CAMPING
Nehalem Bay State Park includes 290 campsites with a variety of hook-ups. The park also has sites for horse camping and hiker/biker camping. Reservations call 1-800-452-5687 or visit www.prd.state.or.us/reservation.html.

Oswald West State Park has 20 walk-in sites beneath old-growth trees. These sites fill early and are not available by reservation.

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CLAMMING
The mud flats at the north end of Nehalem Bay nourish thousands of soft-shell clams, also known as eastern mud clams. Use a canoe, kayak or small boat to reach clamming areas by water. To reach them on foot, park at the end of Tohl Road and walk south.

Regardless of how you reach the mud flats, pay attention to the incoming tide. Rising water can float your boat or cut off your trail back to dry land.

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CLEAR-CUTS
From the top of Neahkahnie Mountain, or from any high vantage point almost anywhere in the northwest, you can see clear-cut's. Clear-cutting removes all trees from a section of timber. Clear-cutting is controversial. Advocates argue that clear-cutting ensures the safety of loggers, yields the most profitable timber and prepares the soil for the next crop of trees. Opponents argue that clear-cutting robs the soil of nutrients, increases erosion and air pollution, destroys habitat for animals and birds and looks ugly.

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CRABBING
You can catch Dungeness crab in Nehalem Bay at almost any time of year, but fall and winter provide specimens with the firmest shells and flesh. Toss your rings off a dock at one of the marinas or use a boat to reach prime areas in the bay.

You don't need a license to catch crab, but you do need to obey strict regulations about size and gender. The typical day of crabbing includes a visit from an official to check your catch. Fines for undersize crabs can run up to $280 per crab. In addition, your boat should have a life jacket for each occupant and a motor of at least six horsepower to ensure that you can move against winds and tides. Don't go crabbing for the first time without instructions. Get details about best times, techniques and safety from local marinas. Folks at the marinas rent boats and rings, sell bait and may even clean and cook your catch.

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DOGS
Bringing your dog to the beach can enhance or ruin your visit, depending on how you allow it to behave.

In town. Local governments strictly enforce leash laws. More important, towns have lots of visitors who bring dogs. Visitors who let their dogs use local streets, sidewalks and yards as toilets don't make their dogs or themselves welcome.

On the beach. Dogs love running in the sand, playing in the waves and rolling in dead sea gulls. But not everyone on the beach loves dogs. Many people find your pet too loud or too friendly. Please control your pet.

On trails. An obedient dog in a good physical condition can accompany you safely on any trail except the trail up the rocks at the top of Neahkahnie Mountain. Notice the word "obedient." If your dog won't come to you instantly at your command, keep it on a leash. Don't risk watching your pet disappear over a cliff.

If you take your dog hiking, carry water for your pet as well as for yourself. After mid-summer, Fido won't even find a friendly puddle along most trails.

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DUNES
Ocean and wind create sand dunes along the shore. Sand moves from south to north during the winter and in the opposite direction during the summer. Winter forces are the strongest.

Dunes consist of three distinct zones:

  "Foredunes" lie parallel to the shoreline and are usually covered with grasses. Most of the grass is European beach grass, imported during the 1930s because it grows so well in sand.

  "The deflation plane" behind the foredunes includes small marshes, lakes and trees. The trail from the south parking lot in Nehalem Bay State Park runs through the deflation plane.

  "Oblique dunes" are large ridges of sand at slanted angles to the foredunes and ocean shoreline. Nehalem Bay State Park's access road runs among oblique dunes from Bayside Cemetery to the junction with Sitka Street.

In addition to these categories, dunes are described as active and stabilized. Active dunes have no vegetation and may travel along the ground just as a wave travels along water. When dunes support grasses and shrubs, the root systems prevent wave action by protecting the sand from the wind. All the dunes in the Nehalem Bay area are stabilized.

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FISHING
Anglers call the Nehalem Bay area a fishing utopia. Every month offers fish.

In the bay. Nehalem Bay offers premier salmon fishing July through October. Anglers also catch perch and rockfish off the south jetty.

In the ocean. Most boaters don't enter the ocean by crossing the Nehalem Bay bar. Ocean boats should use Tillamook Bay's facilities at Garibaldi.

In the rivers. The Nehalem River and North Fork Nehalem each have runs of steelhead, salmon and cutthroat trout. Steelhead season is December through February, salmon September through November and cutthroat July through October. Call the hatchery at 503-368-5670 to learn river conditions.

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FISH HATCHERY
The hatchery near milepost 7 on Highway 53 raises millions of trout, salmon and steelhead to stock area lakes and streams. There are no formal tours or visiting hours, but workers are happy to share knowledge and visitors are welcome to wander.

When you put a boat into local waters, please follow a few simple regulations for safety and courtesy. Put a life jacket on everyone in the boat and don't carry more people that the boat's rating. Stay under five miles per hour - no wake - past all floating docks and past any fishing boat. And don't ever take a boat under 20 feet into the ocean.

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