Photo courtesy of Patrick Mueller

Pistol River Beach is a 3.25-mile long stretch of soft sand and dunes along the rugged Southern Oregon Coast and is connected to Myers Creek Beach. Because the entirety of Pistol River Beach is so long, there are three main access points: North, Middle, and South. The north section is most notably marked by two massive sea stacks towering over the beach. Thousands of years of erosion of softer sediments left these pillars of rock standing today. Try to imagine what this coastline might look like after another thousand years of erosion.

When first entering the beach there is a very short walk through some beautiful sand dunes. Those to the south are primarily covered in grasses, and those to the north have more open slopes. Grasses begin to disappear as you walk northward along the beach, leaving only dunes made of sand that are considerably smaller. A stroll far enough northward will take you to Myers Creek Beach. A long stretch of sands lies ahead if you decide to venture southward. Sand dollars are easy to find here in early morning hours at lower tides; just keep your eyes peeled for them slightly buried beneath the sand.