Naturalist and photographer Neal Maine will lead an outing Aug. 5 at Circle Creek Habitat Reserve.

CLOVERDALE, CANNON BEACH and SEASIDE — More of North Coast Land Conservancy’s free summer On the Land outings are coming up. Advanced registration is required for these guided walks on NCLC property.

You can take a free guided 1.5-mile loop walk on Whalen Island, an upland in the middle of Sand Lake estuary, from 10 a.m. to noon Wednesday, July 27.

Sand Lake, in southern Tillamook County, is considered Oregon’s best-conserved estuary, thanks to the efforts by the state of Oregon and private land trusts including NCLC, which owns and manages 215 acres in the northeast corner of the estuary. Learn about the ecology at this bar-built estuary — one of only four on the Oregon Coast — and experience for yourself this unique and unusually undeveloped estuary.

The walk will be led by two staff members from North Coast Land Conservancy: Communications Coordinator (and author of “Day Hiking: Oregon Coast”) Bonnie Henderson and Development Director (and former Tillamook County kayak outfitter) Lorraine Ortiz. Sand Lake is about a half-hour drive south of Tillamook or 1.5 hours south of Seaside.

NCLC is also offering two ways to experience a recovering coastal rainforest, guided by expert naturalists.

On Friday morning July 29, biologist and educator Mike Patterson will lead a 2-mile round-trip walk into Ecola Creek Forest Reserve in Cannon Beach. The land conservancy helped the city of Cannon Beach acquire what has become a 1,040-acre community forest, preserving much of the Ecola Creek watershed. With his keen eye and ear, Patterson will help you spot birds and identify and better understand the trees and other plants and animals that characterize this recovering forest.

The following Friday morning, Aug. 5, naturalist Neal Maine will lead what he calls a “Seaton Watch” at Circle Creek Habitat Reserve. A Seaton Watch is an opportunity to slow down and simply observe the natural world with all your senses. The two-hour outing will follow a 0.8-mile nature trail through a Sitka spruce swamp at the edge of this 365-acre conservation area at the south end of Seaside.

Visit NCLCtrust.org/on-the-land-summer-outings for more details or to register.