Oil City Trail

Oil City Trail is an easy out-and-back on maintained tread through coastal forest to the Pacific beach at the Hoh River's mouth. The mapped corridor is about 0.6 mile each way, so plan on roughly 1.2 miles round trip and about an hour and a half with time at the shore. One park page lists 0.8 mile without saying how it is measured; the South Coast route directions describe the beach-to-trailhead leg as 0.6 mile, matching the mapped trail. This is the short coast walk, not the much longer South Coast backpacking route.

The path stays nearly level under coastal forest, with openings across the Hoh and occasional glimpses of waves. Near the shore, a thick pile of driftwood separates the trees from the sand, so getting onto the beach means picking a careful way across the logs. The short trail has no river crossing; its end is the river mouth.

The Hoh meets the Pacific beside broad driftwood beaches, offshore sea stacks and forested headlands. Bald eagles and seals are among the coastal wildlife to look for; gray whales migrate along this coast in March and April, then again in October. Sightings are never guaranteed.

You can continue north along the beach to a boulder point for a longer outing of about 2.9 miles round trip, but that is an extension beyond this mapped trail. The shore gets rockier, and high tides can make headlands dangerous or impassable. Check a tide chart before walking farther, never round a hazardous headland at high water, and do not try to cross the Hoh River.

Follow Oil City Road to its end at Oil City Trailhead; parts of the approach are dirt. Descriptions disagree about whether a privy is available, so plan as if there is no restroom. Pets and wheeled devices are prohibited on coastal beaches and trails.