The Tunnel — Attraction in Tillamook

I went in barefoot.

Not by design, but by that quiet logic that makes you carry your shoes instead of wearing them like that’ll help you cross the stones. And they are stones. Not sand, not pebbles, not anything friendly. Round, ocean-polished spheres, each one a treacherous little moon. You step, and they move. You shift, and they punish. It’s a test, and it wants blood, or at least your dignity.

The tunnel waits ahead, cut straight through Maxwell Point like something dwarves would have carved to haul gold from the sea. But there’s no gold. Just wet echo and graffiti. The walls are covered in it, spray paint confessions from kids with sharpies and beer, or maybe something deeper names scrawled like spells to say: we were here, we mattered, we touched this rock and it touched back.

I went in barefoot.

then you see them the holes. Not breaks, not cracks, but portals. Windows punched into concrete, framing the Pacific like art. Each one is a vision. The sea, the sky, a bird if you’re lucky or just foam and endless motion, perfectly framed in salt worn cement. It pulls you forward, you walk not to get through the tunnel, but to chase that view, again and again.

I went in barefoot.

Your feet keep failing you. Now it’s not just round stones, but broken ones Crumble and jagged bits, sharp and impatient, dug up by the tide and left to dry like old bones. The floor shifts from beach to blade. Every step is a guess. Your soles start to remember every stone they’ve ever met.

I went in barefoot.

The air changes. Colder, quieter. The sound of the sea moves behind you, then wraps around, filtered through those portals in pulses of salt and wind. The tunnel is long thirty meters perhaps.l, but it feels like something older, longer, like you’re walking through time, through a vein in the earth.

Then… sand. First just dust on the rock. Then drifts. Then whole soft patches. You’re rising now. Not climbing, exactly, just moving upward like the rock is letting you go.

And then it opens. The light hits hard a portal of its own. Cut perfectly through the end of the tunnel, framing the open sea. The floor drops just a bit, and your bruised feet find one last boulder, huge and smooth and warm with light.

You step out, blinking. The cove is laid out below, waves folding in, cliffs rising up, and that Oregon wind that never really stops. Behind you, the mountain keeps its secret. But you’ve seen it now, walked its throat, and left something of yourself inside.

I went...

My Visit to Tunnel Beach

If there’s one place in Dunedin that truly left me speechless, it’s Tunnel Beach. The walk down to the cliffs is short but steep, and honestly, I had to stop a couple of times on the way back up to catch my breath—but every step was worth it.

The views from the track are incredible. As you descend, the ocean opens up in front of you with rugged cliffs and rolling waves. By the time I reached the historic hand-carved tunnel and walked through to the beach, it felt like stepping into another world. The cliffs rise dramatically on both sides, the rock formations are striking, and there’s this raw, untouched feeling about the place.

I went at low tide, which I highly recommend, because you can wander around the caves and explore the rock pools without worrying about the waves. Swimming isn’t an option here—the currents are too strong—but honestly, just standing there, surrounded by towering sandstone cliffs and listening to the roar of the ocean, was more than enough.

What I loved most was the sense of seclusion. Even with a few other visitors around, the beach feels hidden and almost secret, like you’ve stumbled upon something really special.

Tips from my visit:

Wear good shoes, the track is steep.

Bring water for the climb back up.

Go at low tide if you want to explore properly.

Sunset light makes the cliffs...

The tunnel can be pretty dark and you may not be able to see where you're stepping when entering from the concrete side, so if that's something that bothers you I would definitely recommend using a light ( just a phone screen should work well enough) It's a lot easier to see on the way back, so that's a plus!

Pebbles and dust do sometimes scatter down by the entrances, so try not to stang by those cliffs too much. This is definitely a really cool place to visit! The mural on the inside is...