Goonies

We visited Portland, Oregon in June of 2026. While we were there we went to see a couple of the Goonies filming sites.

Cannon Beach

Next door to Indian Beach is Cannon Beach, so we decided to go visit Cannon Beach as well. The famous Haystack Rock is at Cannon Beach. Cannon Beach was one of the filming sites of Goonies. Cannon Beach is located here: Cannon Beach Google Maps Location

We had a really hard time finding parking at Cannon Beach, but when we finally did find a spot to park, it had this easy access staircase down to the beach

we walked through this little tree tunnel

and then on this grass path onto the beach

our view when we came through the grass

there's Haystack Rock on the beach.

looking back up at where we came down to the beach

Here is the scene from Goonies at Haystack Rock on Cannon Beach: Goonies Opening Scene

Haystack Rock

My husband and I at Cannon Beach

heading back up to our parking spot

through the tree tunnel

and up the stairs

Indian Beach, Oregon

One of the other filming locations that we visited in Oregon was Indian Beach. Indian Beach is located here: Indian Beach

There is a large paved parking lot with a machine to pay for parking. We parked in the overflow lot since there were a lot of people there when we visited. We paid at the machine and then took the parking receipt back to our car to display in the windshield. After leaving the parking lot, you head down a wooden staircase to the beach.

From the parking lot and from the beach you can view the sea arch, Sea Lion Arch out in the water. This arch and the large rock nearby, which also has an arch in it, is viewable in this scene of Goonies:

You can't tell from this view that Sea Lion Rock has an arch in it. The larger rock in front of is also has an arch in it.

During our visit in late June of 2026, the beach was very crowded with lots of people walking or sitting, or even surfing. We walked to the southern end of the beach hoping to get a better view of the arch. Then my husband tried climbing up the rocks on the southern end of the beach. There was an obvious trail, but it was extremely steep and slippery with wet mud and loose rocks. He was able to climb up, and I stayed below and waited to see if the view was worth it. He came back to collect me, telling it was a sight not to be missed. We went through some switch-backs in the very thick vegetation instead of straight up the steepest part of the climb. I was wearing shorts, so I'm surprised I didn't end up with rashes from the vegetation that was up to my chest as we walked through it. After the vegetation ended, we had no other choice but to make our way up the slippery mud and over the remaining rocks to the top. Slowly but surely, and with my husband's help, I made it to the top. The view was definitely worth it. I was able to get some great photos of the arch, which I later learned is named Sea Lion Arch because of its resemblance to a sea lion. Incidentally, part of Goonies was filmed on Indian Beach as well, although the most notorious beach scene was shot on Cannon Beach at Haystack Rock.

The viewpoint where we took photos of and viewed the arch is located here: Sea Lion Arch Viewpoint Getting down from our viewpoint was just as complicated as getting up, although we made it without sliding down or falling. When we walked back across the beach we noticed that someone had written a line from Twilight in the sand near the southern end of the beach: "Bella, where the hell have you been, Loca?" I would guess that a lot of the popularity of this beach is due to Twilight, because the beach itself wasn't any more spectacular than any other beach we visited that day. The main difference was the very large parking lot.

The location of Sea Lion Rock

When we hiked back up to the parking lot, we found a large sign that we hadn't seen before we went down to the beach. It showed exact filming locations of the movies filmed on Indian Beach, including Twilight and Goonies, and it also had Sea Lion Arch labeled, which is how I found out the name of the arch, which up until that point I was calling "Indian Beach Arch." It had a QR code that you could scan and see exact film locations.

heading for Indian Beach on the 101 highway

It is amazing to drive along the 101 highway knowing that you are right next to the ocean, but not being able to see it because of all of the tall trees.