Haystack Rock: Third Largest Intertidal Monolith in the World
Near Cannon Beach, Oregon
The massive rock rising two hundred thirty-five feet from the surf at Cannon Beach is Haystack Rock, often called the third largest intertidal monolith in the world. It was born roughly fifteen to seventeen million years ago when enormous basalt lava flows poured across the Columbia Plateau and reached the sea, intruding into marine sediments. After eons of erosion stripped away the softer rock around it, Haystack Rock was left standing alone.
The Oregon coast's most photographed landmark has also served as a movie backdrop, appearing in The Goonies and Kindergarten Cop. Every spring and early summer, tufted puffins nest in burrows on its upper slopes, making this one of the most accessible spots in the Pacific Northwest to watch those striking seabirds. Since nineteen ninety, Haystack Rock and its surrounding tidepools have held official Marine Garden status, protecting the sea stars, anemones, and limpets that cling to its base.
