Scores, and scores, and scores, and scores of visitors are expected to fill local hotels, motels, campgrounds, bars, restaurants, stores, streets, sidewalks and beaches this holiday weekend, with tourism officials saying the county’s population could temporarily swell to nearly 100,000 people.
Josh Phillips, the executive director of the Pacific County Tourism Bureau, said his agency is expecting at least 70,000 people to travel to the area on and around July 4 as part of the festivities celebrating America’s 250th birthday. Many of those will be coming to the narrow strip of the Long Beach Peninsula, where the year-round population is a small fraction of the crowd it’s expected to draw this weekend.
The tourism bureau’s estimate is based on trailing data for the past two Fourth of July holidays. Since Phillips took the reins of the organization, which is known as Washington’s Evergreen Coast, the agency has contracted with a company that provides location intelligence software, which supplies businesses and organizations with consumer traffic analytics and insights by using available cellphone data.
The company found that there were an average of 67,000 to 73,000 daily visitors to Pacific County from July 4-6 in 2024 and 2025.
“That number sounds big to most,” said Phillips, “but I would argue we haven’t had a true way to measure visitation until this year. I do think that we will surpass [the 2024 and 2025 visitation] this year with everything going on peninsula wide.”
While the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence is a special occasion and is expected to result in larger crowds, Phillips told Long Beach City Councilors at a recent meeting that “we are competing more than ever this year for visitors.” Celebrations marking the anniversary are happening across the country, he noted, while Seattle is hosting a World Cup knockout game on July 6 that could feature the U.S. men’s national team.
A Washington State Parks spokesperson confirmed to the Observer that all reservable campsites at Cape Disappointment State Park are full for the Fourth of July weekend, “which is most often the case on the first weekend in July leading up to — or in some years just after — the Fourth.”
“We expect that the park will experience its usual [July 4] weekend day-use visitation as well,” the spokesperson added. “We don’t expect unusual visitor numbers for Cape D. Historically, the weekend of Independence Day has seen relatively low day use, as most people head to the ocean beaches of Long Beach and Grays Harbor.”
Preparations
As the holiday weekend draws nearer, local preparations have picked up steam.
On the north end of the peninsula, the Ocean Park Area Chamber of Commerce is encouraging business owners to “join the festive fun” and decorate their business, and suggesting that they stock up now on any needed marketing materials, such as tide books, rip current safety cards, getaway brochures and regional magazines.
With this year’s annual fireworks show at the Port of Ilwaco being moved up a day to Friday, July 3 due to Independence Day falling on a Saturday, Ilwaco City Administrator Holly Beller shared that the Ilwaco Saturday Market is welcoming vendors to set up their booths on Friday evening in addition to the regular Saturday market the next day.
“Other than that, we will be prepared for lots of people coming to enjoy the 250th celebration with us!” Beller said.
Long Beach City Administrator David Glasson said “pretty much everything is similar to prior years,” adding that the city’s volunteer fire department is “ramped up” and will have crews stationed in the dunes and on the beach. “Police have added additional officers to help the beach.”
Long Beach Police Chief Flint Wright confirmed that his department is bringing in six extra officers for the Fourth of July and noted that everyone will be working longer shifts from July 3-5, with extra coverage on July 6 as well.
“State Parks is handling the beach, and we will be assisting them,” Wright said, adding that the Pacific County Sheriff’s Office and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife have also provided a big presence both on the beach and in town in the past. “I anticipate that all law enforcement in the area will be working together as we always do.”
The State Parks spokesperson confirmed that the agency will have additional rangers on duty at the coast over the holiday, noting that they are brought in from throughout the state.
“They will be responding to calls for service and assisting our local law enforcement and first responder agencies when necessary,” the spokesperson said. “Additionally, our rangers will be proactively attending to matters of traffic safety and illegal beach camping, fires and fireworks.”
Dumpsters will be available at beach approaches for people to discard their trash and extinguished fireworks. If dumpsters become full, State Parks is asking that people pack out their trash rather than leave it nearby or overfill the dumpster.
State Parks staff is also participating in the Grassroots Garbage Gang’s and Washington CoastSavers’ July 5 beach cleanup, which begins at 9 a.m. The organizations are asking for “all hands on deck,” and volunteers can sign in to help at any major beach approach. A free community soup and sourdough social is being hosted by DuneSide Trading Co. following the cleanup at 21712 Pacific Way in Klipsan Beach.
Incoming high tides — which in some years push people off the beach — won’t be an issue in 2026. The evening low tide on July 4 is 2.45 feet at about 10:21 p.m., meaning much of the beach will be exposed just as personal fireworks displays reach their crescendo. The next high tide isn’t until around 4 a.m. July 5.
Rain is also unlikely to dampen the celebrations. Several days out, the forecast for July 4 is sunny, with a high around 65 degrees and no precipitation.
“It’s going to be a long weekend and the weather will be a major factor in crowd size and behavior,” Wright said. “We are as prepared as we can be.”
For our story reviewing fireworks rules, see https://tinyurl.com/CO-2026-fireworks.