Mile 239
Salishan Spit north, Siletz Bay
Lincoln County
Longitude: -124.026739866870
Motor vehicle travel is prohibited from the Tillamook County-Lincoln County line (45° 02.6706', Mile 247), southerly to Yaquina Bay (44° 37.0374', Mile 215), except for the following locations within the corporate limits of Lincoln City:
(A) A distance of 150 feet on each side of the westerly extension of North 35th Court;
(B) A distance of 150 feet on each side of the westerly extension of North 15th Street.
2022
Sunny, calm day. Only a few beach walkers. We picked up a very few small pieces of trash. The harbor seals were not at their usual resting spot at the north end of the Salishan Spit, but there were a few in the water. There appeared to be a few...read more
Found a dead sea lion on the beach at beach access #50. It was not here a week ago when we did our coast walk. It was pretty badly decomposed so may have died at sea and been washed up. Hard to determine if there was any trauma involved. There...read more
A warm calm summer's day. More people than usual on the beach (40+) and the parking lot at the end of Salishan Drive was full. We counted 8 license plates from Oregon, 4 from Washington, 1 from California and 1 from Utah. Although it was mostly sunny out, the hot...read more
Lots of gulls and several seals playing in the surf.read more
A calm, cool day with just a few high clouds. The harbor seal population was back in its usual place at the tip of the Salishan Spit. Very little trash - I picked up 4 small pieces. The access at emergency access #50 has been made more difficult by winter...read more
2021
A pleasant day the weekend before Thanksgiving. Only a few people on the beach. Picked up a very few pieces of plastic trash. No harbor seals at their usual resting place at the tip of the Salishan Spit but a few in the water at the mouth of the Siletz River. Winter...read more
It was a beautful day to walk our mile. No real action on the Salishan spit part of our mile, but lots of activity and people on the Mo's side.read more
We thought it would be foggy on the beach, given the weather the past few days, but it turned out clear and sunny. Persistent chilly north wind, though. The harbor seal colony was a little closer to the mouth of the Siletz River than normal, but all grouped together. Social...read more
A beautiful, but extremely windy day. Finding the sea stars was a first. One orange one and 3 purple ones.read more
A cool but calm day in a streak of very dry weather. The harbor seals have returned to their favorite hang-out at the tip of the Salishan Spit and evidently have produced a few pups this season. Very little trash - we only collected a few small items.read more
Very lovely day. All people seen were at the Mo's section of our mile. None on the Salishan spit during our walk.read more
A cool, mostly sunny day, with a chilly wind from the southwest. Lots of driftwood on the beach - not surprising considering the stormy weather and high tides the last couple months. No significant erosion in this section of the Salishan Spit, but further south houses are threatened and a...read more
2020
A cloudy, cool day. Cold wind from the south. Hardly anyone on the beach. Minimal trash, except for two large items which we could not carry. There were lots of large driftwood pieces on the beach ... not surprising given the series of recent storms. There were NO harbor seals...read more
It was a fairly unpopulated time on the spit. Rockhouds and walkers. Started to drizzle after completion of our mile.read more
A calm, sunny but cool day. More people out on the beach than normal, given the time of year - probably glad to get outside after nearly a week of heavy rain and storms. No trash ... I picked up one candy wrapper. There was a large (and very heavy)...read more
It was a lovely day with sun and hardly any wind. We did note a dead and partially eaten seal on the bay side. read more
We thought it would be a good idea to take a look around on our mile after the 4th of July because in past years we have found quite a bit of fireworks debris. To our pleasant surprise there was very little ... just a few paper casings. Not much...read more
It was a quiet day on the spit, but very busy on the Mo's part of mile (probably due to it being Father's Day. Last week we did see horses on the beach for the first time. Weather was comfortable with blue sky streaking along the clouds.read more
Pleasant day with a southerly wind. Normally there would be more visitors on the Taft side of the Siletz River, but tourism has been curtailed by coronavirus restrictions. The harbor seals were difficult to count due to their position on the Spit, but we estimated there were at least 100...read more
Very nice day. Most of people noted were on the Mo's side. On the Spit itself, only 5 people were seen. More people coming to the beach area as we were leaving. Little owl was sitting on log, believed to be nesting. read more
Very bright pretty day. Only a few beach-walkers. Small amount of trash collected - mostly styrofoam pieces. Ranger Doug had already picked up two crab pots, one a commercial one with a tag which will be returned to its owner. The colony of harbor seals had moved to a sand bar...read more
2019
Limited amount of debris on beach. Several people but not crowded and no unusual activities noted. Lots of large trees (some burned) seemed to have been washed up after big storm. Found a sea star out of water and nowhere near water line, so I gently placed him back in...read more
Calm, mostly sunny day. A few people out on the beach, walking or looking for agates near low tide. Almost no trash. There were no harbor seals in their usual resting place at the tip of the Salishan Spit; two were spotted in the rivermouth. This has happened before -...read more
Large amount of squid eggs observed. Otherwise typical contents of driftline. No development threats observed.read more
Calm, partly cloudy day. More visitors than usual on the beach. Very little trash. A number of Dungeness crab shells noted in the wrack line, but they appeared to be molts, not due to any trauma.read more
Sitting on our sunny patio in 65 degrees this January day, we thought it would be a good day to do our Coastwatch mile. It was a different story once we got out on the beach and were facing the hearty, chilly north wind. More debris than usual no doubt...read more
2018
Brilliantly clear day with very little wind. The receding waves left a nice wide flat area of wet, fairly hard sand, making the walking a little easier than usual. Just two individuals on the beach, hunting for agates. Est. 70-80 harbor seals in their usual resting spot at the tip...read more
Had time to walk the Taft side of our mile this afternoon. About 60 people out enjoying the beach. At least 10 fishing from the shore. Four boats in the water at the mouth of the Siletz River - also for fishing. There were NO SEALS at the tip of the...read more
A calm pleasant day. There were THOUSANDS of squid egg cases in the tide line ... both along the ocean and on the Siletz Bay side of the Salishan Spit. People on the Taft side of the river were yelling at us because they thought we were getting too close...read more
Sunny, breezy July day. More people than usual on the beach, but of course it's the middle of summer. Harbor seal population at the end of the spit seemed larger than usual, with several juveniles. There were many more seagulls than usual on this stretch of beach. The wrack line...read more
A pleasant Mothers Day, with just a little light coastal fog. Great day for wildlife spotting: 4 whimbrels, 1 brown pelican, 1 juvenile eagle, 10 turkey vultures, about 20 harbor seals (fewer than the normal number but there were also some in the water). A few scattered Velella velella along...read more
Pleasant day. First time I have seen surfers in the "jaws of death" Siletz rivermouth. One appeared to be temporarily pulled south by currents but he managed to get back. Almost no trash to pick up.read more
2017
We walked from Access #50 to the tip of the Salishan Spit. Almost no trash - picked up 4 small items. A large group of seals in their usual resting place ... but we were concerned about one who had a red plastic "Flying Ring" toy around its middle. The animal...read more
A calm, warm, dry December day. Low tide. Almost no trash on the beach - we only picked up a few small items. The harbor seal colony was in their usual location at the tip of the Salishan Spit, estimated count 150. Noted a few pyrosomes in the seaweed at...read more
Very pleasant day. Picked up a small amount of trash. Relayed our concerns about the dead sea lions to the ranger but he indicated he may not take any action since it is very expensive to get a large piece of machinery out onto the beach to bury the animal...read more
A beautiful day to be out. Very little trash collected ... one piece of line and a few plastic pieces. Found 3 (presumably) dead purple ochre stars in a pile of wood & algae debris above the waves; threw them back in the water but they probably won't survive.read more
It's a miracle! - a sunny, warm day with no rain! Much more trash on the beach than usual (although note that your cheery Coastwatchers haven't been out here for a while). We filled up 4 bags. Lots of plastic bottles, other plastic and styrofoam pieces. No serious winter erosion...read more
2016
Walked the Taft side of the Siletz River mouth, part of our mile that we don't get to often. 42 people, 9 dogs enjoying the beach. Some debris noted, mostly very small plastic pieces and bottle caps. Lots of driftwood and beachgrass washed in due to recent storms. No seals...read more
Pleasant day after nearly a month of rain. More people than usual out walking on the beach. Picked up 1/2 bag of trash ... mostly small plastic pieces and styrofoam.read more
Not much to report. Pleasant fall day. One fisherman + one family on the Salishan Spit. Several fishing/crabbing boats in Siletz Bay and the river mouth. Collected a small amount of debris.
Someone left a sleeping bag on the trail from the parking lot, near the sign that says "do not...read more
Sunny, windy day. Only one family on the Spit. We picked up many plastic pieces ... filled a large trash bag. Most looked like edges or sides of containers. No writing or markings. I had my zoom camera so got some close-ups of the seal colony. We walked up the...read more
Sunny, calm day. Several people out walking on the spit. Estimated 120+ people and 12 dogs on the Taft side of the Siletz. No beach litter! - except for one stray crab pot. Some of the sharp drop-offs have abated somewhat so it is possible to walk the entire mile...read more
Only me on the beach this beautiful Thursday afternoon. 50+ people across the Siletz River mouth on the Taft beach. The harbor seals have returned to their usual resting place ... estimated 150+. The sand has returned to the area they like. I could not walk the entire length of...read more
The northern tip of the Salishan Spit has changed quite a bit since our last walk two months ago, no doubt due to the extreme rain, storms and King Tides of the past month. A higher level where much driftwood rested has smoothed out to a gradual incline from the...read more
2015
We went out to take a "peek" at our mile the day after King Tide day, Dec. 24. Lots of driftwood all along the beach, many very large logs. It appeared some had washed up over the hill where the beach access path is (up from the parking lot) and...read more
Walked the Taft side of Mile 239 this afternoon. 8 people fishing, 12 walking, 4 playing in sand, 2 picnicking. Very little debris which is good for a beach that is used quite a bit. Spotted 3 pelicans in Siletz Bay.read more
Pleasant day after two days of big winds, heavy rains and King Tides. Not much debris to gather in spite of all that ocean activity. Saw a group of what we figured out in the bird book to be Heermann's gulls: gray body, darker wings, black legs, red beak with...read more
Walked the north side of the Siletz River outlet, which is part of our mile but which we seldom reach. Sunny, breezy day. 79 people counted between Mo's and the surfline, including 5 rock hunting, 2 flying kites, 1 fishing. 10 dogs, most on leash. No significant debris issues.read more
