Surrounded by forests, wetlands, rocky headlands, beaches and offshore rocks, everywhere you look is a playground as well as home for an outstanding array of mammals, birds, fish, reptiles and amphibians.
Binoculars, spotting scopes, and field guides will aid you in observation and study. Viewing opportunities vary with month and time of day so do some research first.
The Tufted Puffin usually arrives in April and stays through early August, nesting in burrows high on Haystack Rock. Depending upon the season squadrons of brown pelicans, common murres, Western gulls, mallards and Canada geese can be easily spotted in and around Cannon Beach alongside plenty of sparrows, starlings and barn swallows.
Sea lions are occasionally seen offshore with the gray whale getting most of the attention. Winter migration (southbound, late December to early February) means up to 500 gray whales pass by daily from 2 to 8 miles offshore. Spring migration (northbound, mid March to early June) is more leisurely with 200 or more gray whales a day traveling closer to the shore. During the summer an occasional whale can be seen offshore feeding in kelp beds.
Roosevelt elk, black-tailed deer, and coyotes roam free across these parts but are difficult to observe because they are so secretive.