Manhattan Beach State Recreation Site is a state park

State park

State parks are parks or other protected areas managed at the federated state level within those nations which use "state" as a political subdivision. State parks are typically established by a state to preserve a location on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, or recreational...

 in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

. Administered by the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department , officially known as the State Parks and Recreation Department, is the government agency of the U.S. state of Oregon which operates its system of state parks...

, the park is open to the public and is fee-free. Amenities at the park, which is 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Rockaway Beach

Rockaway Beach, Oregon

Rockaway Beach is a city in Tillamook County, Oregon, United States. The population was 1,267 at the 2000 census.-History:The community of Rockaway was established as a seaside resort in 1909 by the Rockaway Beach Company. It was named after Rockaway Beach on Long Island in New York. Rockaway post...

 along U.S. Route 101

U.S. Route 101

U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101, is an important north–south U.S. highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States...

, include picnicking, fishing, and a Pacific Ocean beach.

The entrance road from the highway leads across tracks of the Southern Pacific Railroad to a site with coastal vegetation, picnic tables, and restroom

Washroom

A public toilet is a room or small building containing one or more toilets and possibly also urinals which is available for use by the general public, or in a broader meaning of "public", by customers of other...

s. Although the park occupies only 41 acres (16.6 ha), its beach forms part of a 7 miles (11.3 km) stretch of public beaches between Tillamook Bay

Tillamook Bay

Tillamook Bay is a small inlet of the Pacific Ocean, approximately 6 mi long and 2 mi wide, on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Oregon...

 on the south and Nehalem Bay

Nehalem Bay

The Nehalem Bay is a bay formed by the confluence of the Nehalem River into the Pacific Ocean in northern Oregon.The city of Nehalem is situated on US Highway 101 between Garibaldi in the south and Cannon Beach in the north....

 on the north. Sea stack

Stack (geology)

A stack is a geological landform consisting of a steep and often vertical column or columns of rock in the sea near a coast, isolated by erosion. Stacks are formed through processes of coastal geomorphology, which are entirely natural. Time, wind and water are the only factors involved in the...

s called the Twin Rocks can be seen offshore to the south near the community of Twin Rocks

Twin Rocks, Oregon

Twin Rocks is an unincorporated community in Tillamook County, Oregon, United States, on the Oregon Coast. Oregon Geographic Names states that Twin Rocks was named for two 100-foot-high rocks offshore in the Pacific Ocean. A post office was established to serve the summer resort community in Twin...

. The Oregon Coast Trail

Oregon Coast Trail

The Oregon Coast Trail is a long-distance hiking route along the Pacific coast of Oregon in the United States. It follows the coast of Oregon from the mouth of the Columbia River to the California border south of Brookings....

 passes though the park.

Oregon Geographic Names (OGN) says that the name Manhattan Beach "strongly savors of real-estate activity". The Pacific Railway & Navigation Company, which opened a rail line through a nearby summer resort in 1912, named its train station "Manhattan Beach". The unincorporated

Unincorporated area

In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...

 community of Manhattan Beach

Manhattan Beach, Oregon

Manhattan Beach is an unincorporated community in Tillamook County, Oregon, United States. Its post office operated from 1914 to 1975. Near it is Manhattan Beach State Recreation Site....

 had a post office between 1914 and 1975. In 1926, the postmaster wrote that promoters chose the name because Manhattan Beach, Oregon, was a watering place. OGN says the name might be "particularly inappropriate" considering that a native American word for Manhattan Island

Manhattan

Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...

 in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

probably meant "place of drunkenness" and that "no one gets drunk in Oregon, certainly not in watering places. No indeed."