City Guides: Things to do While Boating in Cannon Beach, Oregon
Located between Astoria and Eugene (and southwest of Seattle, Washington), Cannon Beach is a small but stunning Pacific Coast destination. Check out interesting wildlife, walk along wide sandy shorelines, go offshore fishing or hang out at the shops and boutiques in the downtown area.
If you’re at a nearby private boat dock rental, you can’t miss the chance to visit the sites and natural attractions of Cannon Beach. Let’s go!
Haystack Rock
Photo: Unsplash
Resembling, well … a stack of hay, Haystack Rock is Oregon’s most famous and recognizable formation. Remember the opening scene of the 1985 movie The Goonies, which featured a truck rally race? That was Cannon Beach and Haystack Rock.
The 235-foot-tall coastal rock formation sits high above the Pacific Ocean (you can walk to it during low tide, but no climbing is allowed) and is home to tide pools filled with anemones, crabs, sea stars and more. You’ll also see lots of birds, including the pelagic cormorant, peregrine falcons, harlequin ducks, the western gull and the tufted puffin. If puffins aren’t reason enough to leave a private boat dock rental, we don’t know what is.
Ecola State Park
Photo: Unsplash
Near Tillamook Head, Ecola State Park offers nine miles of beautiful coastline with sea stacks (those rock formations), beaches, hiking trails (the Clatsop Loop Trail is a 2.5-mile-long historical interpretive route), Sitka spruce forests, wildlife viewing and Tillamook Rock Lighthouse (“Terrible Tilly”). Built on a solid slab of basalt rock, the lighthouse was completed in 1881 and can be seen from several viewpoints in the area.
Ecola State Park is featured in another Goonies movie sequence where the foursome pulls up on their bikes while seeking out the treasure of One-Eyed Willie. Indian Beach is the background of this scene. You’ll find tide pools as well as surfing swells in this area. More movie trivia: Indian Beach filled in for Bells Beach, Australia in the climactic ending of Point Break (1991).
Tolovana State Recreation Site
Photo: Unsplash
With picnic sites, a playground and a wide sandy shoreline, Tolovana State Recreation Site sits at the south end of Cannon Beach. It’s a popular area for kite flying, sandcastle building and sunset watching. We just think it’s a cool place to visit from a boat slip for rent in Cannon Beach.
DragoneFire Art Gallery
Photo: DragonFire Art Gallery (Facebook)
DragonFire Art Gallery is an art museum and gallery filled with a colorful collection of Pacific Northwest art ranging from paintings, glass art and jewelry to sculptures, ceramics and metal art. Come in and browse a while before heading off to a private boat slip rental or back to the beach. You just might find something you can’t live without.
Cannon Beach History Center & Museum
Photo: Cannon Beach History Center (Facebook)
For the history buff in your crew, Cannon Beach History Center & Museum is the place to be. Explore exhibits on Oregon Coast shipwrecks, fabric and textile art, a hands-on exhibit of a Native American longhouse and the original Cannon Beach cannon.
We hope you’ve found some new ideas to pencil in the next time you’re in Cannon Beach. While you’re at it, add some of those movies to your watch list when you’re back at home, your hotel or a private boat dock for rent.
