Cannon Beach

Haystack Rock stands about seventy-two metres on the beach itself, close enough to walk to at low tide and not at all at high, and it is a protected marine garden and bird sanctuary - tufted puffins nest on it from spring into summer, along with common murres and cormorants, and volunteers with scopes are usually on the sand in season. The tide pools round the base hold anemones, sea stars and chitons, and touching or removing anything is prohibited. Climbing on the rock above the barnacle line is banned. Oregon's beaches are all public by law under a 1967 act, which is why the town has never been able to privatise its shoreline. The Goonies was partly filmed here.

Highlights

• A 72-metre sea stack on the sand - reachable only at low tide.
• Nesting tufted puffins - in spring and early summer.
• Protected tide pools - no touching or collecting.
• A publicly owned shoreline - guaranteed by Oregon law since 1967.

When to go

April to October; puffins arrive in spring. Half a day.

Before you go

Access to the rock depends on the tide table - check it. Climbing above the barnacle line is prohibited and enforced. The coast is often foggy and wet. Summer weekends fill the town's parking.

Nearby

Ecola State Park is north; Oswald West is south.