Three Arch Rocks National Wildlife Refuge, National Wildlife Refuge on rocky islands near Oceanside, Oregon.

Three Arch Rocks National Wildlife Refuge covers 15 acres on three large and six small rocky islands about half a mile offshore from Oceanside, in Tillamook County, Oregon. The islands rise as steep rock masses from the Pacific, and the whole refuge is designated wilderness, one of the smallest such areas in the United States.

President Theodore Roosevelt established this as a National Wildlife Refuge in 1907, marking the first protected refuge west of the Mississippi River. This early conservation effort came about through the work of naturalists concerned about protecting seabirds and marine life.

The refuge's name comes from the three arched rock formations that rise from the Pacific about half a mile off Oceanside. From the beach the islands are a fixed reference point for residents and a landmark for boaters along Tillamook County's central coast.

The islands are viewable from the water, but visitors must maintain a safe distance and avoid landing on them. Bring binoculars for better viewing and visit early in the day when light conditions are good and wildlife is most active.

In 1994, a group of two or three North Pacific right whales, the rarest and most endangered of all large whales, was sighted at the Rocks. The refuge also holds the largest common murre colony south of Alaska and is the only pupping site for the threatened Steller sea lion in northern Oregon.