There is no stoplight in Gearhart. There is a bakery, a grocery, a golf course that has been there since 1892, a beach you can drive onto, and a grid of quiet streets lined with shingled cottages and cedar hedges where people wave from their bicycles. Gearhart is the small, unhurried town tucked between Seaside and Warrenton, and it is where Rise Above Realty keeps its office. We may be a little biased, but we think it is one of the best places to live on the Oregon Coast.
Here is our local guide to Gearhart: what makes it special, what daily life looks like, and what buyers and sellers should know before they make a move.
Where Gearhart Is
Gearhart sits on Highway 101 just north of Seaside, about 90 minutes from Portland. Seaside's shops, restaurants, hospital, and schools are five minutes south; Warrenton's big-box stores and Astoria are fifteen to twenty minutes north; Cannon Beach is about twenty minutes south. The town itself is about 1,500 people, spread between the beach, the golf course, and the wooded neighborhoods east of the highway.
The Beach
Gearhart's beach is one of the widest and quietest stretches of sand on the North Coast, backed by a broad belt of dunes and beach grass rather than a promenade or a row of hotels. You reach it by the beach access at the end of Pacific Way or by the ramps at 10th Street and Little Beach, and unlike most of the Oregon Coast you can drive on it, which makes it a favorite for clamming, surf fishing, and hauling everything a family needs for a day on the sand.
Gearhart calls itself the razor clam capital of the world, and during clamming season on a good minus tide you will see the beach dotted with headlamps and clam guns before dawn. The rest of the year it is a place for long walks, kite flying, and sunsets with Tillamook Head in the distance to the south.
Bikes, Walks, and the Ridge Path
Gearhart is flat, quiet, and built for getting around without a car. Families ride bikes from the neighborhoods to the beach and the bakery, walkers and runners loop the Ridge Path, the sandy trail that runs along the top of the dunes with the ocean on one side and the golf course and cottages on the other, and dog walkers know every block. The town has a few small parks, and you can pedal from one end of Gearhart to the other in about ten minutes.
Gearhart Golf Links
Gearhart Golf Links, founded in 1892, is the oldest golf course in Oregon and one of the oldest in the western United States, a true links course laid over the dunes in the middle of town. The McMenamins Gearhart Hotel sits alongside it with a pub and restaurant, and the course is as much a community gathering spot as a place to play. Homes along the fairways are among the most sought-after in town.
The Fourth of July and Other Traditions
Gearhart's Fourth of July is the town's signature day. The morning starts with the Independence Day Parade down Pacific Way, a homegrown procession of decorated bikes, kids, dogs, classic cars, and neighbors, and it turns into a street party that fills the center of town. After the parade the Gearhart Volunteer Fire Department hosts festivities at the fire station with free hot dogs, a dunk tank, and a chance to meet the crew, and the next morning the community heads to the beach for a cleanup. It is small-town America at its best, and it says everything about how Gearhart feels the rest of the year.
The rest of the calendar is just as local: razor clam season, the community beach cleanups, events at the Gearhart Hotel and the golf course, the Gearhart Association's annual meeting, and the holiday season along Pacific Way. The City of Gearhart posts its events on its community calendar, and its Independence Day Parade page has the details each summer.
Life in Gearhart
Gearhart has a small commercial center along Pacific Way with The Raven Restaurant, King Tide Bakery, Daughters Wine Bar, McMenamins Gearhart Hotel with its restaurant and the Sand Trap Pub, a grocery, a few shops, and the post office. For everything else, Seaside and Warrenton are minutes away. Gearhart Elementary is part of the Seaside School District, and the town has its own volunteer fire department and police. It is a mix of long-time families, retirees, and second-home owners, many of whom have been coming to the same cottage for generations, and the tone is relaxed and neighborly. If Seaside is the lively beach town, Gearhart is the quiet one next door.
What to Know About Gearhart Real Estate
- Classic cottages and custom homes. Gearhart's housing stock ranges from historic shingled beach cottages, some more than a century old, to substantial custom homes on the golf course and in the dunes, to newer neighborhoods and larger lots east of Highway 101. Inventory is limited and homes near the beach and the links command a premium.
- Older homes need experienced eyes. Many Gearhart homes were built as summer cottages and have been added onto over the decades. Foundations, wiring, plumbing, septic or sewer connections, and moisture all deserve careful inspection, and a broker who knows old coast houses is worth a great deal.
- Dunes, wetlands, and the tsunami zone. Much of the town west of the highway is in the mapped tsunami inundation zone, and areas near the dunes and Neacoxie Creek involve wetland and shoreline rules. These affect what can be built and how, and they are a normal part of due diligence here.
- Zoning and the city code. What you can build, add, or operate on a property depends on its zone. The City of Gearhart's Zoning Ordinance page and its Planning Commission page are the current sources.
- Short-term rentals are tightly regulated. Gearhart has some of the strictest vacation rental rules on the coast, with permits, caps, and specific requirements, and the rules have changed several times in recent years. Do not assume a home can be rented. Check the City of Gearhart's Vacation Rentals page for the current ordinance and permit status before you count on rental income.
- Sellers have a devoted audience. Buyers who want Gearhart usually want Gearhart specifically, and many have been waiting years for the right cottage or golf course home. Good preparation and marketing that captures the town's character bring strong results.
How Rise Above Realty Can Help
Our office is on Highway 101 in Gearhart, and we know this town block by block, from the cottages by the beach to the homes on the links and the acreage to the east. Whether you are looking for a beach house the family can grow into, a golf course home, or the right time to sell a cottage that has been in the family for generations, we will guide you through it with care and straight answers.
Explore current Gearhart listings, request a free home valuation, or contact us to talk with a broker who works right here in town.
