Goonies Never Say Die
Near Cannon Beach, Oregon
If you grew up in the nineteen eighties, this stretch of coast may feel strangely familiar. The nineteen eighty five adventure film The Goonies was shot largely up and down this shore. The Walsh house, where a band of kids launch their treasure hunt to save their homes, sits in nearby Astoria, about twenty miles north.
But the movie's coastal scenes were filmed right here in Ecola State Park. In the story, the kids follow a pirate map to Ecola, and that famous view looking down on the beach with Haystack Rock in the distance was shot from the forested park road above. The abandoned seaside cafe used as the Fratelli gang's hideout was a set built specially for the film inside the park.
And the wild police car chase that ends the movie, with the villains' car spinning out among crowds and vehicles, was staged on the sand at Cannon Beach itself, dressed up as an off road vehicle rally. Decades later, fans still make the drive to stand where One Eyed Willy's treasure map led, chasing rich stuff on the same beach.
