Life between the tides
Purple sea urchins, giant green anemones and limpets inhabit the Marine Garden. Observe the Marine Garden as protected habitat: look closely at the pools without touching or collecting.
Cannon Beach, Oregon
Haystack Rock, Tide Pools, and Cannon Beach
A basalt sea stack above a world of anemones and sea stars. Galleries along Hemlock Street. Forested headlands beyond town. Cannon Beach rewards looking closely as much as taking in the whole coast.
The rock and its marine garden
A landmark worth a closer look
Haystack Rock rises 235 feet from the beach, but the smaller life around its base is just as much a reason to visit. Low tide reveals sea stars, anemones and hermit crabs in the protected Marine Garden. The scale shifts from a basalt tower to the life in a single pool.
Make the tide chart part of this visit rather than treating the pools as an all-day attraction. The Haystack Rock guide brings together tide guidance, beach access and Marine Garden etiquette.
Plan a Haystack Rock visit →
Look up for puffins
Tufted puffins return in spring to burrows high on Haystack Rock and the surrounding sea stacks. Bring binoculars: from the beach, the birds are small and their nesting habitat remains protected.
Beyond Haystack Rock
Gallery windows or a headland view
The beach is not the whole story. Hemlock Street brings the coast into artists' work; Ecola State Park opens the view back out to forest, beaches and sea stacks.
Pacific Northwest art on Hemlock Street
Galleries along Hemlock Street feature Pacific Northwest painters, sculptors and photographers. Give the work its own part of the visit rather than using town only as a stop between beach walks.
Explore galleries and more things to do →
Sitka spruce and sea stacks at Ecola
North of town, Ecola State Park pairs Sitka spruce forest with Ecola Point, Indian Beach and views toward Tillamook Head. Choose it for a different perspective on this coast: headlands and sea stacks rather than the view from the open town beach.
Explore Ecola and coastal walks →For a Friday-to-Sunday visit, the weekend itinerary connects Haystack Rock, Ecola, Hemlock Street and coastal meals around the tide chart.
See the weekend itinerary →
An evening on the beach
Stay for the western horizon
Near sunset, Haystack Rock and the Needles form a silhouette against the beach's broad western horizon. An overnight stay gives that evening view a place in the trip alongside the tide pools, galleries and headlands.
Choose the part of town you want close by: downtown for galleries and restaurants, midtown for Haystack Rock access, or Tolovana for a south-end base. The lodging guide compares these areas before you turn to a hotel search.
