Interpretive Walk

Marty Giles Interpreting

An interpretive walk covering two diverse coastal areas, in locations half a mile apart, is offered on Wednesday, June 8, beginning at 10 a.m. The walk will be led by naturalist and ecotour leader Marty Giles. She will be joined by Jesse Jones, CoastWatch volunteer coordinator.

This free event is offered to the public thanks to Lyndell Wilken, a CoastWatch volunteer and Oregon Shores member, who won Oregon Shores’ Mile by Mile fund-raising competition last year. Her prize was a custom beachwalk. Lyndell chose to share her prize and sponsor a walk open to all, inviting everyone to join her.

The first portion of the walk (taking place on CoastWatch Mile 161), begins at the Siltcoos Beach Day Use OHV Staging Area. This section of the walk will last just over an hour and cover sandy beaches, snowy plover management areas, foredunes, and deflation plain habitats and their ecology. This is a great location to view Oregon’s native beach grass (Elymus mollis) and to see the scope of changes in the Oregon Dunes.

Part two will last about 30 minutes, and explore the Lagoon Trail, which traces the inside edge of an old oxbow that was cut off for the entrance road. This half-mile trail features the coastal forest as well as views of a variety of wetland types. Various plants along this trail may include orchids, as well as candystick and other non- photosynthesizing plants.

Please arrive at the Siltcoos Beach trailhead parking lot by 10 a.m. We will take a short walk up and over the dunes to the beach. After a short break for refreshments, we will then explore adjacent shrub- and wetlands. Participants may either drive or carpool to the second location. Bring a water bottle and snacks. Be aware that both meeting sites are U.S. Forest Service fee areas in the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area.

Let us know you are coming by registering with Jesse, jesse@oregonshores.org. She will also answer any questions you have about the event.

Accessibility: Part one will require a short walk over a steepish dune, and part two is flat with asphalt and a boardwalk.

Marty Giles, our guide for the day, began interpreting the natural resources of the Oregon Coast 50 years ago and has worked in many aspects of communicating about nature—from program delivery to teaching and supervising.  She is owner/operator of Wavecrest Discoveries, a nature-guiding service that specializes in “mind-refreshing” explorations of the southern Oregon Coast.  Marty also writes a monthly nature column for The World newspaper in Coos Bay, and writes and edits other non-fiction. A life-long Oregonian, she has lived in Oregon’s Coos Bay area with her family more than 30 years.