Map of Pacific City, Oregon by USGS, 1985 – Nestucca Bay, Cape Kiwanda & Sand Lake

Published in 1986 using survey data from 1985, the U.S. Geological Survey’s “Nestucca Bay” presents a precise mid-1980s portrait of one of the Oregon Coast’s most evocative landscapes. Categorized as a provisional map, it belongs to a working tradition of cartography in which accuracy, utility, and timely publication were paramount. The sheet centers on Pacific City and the coastal basin around Nestucca Bay, where river, ocean, forest, dunes, and settlement meet in a compact but remarkably varied terrain. As with the best USGS topographic work, the map is both practical and quietly beautiful: contour lines articulate the inland rises, blue waterways trace the drainage system, and road and trail symbols reveal the human routes threaded through a dynamic coastal environment.

Pacific City, the principal populated place on the map, appears in its dramatic geographical setting between the Pacific shoreline, the Nestucca River, and the broad tidal waters of Nestucca Bay. Long valued for its beach access and coastal scenery, the town serves as a gateway to Cape Kiwanda, nearby parks, natural reserves, and the recreational world of the north-central Oregon Coast. The map captures the community at a moment when coastal tourism, fishing, small-scale development, and conservation interests were all shaping the region. Roads, local landmarks, and shoreline access points show how Pacific City functioned not only as a settlement, but as an interface between daily life and the powerful attractions of surf, sand, river, and headland.

The topographic language of the map is especially well suited to this coast, where subtle elevation shifts can be as meaningful as dramatic cliffs. Contour lines describe the rolling inland terrain and the approaches toward forested slopes, while the ocean edge, estuarine waters, and river channels are distinguished with the clarity for which USGS mapping is renowned. Nestucca River and nearby waterways organize the landscape, feeding the bay before meeting the Pacific. Sand Lake, beaches, and coastal lowlands add further variety, contrasting with the more rugged interior. The result is a richly legible view of coastal Oregon’s natural systems: dunes, wetlands, river corridors, forest margins, and uplands all mapped in relation to one another.

Beyond Pacific City and Nestucca Bay, the map situates a wider coastal world that includes Cape Kiwanda, Sand Lake, Neskowin, the Oregon Coast, and forested hinterlands associated with Tillamook State Forest. Logging roads and trail systems testify to the region’s working landscape, where timber access, recreation, and rural infrastructure intersect. The presence of parks, beaches, recreational sites, and wildlife refuge areas underscores the ecological and scenic value of the coast. Such details make the map more than a navigational document; it is a record of competing and complementary land uses, showing how preservation, outdoor leisure, forestry, and settlement coexisted along a coastline defined by both natural grandeur and practical resource use.

As a historical artifact of the mid-1980s, “Nestucca Bay” preserves a snapshot of infrastructure, land use, and geography at a particular moment in Oregon’s coastal development. USGS maps of this era were indispensable to planners, surveyors, scientists, hikers, foresters, and local governments, and their disciplined visual system reflects a national commitment to mapping the country in dependable detail. Here, that system records the beaches of the Pacific, the Nestucca and Siletz river systems, Blinded River, local roads, trail networks, and the changing pattern of human access across a sensitive coastal landscape. For collectors, it offers the appeal of both technical cartography and place-based history: a measured, elegant depiction of a beloved Oregon shore.

Cities, towns and places on this map

• Pacific City
• Nestucca Bay
• Sand Lake
• Cape Kiwanda
• Oregon Coast
• Nestucca River
• Siletz River
• Tillamook State Forest
• Neskowin
• Blinded River
• Logging roads
• Trail systems
• National Wildlife Refuge areas
• Parks and recreational sites
• Beaches along the Pacific Ocean coastline

Historical context & cartographic details

• Map title: Nestucca Bay
• Categorized as a provisional map
• Created using survey data from 1985 and published in 1986
• Produced by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
• Focuses on Pacific City, Oregon, and surrounding coastal geography
• Shows traditional USGS topographic detail, including contour lines for elevation changes
• Includes symbols for roads, trails, and landmarks
• Uses color to distinguish landforms and water features
• Depicts Pacific Ocean coastline, river systems, and inland elevation changes
• Reflects the landscape, infrastructure, land use, and natural geography of the area in the mid-1980s

Looking for a particular place? Review the detailed images to confirm that the town, landmark or feature you have in mind appears on the map. If you are unsure, ask our workshop to check before you order.

Detailed maps are especially rewarding at larger sizes, where names, boundaries and decorative features have more room to be appreciated. Use the close-up preview and size guide to choose the right scale for your wall.

This map looks amazing at sizes all the way up to 50in (125cm). If you are looking for a larger map, please get in touch.

The model in the listing images is holding the 16x20in (40x50cm) version of this map.

Where personalisation is available, you can add a short title or dedication, mark one meaningful place, or request one considered visual detail. See personalised map examples.

Every piece is printed to museum-grade archival standards using fade-resistant pigment inks on acid-free matte paper. Choose an unframed map print, framed map or canvas using the finish options above. Framed maps use crystal-clear optical acrylic and arrive ready to hang.

With its rich detail and strong sense of place, this map makes a considered gift for a new home, anniversary, retirement or anyone with a personal connection to the area shown. Still deciding? Explore our collection of rare old and vintage maps to discover another place, period or style.