Outdoors & Wildlife

You're likely to meet some of our colorful locals.

Enjoy encounters with an astonishing variety of wildlife and sea life. Seeing the Tufted Puffins that nest on Haystack Rock is a memorable experience, but the Cannon Beach area offers many exciting opportunities to observe wildlife and sea life. During the quieter seasons, herds of Roosevelt Elk emerge from the edges of the rainforest to graze in our coastal meadows.

Colorful tidepools are filled with fascinating forms of marine life, and intertidal rocks are encrusted with an active ecosystem of mussels, snails, and sea stars. Bald Eagles patrol the skies, and Brown Pelicans skim the surf. Nearly 20,000 Gray Whales can be observed each spring and winter, making one of the natural world’s most amazing migrations. The puffins may steal the show, but a wide variety of seabirds can be seen.

Look for crowded colonies of Common Murres on top of rocks, cormorants nesting on rocky ledges, and Black Oystercatchers foraging along the rocky shore. Your next incredible encounter with nature is a beach walk or a trail away.