Day trips from Ocean Shores are the easiest way to double your Washington coast vacation without repacking a single bag. Our town sits at the foot of the North Beach — a long, moody run of coastline backed by rainforest, cranberry bogs, and tiny towns that time forgot in the best way — and within an hour or so of your rental’s driveway you can stand under 500-year-old trees, tour a working lighthouse coast, hunt ghost forests, or eat chowder in a harbor full of fishing boats. Here are the seven drives we send our own houseguests on, with honest drive times, what’s actually worth stopping for, and the cold-coast packing notes that make every one of them better.
First, the ground rules for coastal day-tripping: fuel up in town before you head out (services get sparse fast on the North Beach), throw rain shells and an extra layer in the car no matter what the sky says — see our Ocean Shores packing list — and check the forecast at the National Weather Service, because weather on this coast is less a condition than a schedule of events. All drive times below start from downtown Ocean Shores.
1. Ocean City & Copalis Beach (15–25 minutes)
The shortest hop on the list, and a genuinely different beach experience from our own sand. Just north of town, Ocean City State Park spreads out behind the dunes with quiet trails, birdy wetlands, and beach access without the crowds — we wrote a full guide to exploring Ocean City State Park. A Discover Pass is required for day-use parking at Washington state parks; details and passes are at Washington State Parks.
A few minutes farther north, Copalis Beach is famous for two things: it’s home to the Copalis airport — an official state airport that is literally a stretch of hard beach sand where small planes land between tides — and it’s the gateway to the Copalis River ghost forest, a stand of long-dead cedar snags drowned when the great Cascadia earthquake of 1700 dropped this coastline several feet in an evening. Paddlers and hikers who work up the river to see the gray, weathered snags are looking at the physical receipt of one of the largest earthquakes in North American history. On a foggy morning it is exactly as eerie and wonderful as it sounds.
2. Seabrook & Pacific Beach (30–35 minutes)
Drive north on Highway 109 as it climbs along the bluffs — one of the prettiest short drives on the coast, gray sea on your left, dark spruce on your right — and you’ll reach Seabrook, the walkable new beach town built in a deliberately old style: cedar shingles, white trim, lawn games on the greens. Wander the shops, grab a coffee or a wood-fired pizza, and walk the stairs down to the beach below the bluff. A few minutes on, the old resort town of Pacific Beach offers a state park campground right on the sand and a wide, walkable beach that catches dramatic surf on windy days. The two towns make a natural pair: Seabrook for strolling and snacks, Pacific Beach for the wilder walk.
3. Moclips & the Museum of the North Beach (40 minutes)
Keep going north past Pacific Beach and the road ends, more or less, at Moclips — a village at the edge of the Quinault Indian Nation with a big-sky beach, river mouth wildlife, and one of our favorite small museums anywhere: the Museum of the North Beach, a lovingly packed archive of shipwrecks, railroads, beach resorts, and the boom-and-bust story of this whole coastline. It’s the kind of museum where the volunteer at the desk knows everything and will tell you all of it if you let them. We recommend letting them. Check ahead for seasonal hours before you make the drive.
4. Lake Quinault & the Rainforest (about 1 hour 15 minutes)
This is the big one — the day trip we insist on if you have a full free day. Drive up through Hoquiam and Humptulips to Lake Quinault, where the Olympic rainforest comes down to meet a glacially carved lake, and the drizzle that follows this coast around suddenly makes sense: this valley drinks ten to twelve FEET of rain a year and wears every drop of it in moss. Walk the short rainforest nature trails behind Lake Quinault Lodge among trees the size of buildings — the area is home to some of the largest spruce and cedar specimens anywhere — then warm up with coffee by the lodge’s giant fireplace while the rain combs the lake. The south shore sits in Olympic National Forest and the north shore in Olympic National Park; trail and road conditions are posted by Olympic National Park. In the wet season (which is most of them), waterproof footwear is not a suggestion.
5. Westport & Grays Harbor Lighthouse (about 1 hour 20 minutes)
Westport sits directly across the mouth of Grays Harbor from our North Jetty — close enough that you can see it from our beach — but reaching it means driving around the harbor through Aberdeen. It’s worth the loop. Westport is a genuine working fishing port: charter boats and crab boats jostling in the marina, seafood counters selling what came off the docks, a maritime museum in a former Coast Guard station, and Washington’s tallest lighthouse — the Grays Harbor Lighthouse at 107 feet — standing gray against a gray sky like it was designed for the postcard. Walk the elevated dune promenade, watch surfers work the jetty break in wetsuits thick as sleeping bags, and eat chowder somewhere you can smell the fleet. If you’ve read our North Jetty guide, this is the view from the other team’s bench.
6. Aberdeen & Hoquiam: Harbor History (45–50 minutes)
The twin timber towns at the head of Grays Harbor make an easy half-day, especially when the weather has real opinions. Aberdeen — birthplace of Kurt Cobain, commemorated with a riverside memorial park — and Hoquiam wear their sawmill history openly, and between them you’ll find antique malls to lose an afternoon in, a growing run of murals, and the Grays Harbor bird refuge at Bowerman Basin, where spring shorebird migration brings tens of thousands of birds sweeping over the mudflats in living clouds. Birders should time a late-April visit around the migration and bring the good binoculars; our local birding guide covers what to watch for on our own beaches too.
7. Griffiths-Priday State Park & the Copalis Spit (20 minutes)
Our sleeper pick, and often the emptiest beach on this list. Where the Copalis River bends behind a long sand spit before finding the sea, Griffiths-Priday State Park protects a walk of dunes, river mouth, and open beach that feels twice as wild as its 20-minute distance from town suggests. Winter storm days send driftwood logs rolling in the river mouth (admire from a respectful distance — logs in moving water are dangerous), and clear winter afternoons deliver the kind of low silver light that fills camera rolls. A Discover Pass is required here too, same as Ocean City.
What to Bring on Every North Beach Day Trip
The day-trip kit for this coast is short but non-negotiable. Rain shells for everyone, always — not umbrellas, which our wind treats as sporting equipment. A warm layer per person, even in August, because a bluff viewpoint or a rainforest hollow can run ten degrees colder than town. Waterproof or sacrificial footwear, since the best stops on this list all end in sand, mud, or moss. A thermos of something hot, which upgrades every gray viewpoint into an occasion. Snacks and water, because services between towns are thin and seasonal. And the passes: a Discover Pass for state park day-use, and whatever the day’s destination requires — checked before you leave town, not at a trailhead with no cell signal.
Phone signal, on that note, is honest-to-goodness patchy once you leave Ocean Shores, particularly up the 109 past Pacific Beach and in the Quinault valley. Download offline maps before you go, tell someone at the house where you’re headed if you’re hiking, and treat the glove-box paper map as the charming backup it is. None of this is hardship — it’s the point. The North Beach is one of the last stretches of Washington coast where a day trip still feels like getting properly away from it all, and a little preparation is the price of admission.
Planning Your Day-Trip Days
Pair Trips With Tides and Weather
The coast rewards the flexible. Save Lake Quinault for the truly soaked days — rainforest is the one landscape that improves in rain — and spend the dry windows on the beaches. Low tide unlocks the best walking at Copalis and Griffiths-Priday; check windows in our tide chart guide before committing to a river-mouth or spit walk, and never let an incoming tide get between you and your route back.
Leave Margin in the Driving
Highway 109 is two lanes, beautiful, and slow — logging trucks, RVs, and deer all share it, and passing zones are rare. Add a cushion to every estimate, treat the drive as part of the trip, and pull over for the viewpoints; the bluff-top stretches between Ocean City and Pacific Beach are the best windshield scenery on the North Beach.
Basecamp Logistics
Every trip on this list returns you to Ocean Shores by dinner, which is the whole point of a good basecamp. If you’re still choosing that basecamp, our Stay Local lodging directory lists beachfront hotels, canal-front houses, and everything between — and our guide on getting to Ocean Shores covers the routes in from Seattle, Olympia, and Portland.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best day trip from Ocean Shores?
For a full day, Lake Quinault and the Olympic rainforest — about 75 minutes each way — is the trip we recommend first: giant trees, waterfalls, and a historic lodge fireplace to dry out beside. For a short outing, Seabrook and Pacific Beach at 30–35 minutes deliver the most reward per mile.
How far is Seabrook from Ocean Shores?
About 30–35 minutes north on Highway 109, one of the prettiest short drives on the Washington coast. Pair it with Pacific Beach, five minutes farther, for a bluff-town-plus-beach-walk combination that fills a relaxed half day.
Can you visit a rainforest near Ocean Shores?
Yes — the Quinault rainforest is about an hour and 15 minutes away. Short nature trails near Lake Quinault Lodge wind through moss-draped maples and giant spruce, and the valley is famous for receiving ten to twelve feet of rain a year. It’s the best rainy-day trip on the coast.
Is Westport worth the drive from Ocean Shores?
We think so. Though it faces us across the harbor mouth, the drive around through Aberdeen takes about 80 minutes and lands you in a working fishing port with Washington’s tallest lighthouse, a maritime museum, fresh-off-the-boat seafood, and front-row surf watching at the jetty.
What is the ghost forest near Ocean Shores?
Up the Copalis River near Copalis Beach stands a grove of dead cedar snags drowned when the Cascadia earthquake of January 1700 abruptly dropped the coastline. The gray trunks still stand in the marsh three centuries later — a haunting, fascinating paddle or hike, best attempted with tide awareness.
Do I need a pass for state parks near Ocean Shores?
Yes — day-use parking at Washington state parks such as Ocean City and Griffiths-Priday requires a Discover Pass, available online, at retailers, or at pay stations where provided. Check Washington State Parks for current details before you go.
Wherever you point the car, you’ll be back before dark with sandy floor mats, a full camera roll, and a new argument about which beach town does chowder best. That’s a successful day on the North Beach — and the fog light will be on for you when you get home.
