Ocean Shore State Recreation Area
Managed by Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
70 acres1.6 mi of trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yetWebsite ↗
Photo: Meronim · CC BY-SA 3.0AOutdoors
Outdoors in Gearhart
Gearhart has 7.9 miles of mapped trails, 4.2 for every square mile of land
24% of Gearhart’s land is conserved, about 294 acres. 113 acres are parks and preserves, 57 per 1,000 residents. The biggest trail networks: Ocean Shore State Recreation Area (1.6 mi), Gearhart Ocean State Recreation Area (1.1 mi).
Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns. What drives it
Conserved land
24%
294 acres · of 1.9 sq mi of land
Trails
7.9 mi
4.2 per sq mi of land
Park land
113 ac
57 acres per 1,000 residents
Near a park
67%
of residents within ½ mile
What kind of outdoors town is Gearhart?
Read from the map. The page puts what stands out first.
Outdoors grade
How much outdoors does Gearhart have?
On conserved land, trails, park land and how close residents live to a park, Gearhart is ahead of 94% of U.S. towns. All four inputs are above most U.S. towns; trail miles rank highest, the share of residents near a park lowest.
A
OutdoorsA character grade: shown, never part of Gearhart’s overall grade.
Conserved land24% of the land · typical OR town 4% · U.S. 4%ATrails4.2 miles of mapped trail per square mile of land (8 mi) · OR 0.8 · U.S. 0.4A+Park land57 acres of park per 1,000 residents (113 acres) · OR 7 · U.S. 13A−Parks close to home67% of residents within a half mile of a park · OR 96% · U.S. 72%B−
All U.S. towns we grade (21,298)Ahead of 94%
LessMore
Water is 9% of Gearhart’s area (0 of 2 square miles), so every share here is of land; over land and water together, the conserved share would read 22%.
How sure. Graded on any three of the four inputs instead, the letter would range from A to A+. Trails and many small parks come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by volunteers, so coverage varies from town to town; the half mile is a straight line from each census block, so a river or highway in the way isn’t counted against it.
PAD-US, OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors), Census 2025 Gazetteer and 2020 blocks; details in Sources below. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →
The map
Conserved land, trails & bike routes
Tap a number to zoom to a park. Tap a layer to hide it.
Easements protect land from building but are usually private.© OpenStreetMap contributors · USGS PAD-US
Places to walk
Pick a walk
The longest trail network is Ocean Shore State Recreation Area, with 1.6 miles. Directions go to the nearest trailhead or public parking.
Gearhart Ocean State Recreation Area
Managed by Oregon Parks and Recreation Department
55 acres1.1 mi of trail
Oregon Coast Trail
Dog rules not recorded
No trailhead mapped yet
Who protects it
294 conserved acres
24% of Gearhart’s land. Water is left out: Gearhart has 1.9 square miles of land and 0.2 of water, so the share counts land only. Who manages Gearhart’s conserved land, from the USGS Protected Areas Database. Approximate, because parcels can overlap.
Other state land161 ac
Town or city159 ac
Not recorded80 ac
State Park · 161 acState Recreation Area · 159 acUnknown Easement · 80 acLocal Park · 1 ac
Good to know
Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors. 80 acres are conservation easements, usually private land. The walks above are places people visit.
The biggest protected parcels
| Parcel (PAD-US) | Managed by | Acres | Public access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gearheart Ocean State Park State Park | Other state land | 161 | Open |
| Gearhart Ocean State Recreation Area State Recreation Area | Town or city | 159 | Open |
| Browning Lane Park Local Park | Town or city | 1 | Open |
Things to do
3 places to go in Gearhart
Beaches, playgrounds, peaks, falls and more. Pick a kind.
Playgrounds in Gearhart
3 playgrounds without a name on the map. Tap “Show all on map” to see them.
Trails & water
2 named trails
Named trails
Open to bikes · 0.5 miUnpaved · 3.3 mi
Ridge Path1.2 mi
Oregon Coast Trail0.3 mi
Biking & sports
0.0 miles of bike routes
Bike lanes are often missing from the map in smaller towns, so that number is likely low.
Courts & fields
3Tennis
3Baseball
Includes school and college facilities, which aren’t always open to the public.
History along the way
History →2 places on the National Register
The country’s official list of places worth saving (National Park Service).
When to get out
The best walking months in Gearhart: May to September
NOAA’s 1991–2020 normals for the town and the daylight at its latitude. Outlined months have long days, highs of 59 to 86 °F and little rain for the place.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daylight (h) | 9.0 | 10.3 | 11.8 | 13.5 | 14.9 | 15.7 | 15.4 | 14.1 | 12.5 | 10.8 | 9.4 | 8.7 |
| High (°F) | 50 | 51 | 53 | 56 | 61 | 64 | 67 | 68 | 68 | 61 | 53 | 49 |
| Rain (in) | 12.0 | 8.2 | 9.3 | 6.6 | 3.8 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 3.0 | 7.3 | 12.4 | 12.4 |
July is the driest month (1.0 in) and August the warmest (highs of 68 °F). 12.4 inches fall in November, the wettest month. The climate in Gearhart →
Next door
Gearhart and its neighbors
Gearhart has the second most mapped trails of the 2 towns around it. Tap a town to see its outdoors.
| Town | Conserved of land | Trail mi per sq mi | Park acres per 1,000 | Near a park ½ mile | Outdoors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gearhart | 24% | 4.2 | 57 | 67% | A |
| Seaside | 30% | 2.7 | 79 | 87% | A+ |
The four inputs of the Outdoors grade, from the engine; shares are of land, not water.
Questions about parks and trails in Gearhart
Where can I hike in Gearhart?
The longest trail networks: Ocean Shore State Recreation Area, 1.6 miles; Gearhart Ocean State Recreation Area, 1.1 miles. Each one is on the map above, with directions to the nearest trailhead or parking.
How much of Gearhart is conserved land?
24% of its land, against a typical 4% for an Oregon town and 4% nationally (PAD-US). Conserved doesn’t always mean open to visitors: easements are usually private land.
Are dogs allowed on Gearhart’s trails?
Ocean Shore State Recreation Area and Gearhart Ocean State Recreation Area don’t have dog rules recorded on the map; check the signs at the trailhead.
Is there public land near Gearhart?
8,799 acres of parks and open public land lie inside Gearhart or within 10 miles of it (PAD-US), 113 of them inside the city line.
How much outdoors does Gearhart have?
Ahead of 94% of U.S. towns on the Outdoors grade. The grade combines the share of land that is conserved, miles of mapped trail per square mile of land, park acres per 1,000 residents and the share of residents within a half mile of a park. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Trail talk
Conditions, parking and favorite walks from Gearhart neighbors.
Share a tip
Sources
Where this page comes from
Conserved and public land: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States (PAD-US), service updated July 2026. Parks, trails, playgrounds, beaches and other places: OpenStreetMap (© OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL), map data as of 2026-10-28. Land and water area: Census 2025 Gazetteer. Residents near a park: 2020 Census blocks. National Register: National Park Service. How TownRatings grades the outdoors →