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Biking the Pacific Coast Highway Day 4 | Cycling Seaside to Nehalem Bay

A short day on the saddle, but man, those climbs were insane. We climbed over 2,000 feet when cycling Seaside to Nehalem Bay even though we only cycled 23 miles! That’s a lot of elevation gain in such a short time!

Cycling Seaside to Nehalem Bay State Park is the fifth of nearly 30 daily diaries of our cycle trip from Seattle to San Francisco.

If you’d like to read from the beginning, check out, getting to Seattle.Each post in this cycle series will contain our daily journal entries that we kept via Track My Tourphotos captured throughout the day, and the exact route, duration, and elevation gains for the given ride.

Read Our Complete Guide to Cycling the Pacific Coast Highway Here

Let’s dive into Biking the Pacific Coast Highway, Day Four, Seaside to Nehalem Bay State Park. 

cycling Seaside to Nehalem Bay State Park down Highway 101

Cycling Seaside to Nehalem Bay State Park

Seaside was such an awesome surprise! We didn’t know how cute this little Oregon West Coast town was. There was a massive beach volleyball tournament going on while we were there which had the town feeling really alive!

Since we had such a short distance to cover for the day we made sure to take our time in the morning and enjoy Seaside, and even indulged in a nice big breakfast at a local diner.

Hitting the road, we were met with elevation gains and loads of them! Just take a look at the Strava photo below and you’ll see the mountains we climbed! But with every climb comes an awesome descent! Peaking out is always hard, but the descent is always such a treat after a major climb!

We stopped at the crest of a mountain just above Nehalem Bay and found ourselves just sitting taking in the view of the amazing scenery before us. As we knew all we had for the rest of the day was one last massive descent into the town of Manzanita, we felt completely at ease sitting and taking in the view for as long as we pleased.

There’s something special about cycling all the way to an amazing view and watching people just pull in after driving to the view instead. I think we may have been able to enjoy it more knowing we really worked hard to see the view.

Cycling from Seaside to Nehalem Bay State Park was a really tough cycle with all the elevation gain we experienced, but we can easily say this was one of our favorite days on the Pacific Coast Bike Route.

Cannon Beach in daylight, cycling the Pacific Coast Highway
The Pacific Coast route allows for some amazing views of the west coast of the United States!

Biking Seaside to Nehalem Bay State Park Day Four Quick Facts

  • Miles // 23.88 miles
  • Saddle Time // 2 hrs 44 min
  • Elevation // 2,018 feet
  • Accommodation // Hiker-Biker camp at Nehalem Bay State Park
  • Water // many towns along the way to fill up
  • Food //  restaurants in Seaside for breakfast and Cannon Beach has lots to offer

Pacific Coast Highway Day Four Journal Entry

Friday 7 Aug 2015 21:00

Day 4: We leisurely woke up at our warm showers hosts house. We slept good. Heather and I slept in the garage and Maarten slept in the washroom. We made do with what space was available. Our host wanted to break his record for the most couch surfers/ warm showers guests in one night, and he did it. He had 19 guests in total for the night. People were in town for volleyball, regular travel, and cycle touring.

In the morning we made coffee, went to a small diner, walked around the beach and watched some sand volleyball. It was the 34th annual tournament going on in Seaside with over 1,400 teams competing this year. It sure was a sight to see.

Afterward, we gathered up our stuff and got some food. We returned to the road by 1:30. We stopped a bunch to take pictures and see the town of Cannon Beach. One of our most favorite spots on the coast so far was coming into Nehalem Bay State Park. The views from above the town and state park were magnificent.

The coast was sunny and the ocean still had a marine layer of clouds. It was something we had never seen before and it was something special to witness. We arrived into camp around 5pm. The night was chill and relaxed because we were able to get some firewood, beer, wine, and ice cream.

It was a short day of 23.8 miles but a tough day with the hills. We had 2,018 feet of gain in that short distance. In total, we are at 232.65 miles.

Strava is a great way to keep track of cycle statistics.
Don’t let the short distance fool you, check out those hills we climbed!

Cycler’s Tips for Seaside to Nehalem Bay State Park | PCH Day 4

  • Enjoy Seaside in the morning and eat a lot of protein! Today is a BIG day in elevation.. the biggest day so far!
  • Be sure to check out Cannon Beach. It’s a very famous beach along the Oregon Coast. You’ll find Haystack rock and just awesome coastal views in Cannon Beach.
  • Stop and enjoy the views coming into Nehalem Bay. There’s a big pullout overlooking the coast before you descend into the town.
  • Grab some grub and drinks in Manzanita for dinner before getting into Nehalem Bay State Park, as it’s not really close to many shops.

More on Cycling the Pacific Coast Highway

Cycle Rules in Oregon | A Bicyclist’s Manual 

Did you know, in Oregon, as a cyclist you’re technically considered a car and must oblige by vehicle road rules? Use that knowledge as confidence to take over the lane when there’s not a safe shoulder and really own the road!

Pacific Coast Bike Touring FAQs

This post contains our gear list, all our daily journal entries, FAQs on cycling the PCH, and downloads to make your PCH cycle trip easier!

Cycle Packing Gear List and Explanations

Next Daily Journal Entry on our Pacific Coast Highway Bike Tour

After our all-time favorite day on the entire PCH bike route, we had the worst day of the entire ride. Friendly advice from others turned into the most brutal day on the bikes!

Previous Daily Journal Entry on our Pacific Coast Highway Bike Tour

15 miles of cycling in the rain and a four-mile long bridge with more dead birds than anyone can count. Read about crossing the Washington-Oregon border here!

Camping for Free on your Bike Tour 

Interested in learning more about camping for free on your bike tour? We’re sharing ways to find free camping, what you need to know about free camping, and even our favorite places!

cycle touring the PCH, biking from Seaside to Nehalem Bay State Park.

Have questions about day four, cycling Seaside to Nehalem Bay State Park? Need a bit more information about the trip as a whole? Or just want to share your experiences? We’d love to hear from you.. start a conversation below!

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