Cannon Beach, Oregon Is America's Happiest Beach — Foggy Coast and All

Just 90 minutes from Portland, Cannon Beach trades cabanas and crystal water for rocky coves, puffins, and ridiculously good taffy. Here's how to spend a day.

Fitness Jul 2, 2026 0 5 Add to Reading List

Cannon Beach, Oregon Is America's Happiest Beach — Foggy Coast and All

Plot twist: The happiest beach in America doesn’t have endless rows of cabanas, crystal-clear water, or year-round temps in the 80s. Instead, it’s in the misty, magical Pacific Northwest — Oregon’s Cannon Beach, to be exact.

Roughly 90 minutes from Portland, the stunning stretch of coastline is known for spectacularly rocky coves and shores, lush forests, an abundance of wildlife (hello, puffins), and a quaint downtown that punches above its weight. Think: vibrant boutiques and art galleries, quintessential PNW coffee shops, oceanfront hotels with postcard-worthy views (stay at Surfsand Resort), and seafood that actually tastes like the ocean. So, yeah, if you hit snooze on Cannon Beach, that’s on you.

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