It is a popular coastal Oregon tourist destination, famous for Haystack Rock, a 235 ft (72 m) sea stack that juts out along the coast.

The expedition was wintering at Fort Clatsop, roughly 20 miles (32 km) to the north near the mouth of the Columbia River.

In December 1805, two members of the expedition returned to camp with blubber from a whale that had beached several miles south, near the mouth of Ecola Creek.

[7] From a spot near the western cliffs of the headland he saw "...the grandest and most pleasing prospects which my eyes ever surveyed, in front of a boundless Ocean..." That viewpoint, later dubbed "Clark's Point of View," can be accessed by a hiking trail from Indian Beach in Ecola State Park.

Clark and several of his companions, including Sacagawea, completed a three-day journey on January 10, 1806, to the site of the beached whale.

Clark and his party met with them and successfully bartered for 300 pounds (136 kg) of blubber and some whale oil before returning to Fort Clatsop.

[8] There is a whale sculpture commemorating the encounter between Clark's group and the Tillamooks in a small park at the northern end of Hemlock Street.

[11] In 1846, a carronade, a short naval cannon, from the US Navy schooner Shark, which had sunk earlier that year, washed ashore just north of Arch Cape, a few miles south of the community.

The subsequent flooding inundated parts of Cannon Beach and washed away the highway bridge located on the north side of city.

The city, now isolated from the highway, decided to attract visitors by holding a sand castle contest, an event that still continues annually every June.

Cannon Beach is a tourist resort destination,[22] particularly popular as a weekend getaway with residents from Portland, Oregon.

[23] Chain stores such as Safeway and McDonald's have been discouraged from building in Cannon Beach in order to preserve the local economy and small-town feel.

The Cannon Beach Gazette, a monthly newspaper that covers area politics, news, sports and community events.

The paper is owned and operated by Country Media Inc.[28] Cannon Beach and Ecola State Park have appeared in several films, including The Goonies (1985), Free Willy (1993), Twilight (2008), Hysterical (1983), and Point Break (1991).

[29] The main road through Cannon Beach is Hemlock Street, which runs from the north end of the city to the south, through Tolovana Park.

The NorthWest POINT runs between Cannon Beach and Union Station in Portland; tickets can be booked through Amtrak.