Perhaps the best known town on the Oregon coast is Cannon Beach. It is a very popular destination due to being close to Portland (less that two hours) and of course, the famed Haystack Rock. The Haystack towers 235 feet above the beach and is one of the largest in the world. There are other haystack rocks on the coast, but this one seems to get all of the press. When the tide is out, as it was the morning I took this, you can walk along the beach and get a great reflection of it along with the other two smaller sea stacks. In fact, later in the day, we were able to walk out to it and, if we were allowed to, could climb on it. That is prohibited, of course, due the proliferation of sea life that is abundant on or around it. The Haystack Rock tide pools are home to many animals, including starfish, sea anemone, crabs, chitons, limpets, and sea slugs. The rock is also a nesting site for many sea birds, including terns and puffins.