Follow a path that leads to a sky full of kites and you'll find yourself in Long Beach. Located on Washington’s southwestern coast where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean, Long Beach is rich with coastal beauty and a fresh Northwest cuisine.
Long Beach offers an endless list of adventures and attractions, from kayaking and clam digging to horseback riding and bird watching. A favorite among locals and visitors alike are the two lighthouses, Cape Disappointment and North Head, which are both fully functional and open year round.
Long Beach is also home to the Washington State International Kite Festival, a weeklong kite celebration and competition held annually during the third week of August, that brings people from all over the world. If you prefer to keep your competition on the ground, join in the SandSations, an annual sand sculpture competition. Another beloved pastime is exploring Discovery Trail, which stretches eight miles from Ilwaco to North Long Beach and commemorates the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
There are shorebirds galore along this 11 miles of Pacific Ocean beach! Spring and fall migrations feature plovers, sandpipers, dowitchers and dunlins, plus Brown Pelicans in the summer. ADA boardwalk. For more birding information, see the
Southwest Loop of the Great Washington State Birding Trail map.Area Birding
HABITAT: Municipal access to 11 miles of ocean beach, sand dunes, and myrtle shrubs.
BIRDING: Shorebirds galore! The spring migration (April through May) features Black-bellied and Semipalmated Plovers, Western and Least Sandpipers, Short-billed and a few Long-billed Dowitchers – who all return beginning in July. Thousands of shorebirds come through in fall; migration peaks in mid-September. Some Semipalmated and Baird’s Sandpipers arrive in fall along with Sanderlings and Dunlins. Brown Pelicans skim the waves in fall.
VIEWING: Take the Discovery Trail south, or north (first 0.4 mile ADA) to the whale skeleton and to the bronze tree commemorating the 1805 Lewis and Clark expedition.
ACCESS: From Hwy 103/Pacific Hwy in the town of Long Beach, turn west onto 10th St S/Sid Snyder Dr. Drive 0.2 mile to the beach parking lot.
