Caption Haystack Rock towers on the shoreline of Canon Beach on the Oregon coast. Photo credit: Joni Kabana.
Editor’s note: Canon Beach and Clatsop Count are in phase 2 of the covid Reopening plan. Hotels/rentals are taking guests, restaurants may offer limited seating, businesses are open with safety protocols in place. The beaches are open. The State of Oregon requires face coverings in all indoor public spaces and in outdoor public spaces when physical distancing is not possible. Ecola State Park and several trails remain closed.
Cannon Beach is both a major tourist town and listed by National Geographic as one of the 100 most beautiful places in the world.
Tourist wise, Cannon Beach boasts a multitude of art galleries, restaurants, boutiques and oceanfront lodging. The active gallery scene, public art, community theatre programs and art festivals is especially notable…it was named one of The 100 Best Art Towns in America by author John Villani.
Canon Beach’s signature natural attraction is Haystack Rock, which rises 235-feet from the sand at low tide. Tufted puffins, gulls, cormorants and many other birds inhabit the rock. Tourists flock to the rock at low tide to view the many tide pool marine creatures.
For those who feel the urge to glide on some waves, Oswald West State Park, known by locals as Short Sands, is one of Oregon’s most beautiful surf spots. Located 20 minutes south of Cannon Beach, the southwest swells at Short Sands offer plenty of ridable waves for veterans and beginners. Visitors access the beach via a forested, creek-lined trail.
The 1,680-foot Neahkahnie Mountain, one of the most famous peaks in the Oregon Coast Range, is accessible via the Short Sand South Trailhead near Highway 101.
