Leadbetter Point
What is it and why visit?
Longshore currents sweep sediment northward from the mouth of the Columbia River, forming Long Beach, an approximately 27-mile-long sandy peninsula that shelters Willapa Bay from the waves of the Pacific Ocean. At the very tip of this beach is Leadbetter Point, a sandy hook curled landward as currents sweep around the headland into Willapa Bay. Leadbetter Point consists of Leadbetter Point State Park and the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge.
Leadbetter Point State Park provides a multitude of coastal activities. Visitors can enjoy wildlife viewing, long secluded walks on the beach and in the dunes, clamming, and boating in Willapa Bay. Long Beach also provides miles of beach to explore, and is accessible via trail from Leadbetter Point State Park. It is an ever-moving system of sea, sand, and surf where visitors can appreciate Washington’s evolving coastline.
Be aware that this area is part of a tsunami hazard zone. Go here to learn more about tsunami hazards in Washington.
Geologic story
Leadbetter Point grew rapidly seaward at a rate of about 33 feet per year between 1870 and 1998
The geologic story of Leadbetter Point, as with many of the coastal sites in the Willapa Hills, is one of short-term change, ruled by currents, storm surge, and sediment erosion and accretion. Measurements of shoreline change have shown that the western shore of Leadbetter Point grew rapidly seaward at a rate of about 33 feet per year between 1870 and 1998, as sand was added to the point by
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Fun Fact
The nearby town of Long Beach features a kite festival, razor clam festival, and sand castle competition at various times throughout the year.
What to see and do
Access passes you may need:
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Please remember that while visiting these timeless places to only take photos and leave footprints. For many public lands, including Washington State Parks, you will find that State Law (RCW 79A.05.165) prevents you from taking anything from the property unless you have a valid scientific research permit. We need to preserve our public lands for generations yet to come and take care to keep our Parks and public lands from being destroyed bit by bit. Please leave all items in the Parks and follow Park specific rules that help protect our treasured places from the very small to the very large, from temporal to forever. Thank you and enjoy!/p>
Getting there
From Long Beach head about 20 miles north on State Route 103 to Leadbetter State Park at the end of the Long Beach peninsula.
Nearby amenities
Photo gallery
Bibliography
Daniels, R. C.; McCandless, Diana; Huxford, R. H., 2002, Historical shoreline change rates for the Columbia River littoral cell. In Gelfenbaum, Guy; Kaminsky, G. M., ed., Southwest Washington Coastal Erosion Workshop Report 2000: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 02-229, p. 154–166. [https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2002/0229/pdf/of02-229.pdf]
Miller, M. B., Cowan, D. S., 2017, Roadside geology of Washington, second edition, Mountain Press Publishing Company.
Ott, Jennifer, 2010, Long Beach—Thumbnail History [webpage]: HistoryLink. [accessed Feb. 26, 2018 at http://www.historylink.org/File/9596]
Roadtrippers, A remarkably long beach [webpage]: Roadtrippers. [accessed Feb 26, 2018 at https://roadtrippers.com/us/long-beach-wa/nature/worlds-longest-drivable-beach-long-beach-peninsula]
Ruggiero, Peter; Kaminsky, G. M.; Gelfenbaum, Guy; Cohn, Nicholas, 2016, Morphodynamics of prograding beaches: A synthesis of seasonal- to century-scale observations of the Columbia River littoral cell: Marine Geology, vol. 376, pp. 51–68. [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2016.03.012]
Washington State Parks, Leadbetter Point State Park [webpage]: Washington State Parks. [accessed Feb. 26, 2018 at https://parks.state.wa.us/537/Leadbetter-Point]