Hug Point's Tidepools A Colorful Part of Oregon Coast's Cannon Beach You Didn't Know

Published 11/09/24 at 4:45 a.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Cannon Beach, Oregon) – A small road blasted out of the rock, a waterfall, a handful of intriguing caves, sometimes bizarre little historical objects and some of the wildest seasonal changes in appearance of any of this state's beaches. Hug Point State Recreation Site just south of Cannon Beach is a visual knockout left and right. (All photos Oregon Coast Beach Connection)

There's a lot going on here, including the place's colors. Hug Point isn't necessarily known for its sea life – but it should be. Tidepools can pop up in the oddest of spots around here, and that can change, too.

Most impressive at this north Oregon coast hotspot is when Hug Point is either at low tides or extremely high sand levels. High sand levels can mimic extreme low tides by keeping the ocean away and extending the beach for maybe 100s of feet sometimes.

Hug Point sees more dramatic shifts in sand levels and tide levels than maybe any place on the coastline – both high and low. It's unique in that respect.

In summertime, when the sand levels push the ocean way out, you're going to see the bottom of the road at Hug Point and all the colorful tidepools. The interesting things about these multicolored colonies of life is that some manage to move with the sand level rise. That's usually a slow, gradual, seasonal change so those sea stars and urchins and such manage to move away from the rising sand.

Not all, however. Barnacles and other more fixed creatures get buried beneath those sands. When sand levels drop, the creatures living up above it may shift downwards as well. Tidepool colonies exist entirely at the grace of ocean water covering them to varying degrees. When that sand retreats, there's suddenly more real estate again. The ocean hits those areas and keeps them wet at least some of the time.

However, when these conditions arise, you can see all sorts of other areas where barnacles and other similar creatures have dried up, especially on the northern edge of the ramp and point. The marine critters had been there at one time and then moved on - or they simply died.

What the tides normally look like here

Tidepools at this north Oregon coast fave come out all over, but access to them is more incredible during summer's high sands. You can get closer to those on the edge of the old road. Or you can find them at the other side of the road beneath the cliff, and at little rocky blobs all around Hug Point – usually at their base.

Tidepools are sometimes even found in those gigantic holes in the cliffs that are like little caves.

What sort of tidepool life do you find at Cannon Beach's Hug Point? Mussels, tunicates, sponges, barnacles, anemones, and lots of algae for a start. Then there's urchins, snails, limpets, nudibranchs, chitons and the inimitable sea star (no, they're not actually called starfish).

Yes, sea stars have rebounded quite a bit after that run of sea star wasting disease hit a decade ago.

Those high sand levels create an unusual exploration possibility by seeing the whole of the old road. Somehow, tidepool finds are more interesting, maybe because this is the part where the tides are banging against the rest of the year – why they needed this road in the first place for early car and buggy travel.

During these conditions you'll see now-dead spots of colony life

In other times of the year, you can only see some of those tidepools beneath the water as you walk around the path. In winter, this whole place can be too dangerous to go tidepools gazing, and during higher tide events. However, when some of the blobs and flatter rocky surfaces protrude more after sand levels normalize, you can see a lot more tidepool life along those, opening up plenty of sea life exploration all around.

The road wraps around the headland until it reaches another ramp on the north side. The southern side is flooded by the tides more often than the northern side. Always watch the tides at Hug Point: it can be a dangerous place. See All Oregon Coast Tide Pools

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Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast.

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