A Day in Cannon Beach Oregon

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If you grew up in the 80’s, you more than likely saw everyone’s childhood favorite movie, The Goonies. Remember the truck rally / race on the beach at the beginning of the movie? Iconic Haystack Rock can be seen in the background. Well that famous beach is Cannon Beach in Oregon. We had the opportunity to spend a day at this famous beach last June, and had such a great time!

The year before, we had purchased a camper van, so we decided to stay at a campground for the two nights we were there. We chose to stay at Wrights for Camping. This campground has 22 sites in the woods. We chose site 17, which was very spacious. There are no hookups, however, so primitive camping only (or as primitive as it can be in a camper van!). Wrights for Camping is a few blocks from the beach, and it was an easy walk to access the sand and water.

Things To Do

We visited Cannon Beach at three distinct different times that day. (Granted, you could bring a picnic lunch and spend the entire day at the beach, but we were close enough to walk from our campground, so we chose to go back for meals).

View The Puffins

Did you know there are puffins in Oregon?! We woke up early in the morning and headed straight to the beach, because I was determined to see the Tufted Puffins that nest on Haystack Rock from April to August. The best time to see the puffins is early in the morning as they are most active between 7 and 10 am. The beach was so calm and quiet when we arrived and there were only a couple of other people there. But there were puffins!!! It was so much fun watching these guys fly around looking for food! You can’t get close to the puffins, but we definitely saw several flying around, and with binoculars and my telephoto camera lens, we could see them land on Haystack Rock.

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Unfortunately, the Tufted Puffin numbers at Haystack Rock have been dramatically declining, and it is unknown how much longer the birds will actually be around. To learn more about puffin conservation, visit Friends of Haystack Rock.

Visit The Tide Pools

I checked the tide forecast for that day in Cannon Beach to see when low tide would occur so we could access the tide pools. Click here to access tide information. After returning to our campground for a late breakfast/early lunch, we rested a bit and then returned to the beach that afternoon for low tide. The tide pools had so many critters to see! There were tons of starfish and colorful sea anemones. Interpreters were also onsite to answer any questions and help with critter identification.

The kiddos had so much fun playing on the beach as well. Cannon Beach is a very wide beach, so even with a lot of people there, it did not feel crowded. We had fun relaxing and watching the sea birds, and building sand castles.

Haystack Rock is a National Wildlife Refuge and a designated Marine Garden, so the tide pools and the area around Haystack Rock is protected due to the fragile marine life. If you visit the tide pools, please do not touch or pick up the sea creatures.

Watch The Sunset

After dinner that night, my daughter and I returned to the beach to watch the sunset. And what a gorgeous sunset it was! We sat on the top of a sand hill and watched as the sun sank into the horizon painting the sky a brilliant orange. It was the perfect ending to the perfect day.