, play golf or picnic on a mountaintop, we’ve got all the information you need for enjoying outdoor recreation in Manzanita and around the Nehalem Bay.

Sleeping, Dining and Shopping in Manzanita

There’s much more to Manzanita than outdoor recreation. The city has a thriving arts scene that includes the galleries and the Hoffman Center for the Arts, which offers performances, film screenings, readings, studio space and more. Manzanita offers many shopping opportunities, too, including a weekly farmers market in summer, and it has a cannabis dispensary. But big box stores and busy shopping malls are not a part of the shopping scene here.

For food and drink in Manzanita, a variety of restaurants offer seafood, farm-to-table fare and ethnic variety. The nearby Nehalem Bay Winery, one of 350 wineries in Oregon, offers tastings and events. Manzanita’s accommodations offerings include boutique inns, vacation rentals and camping – no chain hotels or giant condo buildings here! Our local writers tell you everything you need to know about enjoying Manzanita on this site.