Cannon Beach Beach Travel Guide

The beach was named for a cannon that washed ashore in 1846 when the U.S. Navy schooner Shark capsized.
Cross nine miles of sandy beach, admiring the monolith rocks that stand upright in the water.
Marvel at 235-foot-high Haystack Rock, the third largest coastal monolith in the world, also a marine and bird sanctuary.
Greet squatty black tufted puffins that nest on the rock in summer. Starfish, anemones, and limpets inhabit surrounding tide pools.
Hike the short or long trail through the conifer forest of Ecola State Park to see the entire panorama of Cannon Beach, Haystack Rock, and the Coast Range.
Stroll through the rustic town, packed with bookstores, galleries, bistros, and craft shops.

Cannon Beach Travel Guide

When most people dream of a vacation on the Oregon coast, chances are they're thinking of a place such as Cannon Beach: weathered cedar-shingle buildings, picket fences behind drifts of nasturtiums, quiet gravel lanes, interesting little art galleries, and massive rock monoliths rising from the surf just off the wide sandy beach. If it weren't for all the other people who think Cannon Beach is a wonderful place, this town would be perfect. However, Cannon Beach is suffering from its own quaintness and the inevitable upscaling that ensues when a place begins to gain national recognition. Once the Oregon coast's most renowned artists' community, Cannon Beach is now going the way of California's Carmel—lots of upscale shopping tucked away in utterly tasteful little plazas along a neatly manicured main street. Despite the crowds, it still has a village atmosphere, and summer throngs and traffic jams can do nothing to assault the fortresslike beauty of the rocks that lie just offshore. Read More

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Cannon Beach Beach Travel Guide