Things to Do in Cannon Beach, Oregon

This 235-foot basalt sea stack is the reason Cannon Beach is on so many postcards. At low tide you can walk right up to its base and look into tide pools full of sea stars and anemones. The rock is part of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge, so the birds and tide pool life are protected.

★ Good to know Check a tide table first; the Haystack Rock Awareness Program often sets up spotting scopes and staff when clear mornings line up with low tides.

Haystack Rock holds the second-largest on-shore tufted puffin colony in the continental United States. The birds nest in burrows on the rock from about April through August. The colony has shrunk from an estimated 600 birds in 1980 to about 102, so seeing them is a real treat.

★ Good to know Puffins are most active from about 8 to 11 a.m.; bring binoculars and look at the grassy patch on the northeast side of the rock.

Ecola wraps around Tillamook Head for 9 miles of coastline just north of town. The entrance road climbs through Sitka spruce to a grassy bluff with the classic view south to Cannon Beach and its sea stacks. Indian Beach, inside the park, draws surfers and tide poolers, and scenes from The Goonies and Point Break were filmed here.

★ Good to know The west section of the Clatsop Loop Trail has been closed for an active landslide, so check the park’s notices before you plan a hike; a day-use parking permit is required.

About 5 miles south of town, this small wayside leads to a sandy cove with a seasonal waterfall, sandstone caves and tide pools. Before the highway, stagecoaches used the beach as the road, and you can still see wheel ruts cut into the rock north of the parking area. Travelers had to hug the point to get around it, which is where the name comes from.

★ Good to know Only explore around the point on a falling tide; the park warns that the incoming tide can strand you.

This small museum at S. Spruce Street and Sunset Boulevard holds the original cannon that gave the town its name. It also has a permanent exhibit on local history and a Native American longhouse. The historical society behind it dates to 1969.

★ Good to know Admission is by donation, and the museum keeps a Wednesday through Saturday schedule, so check before you go.

Oregon’s oldest sandcastle contest started in 1964, after the Good Friday earthquake’s tsunami washed out the Elk Creek bridge and cut the town off. Locals staged it to lift spirits and bring visitors back. It’s held on a Saturday in June on the beach off the ‘Presidential’ streets near Madison Street; check the contest site for this year’s date.

★ Good to know Come on Saturday; the evening tide washes the sculptures away, so there’s nothing left to see on Sunday.

This 2,484-acre park stretches 4 miles along the coast just south of Arch Cape, about 15 minutes from town. A half-mile trail through old coastal rainforest leads to Short Sand Beach, a sheltered cove popular with surfers. The Oregon Coast Trail crosses the whole park, including Cape Falcon and Neah-kah-nie Mountain.

★ Good to know The park is day-use only with no camping, and it asks you to park only in its lots, not on the Highway 101 shoulder.

The Cannon Beach Arts Association runs this gallery at 1064 S. Hemlock St. as its flagship program. It shows curated and juried exhibits of regional and Northwest artists through the year. It’s a good first stop before you walk the other galleries along Hemlock Street.

★ Good to know The gallery is volunteer-staffed and opens daily, but check the association’s site for the current show.