When you visit the Otter Rock Marine Garden tidepools this summer, look for our guides with the bright green vests! They’re well-versed in everything tidepool and will be glad to answer your questions — and show you where tidepool critters might be hiding.
At just 1.2 square miles, Otter Rock Marine Reserve is the smallest of five designated sites along the Oregon Coast where no fishing, no wildlife removal, and no ocean development are allowed.
This mini yet mighty marine reserve provides a unique and nutrient-rich habitat in which an amazing mosaic of wildlife thrives.
Take a tour with us and hear how Otter Rock Marine Reserve contributes a wealth of value to scientific research, the economy, and conservation efforts.
See the latest wildlife, volunteer events, tidepool discoveries, and community happenings around Otter Rock Marine Reserve.
Friends of Otter Rock Marine Reserve recognizes the lands of Otter Rock as part of the ancestral homelands of the Yaqo’n or Yaquina people who lived between Cape Foulweather and Beaver Creek since time immemorial. The neighbors to the north, the Tillamook peoples, named a rock formation off the coast of Devil’s Punchbowl State Natural Area as əs·hí·higəl ʃə́·nʃis (us-HII-hi-gul SHUN-shis).
Translated to English as Otter Rock, this formation is the namesake of the present-day marine reserve. Our organization commits to respecting each tribe’s history, cultural contributions, and living descendants, including those of the Confederated Tribes of the Siletz Indians, in our work of promoting coastal conservation. We recognize the loss of cultural and ecological richness through colonization and overexploitation, and work in support of the indigenous people who continue to steward these coastal lands today.