Siltcoos Lake
Dunes City
Siltcoos Lake is the biggest body of fresh water on the Oregon coast, a broad sheet tucked behind the dunes at Dunes City. It gathers the Siltcoos River and a handful of creeks, and drains to the ocean through a short, tide-influenced channel at Waxmyrtle. Because it is shallow and warm at the edges, the lake is good fish water. Largemouth bass hold in the weed lines and the drowned timber, perch are everywhere, and in late fall coho come up the river into the lake to spawn, drawing bank anglers and boats to the mouths of the creeks. Access is easy for a lake this size. Ramps at Dunes City and along Siltcoos Lake Road put boats in, and the county park on the north shore has a swim area and picnic tables. Paddlers can follow the river down to the surf at Waxmyrtle on a high tide, or push up into the quiet arms where the houses fall away and the herons take over.
- Activity
- Lakes
- Where it is
- Dunes City
- Coordinates
- 43.8700° N, 124.0900° W
