Salishan Spit separates the Pacific Ocean from Siletz Bay and is located 2.5 miles (4 km) south of Lincoln City and 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Gleneden Beach, Oregon. The name comes from the native Salishan languages of the Pacific Northwest. Siletz Bay is a large estuary at the mouth of the Siletz River. Like many areas along the Oregon coast, the estuary’s wetlands were diked and drained by early settlers to create cattle pasture. In the early 1990s, a large-scale reclamation program began to remove the levees and tide gates, aiming to restore the bay and estuary to their natural state. As part of this process, the Siletz Bay National Wildlife Refuge was established, now encompassing over 100 acres (40.5 hectares) of tidal marshes in Siletz Bay.

Most upland property on the Salishan Spit is privately owned by Salishan Leaseholders, Inc. The Salishan Coastal Lodge owns the golf course that winds through the southern part of the neighborhood. The beaches are public land, with visitor access available from the Gleneden Beach State Recreation Site.

Beachcombers occasionally find glass floats on Salishan Spit and other Oregon beaches. These floats were originally used by Japanese fishing fleets and are still employed by fishermen in many parts of the world. They serve to keep fishing nets, longlines, and droplines afloat. Read more here and here. Explore more of Salishan Spit here: