The arched Sea Lion Rock, as seen from an overlook at Ecola State Park.

While plenty of seals and sea lions haul out on the nearshore rocks of Tillamook Head’s Ecola Point, taking a rest on land between ocean foraging, hikers on nearby trails and beaches aren’t likely to hear their characteristic barking — the sound of the swirling, unpredictable ocean simply takes over.

Still, one arched rock among the scattered group west of Ecola State Park is named for its pinniped visitors. Sea Lion Rock is something of a park compass.

Its shape moves from one viewpoint to another, a towering arch visible from the north atop rocky overlooks at Indian Beach and from the south on the wide, flat sands of Crescent Beach. At the park’s headland viewpoint, it hides its arch in the foreground of Tillamook Rock Lighthouse.

Like some 1,800 other sea stacks along Oregon shores, Sea Lion Rock is part of the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge, a collection of coastal rocks, reefs and islands protected as wild habitats for shorebirds and marine mammals.

So while the rock can’t be visited, it stands as a marker while exploring the expansive Ecola State Park, a land of cliffside views, lush forests, crashing waves and intertidal wonders. And it belongs to the sea lions.