The campground is located on the northern Oregon Coast, near the communities of Nehalem and Manzanita on the Nehalem Spit, a sand spit west of Nehalem Bay.

The county of Tillamook transferred the land to the State of Oregon for a park in the 1930s. During the 1940s and 1950s, workers planted European beach grass, shore pine, and Scotch broom to stabilize the dunes, which process took an additional twenty years. The park opened in 1972.

Pacific Coast Region of Oregon

Coastal Ranges Ecoregion

This state park has day use area, campground for tents, recreational vehicles, horse riders, hikers and bicyclists.

There is an air strip for small plains called the Nehalem Bay State Airport. The park has an amphitheater with programs in the summer. There is hiking in the Neahkahnie Mountain on a CCC trail built in the 1930s.

Its wildlife includes a variety of birds, deer, elk, mountain lions, black bears and coyotes.

Did I mention the Beach? The Nehalem Beach in within the park

Oregon Coast Trail (OCT), a 362 mile coastline trail, which is mostly on the beach although some segments wind through state parks or public land. There is, however, about ten percent which is still on the shoulders of US 101 or other county roads and city streets. Nehalem Bay state park provides beach walking.