Tillamook Head is the forested basalt headland that rises at the south end of Seaside, and the trail that crosses it is the best hike in the immediate area. Six miles one way, it runs from the Seaside trailhead (off South Edgewood Road) through old-growth Sitka spruce and hemlock to the north end of Cannon Beach. The forest here is dense, green, and very quiet — a complete change of scene from the boardwalk a mile away.
The trail gains about 1,000 feet of elevation on the Seaside side before leveling through the high forest. Near the summit is the ghost of a WWII radar installation, built in 1942 to watch for Japanese aircraft and submarines and now barely visible through the undergrowth. On clear days, Tillamook Rock Lighthouse — built in 1881 on a wave-swept rock a mile offshore and long since decommissioned — is visible from the higher sections of the trail. Allow three to four hours for the full crossing. Most people arrange a car shuttle or a pickup at the Cannon Beach end, or simply turn around at the viewpoint about two miles in.