Cannon Beach's Silver Point Interpretive Overlook | N. Oregon Coast Stunner - Video

Published 02/04/21 at 3:57 AM PDT
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection staff

(Cannon Beach, Oregon) – Those inescapably beautiful and cajoling viewpoints just south of Cannon Beach: they’re likely one of the most popular on the entire Oregon coast. Everybody stops there, especially those jetting through on their first time, drawn there abruptly by the ease of pulling off the road and the near-explosion of scenery. Yet no one knows the name of this place.

The pullouts – yes there are at least two – are called Silver Point Interpretive Overlook. As rich in sight and experience as they are they’re actually only half the story. The other half of Silver Point lies below at the beach of Silver Point.

Up top, two massive parking lots allow you to enter at a fairly high speed then simmer down to a halt somewhere lovely. There, atmospheric stone walls give way to extensive, vast views of the ocean and other amazing landmarks. Signs tell you about the geology and other tidbits of the place, and tiled surfaces grace some of the viewpoints, adding not just a comely sense of decoration but perhaps something a little mythical as well. They slightly resemble something out of ancient Rome or perhaps a fantasy novel.

Facing north is the main attraction: a glimpse of Cannon Beach and Haystack Rock at a different angle, through weather-beaten trees that shift wildly when the wind really gets going.

Straight out west, the ocean is seen in all its mighty glory and insanity, along with the famed Tillamook Rock Lighthouse in the deep, far distance. If you’re really lucky, you’ll get a sunny day with not too much wind but plenty of big waves, which really just means the wind is on its way.

One rather unsung attraction at this north Oregon coast landmark is the giant blob at Silver Point, which creates some wacky wave action on its own. Under the right conditions, one set of waves seems to repeatedly move north and south, skipping their way across the usual incoming waves from the west. It sometimes looks like a creature zipping back and forth beneath the waves. It’s essentially the product of refraction: waves hit some structure on the other side of the basalt blob and they bounce off a different direction.

Photo courtesy Tiffany Boothe, Seaside Aquarium

Looking south, you can spot other glorious beaches near there, such as the pointed blob at Arcadia Beach and a hint of the old road at Hug Point much farther down. It’s as if Silver Point Interpretive Overlook gives you a preview of the Oregon coast around you.

Yet there’s so much more to Silver Point Interpretive Overlook that you can’t see, and it’s a mind-blower. You have to get down on the beach to check it out. Silver Point is a unique bend in the coastline here, where strange rocky chunks elongate and shrink with the sand levels, and at times they look like fuzzy little creatures wandering up from the Pacific.

The geology of the cliffs just below Silver Point Interpretive Overlook is intriguing as well, looking as if they were gouged by something. The real explanation of Silver Point geology is here, however.

Sometimes from up here, you can spot the fabled cave. It’s easier to see down below, but not accessible. However, one local adventurer was able to get close to Silver Point’s cave during an exceptionally low tide event. Confessions of an Angry Sea Cave: Colorful Silver Point on N. Oregon Coast

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