Cannon Beach, OR

An oceanfront room in Tolovana with a direct line of sight to Haystack Rock and a Pacific Northwest menu built around local crab, oysters, and salmon. It's the spot when you want the view to be part of the meal.

A family-run fish market and counter-service spot downtown where you order fried baskets and chowder at the case and pick fresh fillets to take back to the Airbnb. Casual, fast, and consistently fresh.

A tiny dinner-only spot in midtown serving Northwest ingredients through an Irish lens, with a short menu of a handful of starters and mains. It shares its cottage with a coffee roaster and turns into one of the area's most sought-after dinner rooms at night.

A small, tropical-feeling downtown room cooking Cajun, Creole, and Caribbean dishes with a lot of seafood and bold spice. It's the change of pace when you've had enough chowder and fish and chips.

A scratch bakery and coffee shop south of downtown where the bread, granola, and pastries are all made in-house and the best ones sell out early. The go-to for a morning pastry-and-latte stop before the beach.

A long-running downtown breakfast-and-lunch spot known for fluffy French-style omelets, fresh-baked scones, and waffles. Small, cozy, and the breakfast locals send visitors to.

A fast, casual downtown counter doing fish and chips, chowder, and burgers with craft beer on tap. The kind of unfussy lunch you eat on the beach afterward.

A downtown ice cream and candy shop with house-made fudge, taffy, and cones, right in the middle of the Hemlock Street shopping stretch. The reliable after-dinner family stop.

A small Northern Italian bistro on Broadway in Seaside making its own pasta, sauces, and desserts, with a daily risotto. The dinner reservation that justifies the short drive north.

A breakfast-and-lunch cafe on the south end of Seaside known locally as the best morning meal in town, with comfort dishes given an international spin. Worth the short drive for a relaxed brunch.

A decades-old Seaside seafood house on Broadway built around its clam chowder, with a broad family-friendly menu of fried baskets, grilled fish, and steaks. Dependable, casual, and good for groups.

A counter-service taqueria in Seaside with a deep menu of tacos, burritos, and molcajetes and a salsa bar to dress your own plate. The cheap, fast, genuinely good Mexican option in the area.

A roughly 3-mile loop out of Indian Beach in Ecola State Park that climbs a gravel service road through coastal rainforest to a viewpoint over the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, then descends a forest path back to the beach. The most rewarding short hike near town.

A point-to-point section of the Oregon Coast Trail running the forested headland between Ecola and south Seaside, tracing the route a Lewis and Clark party walked in 1806. Big trees, ocean overlooks, and a hikers' camp partway along.

A moderate out-and-back in Oswald West State Park, about five miles round trip through old-growth forest to an exposed grassy point with sweeping views back up the coast. The standout hike of the southern parks.

A steeper climb through forest and meadow to a summit roughly 1,600 feet above the surf, with some of the broadest ocean panoramas on the north coast. The harder option when you want elevation and a payoff view.

A flat, paved 1.5-mile oceanfront walkway dating to the 1920s, running the length of the Seaside beachfront. An easy, accessible stroll with the beach on one side and historic homes on the other.

A short, steep forest path off the Ecola headland that drops to secluded Crescent Beach, a pocket cove you usually have nearly to yourself. Quick mileage but a real descent and climb back.

A working glassblowing studio and gallery in midtown where you can watch artists shape molten glass and buy the finished pieces in the same room. The makers are happy to talk through what they're doing, which makes it a genuine experience, not just a shop.

A second-floor gallery in Sandpiper Square showing the coastal watercolors and oils of longtime local painter Jeffrey Hull. Quiet, spacious, and a good window into how artists see this stretch of coast.

A small, free local museum covering the town's past, from the namesake cannon to the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, with rotating exhibits and a quirky gift shop. A good rainy-hour stop and a quick way to understand the area.

A community playhouse downtown in a historic building that was once the town's roller rink, staging plays and musicals year-round in an intimate room. The town's main evening cultural draw.

A small, historic aquarium on the Seaside promenade, open since the 1930s, with a harbor-seal feeding tank and touch pools. Compact and old-school, but a reliable hit with younger kids on a gray day.

An indoor shopping arcade in Seaside built around a working carousel with hand-painted horses, two blocks from the beach. A short, cheerful stop with kids when the weather turns.

The 235-foot sea stack that defines the town, sitting right on the beach a short walk from downtown. The base is a protected marine garden, so at low tide the tide pools fill with sea stars and anemones and, in summer, tufted puffins nest on the rock.

A headland park wrapping Tillamook Head just north of town, with a winding forest road that opens to clifftop viewpoints over the coastline and the offshore Tillamook Rock Lighthouse. This is where the postcard shot of Cannon Beach and Haystack Rock from above comes from.

A small cove beach at the far end of the Ecola State Park road, ringed by forested headland and rock formations. Surfers ride it year-round and the rocks at either end hold tide pools, so it's a quieter alternative to the main town beach.

A rainforest park about ten miles south past Arch Cape, where a half-mile walk through old-growth spruce drops you onto Short Sand Beach, a protected cove locals call Shorty's. It's a surf spot, a picnic beach, and the gateway to the Cape Falcon and Neahkahnie trails all at once.

The southern beach access at Tolovana Park, with free parking, restrooms, and a gentle paved ramp to the sand. Same Haystack Rock and Needles view as downtown, but the crowds thin out the farther south you walk.

The end of Seaside's Broadway where the promenade meets the beach, marked by the Lewis and Clark statue commemorating the end of their westward trail. It's the social heart of Seaside and a good orientation point before walking the Prom.