Pristine beauty
Oregon is a well-loved part of America’s beautiful and varied Pacific Northwest. It is most popular with the most active of travelers because its waters and mountains offer prospects for a wide range of activities.  However, it has some urban choices (most notably Portland) and charming small towns along the coast that appeal to less venturesome travelers. Besides, the varied terrain — which impresses all travelers for its pristine nature as well as beauty — easily accommodates activities suitable to all personality types.

About Oregon
In the mid-1800s, settlers traveled the Oregon Trail that ended in this northwestern state. They were preceded by the Lewis and Clark Expedition. In our time, people make their own trips of discovery to a state that, in part, looks little changed from 200-plus years ago.

The great outdoors exists outside the Pacific Northwest, but you would not know it, the way travelers talk about Oregon. Beautiful scenery can be found in many places, but Oregon's has special qualities imparted by abundance of water — from the Pacific Ocean, the lakes and streams — and rainfall.  This setting accommodates a wealth of outdoor activities, mostly along the coast, within easy reach of the Pacific. Enthusiasts mention camping, hiking, biking, horseback riding, whale watching, windsurfing and especially fishing. While these activities can be pursued elsewhere, Oregon is greener.

Despite a high rating, Oregon in some ways remains a vacation secret for many travelers who don’t know about its great variety of attractions.  It’s easy to see why Oregon attracts active, outdoor types, but the state offers plenty that is well-suited to any travel taste.  For example, centrics enjoy its clean beauty and relaxing atmosphere. They are charmed by the small towns scattered along the coast. Other appealing features include good food (local specialties such as cherries and other fruit), local wines (with wine trails for visitors) and beautiful gardens.

Oregon also gets high marks for its accommodations, which promise lots of clean, pleasant, affordable hotels and inns. Oregon is well liked by all who visit, but the more active travelers, regardless of personality type, will love it best. They take advantage of the outdoor activities, and they appreciate the unsullied beauty and the fact that beaches and recreation areas are uncrowded.  Besides being beautiful, the scenery is quite varied. The ocean leads into mountain ranges, which descend into valleys that become desert, and back into a mountainous area — all in within relatively few miles.
Finally, it is worth noting that a high proportion of Oregonians choose a site in Oregon as their favorite place to vacation.

• Go trekking. Make that llama trekking; the animals carry most of your gear, lightening your load. Hurricane Creek Llama Treks in Enterprise is one travel company offering the option.

• Go snowmobiling or dog sledding at Chemult. Trails meander through forests to Crater Lake National Park.

• Hood River (the town) is one of the places calling itself the “windsurfing capital of the world,” for reasons that become clear when strong winds at the Columbia River Gorge turn the river into a wild, wet roller coaster.

• Go whitewater rafting on the Rogue River; go windsurfing on the Columbia River.

• Take a self-guided wine tour in Willamette Valley, by bicycle. Take a break in Amity for snacks and a little antiquing, move on to nearby McMinnville for lunch and visits to local shops plus still more wineries. The Oregon Department of Transportation (www.oregon.gov/ODOT/maps.shtml) and the Oregon Wine Center (www.oregonwine.org) provide maps.

• See how green Oregon really is from your perch in a hot-air balloon.

• Ride in a Cycle Oregon event. Make it September’s weeklong ride to see more of the state. The event’s route varies each year.

• Visit the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, a 14,000-acre national park and former home to saber-toothed tigers and the sheep-like oreodonts. Learn about these and more at the on-site museum, but allow time for park activities, such as hiking, camping and fishing.

• Go to the Warm Springs Reservation for one of its annual powwows. Stay on in a teepee (or a luxury resort) for biking or rafting, hiking or fishing.

• For camping areas, you have a minimum of 233 state parks to choose from.

• Attend the Pendleton Round-Up in September, which encompasses a powwow. Pendleton is the home of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (also, the site of the Wildhorse Casino Resort and Hotel and the Tamastslikt Cultural Institute).

• Go skiing, and take note: Mount Hood boasts a year-round ski season, the only resort in North America that can make that claim.

• Attend the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland.

• Mail Boat Hydro-Jet in Gold Beach will take you by jetboat on the Rogue River. Some itineraries feature the original 64-mile mail run, and you can choose a glass-enclosed boat.

• See free glassblowing demonstrations at the glass foundry in Lincoln City; take classes in the glass arts.

• Book a seat on the Crooked River Dinner Train in Redmond. As you dine and ride along the Crooked River Gorge, train operators stage train robberies and other entertainments.

• Take a self-drive wine trail tour. Time it right (September), and you can participate in the Oregon Grape Stomp Championship and Harvest Celebration at the Willamette Valley Vineyards in Turner. Winners qualify for the national stomping contest!

• Gamble in one of the casinos operated by Native Americans.

• Attend the Discovery Walk Festival, held each April in Vancouver, Wash., and join one or more of the walking events. They vary from 5K to 42K. There are biking and swimming events, as well.

• Go fly-fishing in a town called Sisters. Not only that, the town is known for the Annual Sisters Rodeo held in June.

• Of special interest to gardeners, the Portland Rose Festival is held each June in that city. It also includes an air show at Hillsboro Airport. Visit www.rosefestival.org.

• Step inside the cargo deck of Howard Hughes’ famous Spruce Goose at the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville. Get a look at the countless other historic aircraft at the museum, too.

• Explore the Mount Hood Scenic Loop, beginning in Portland and continuing through Mount Hood National Forest to the Columbia Gorge. This scenic loop is well-named; it offers spectacular scenery.

• Taste fresh, locally made beers during the Oregon Bounty Fresh Hop Beer “Tastivals” on Saturdays in October. For the events, brewers make original beers with newly harvested hops.

• Immerse yourself in the Eugene Irish Cultural Festival in March. Attend several of the event’s workshops and learn how to play the Irish fiddle, or Irish dancing, even bits of the Irish language. Or learn tunes for playing a bagpipe or tin whistle.

• Fort Clatsop National Memorial near Astoria features a replica of a fort built by the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1805. In the summer, rangers present a living-history program. The Astoria Column nearby is 125 feet high on Coxcomb hill affording a view of the terrain.

• Lose yourself in Powell's City of Books, described as the largest used and new bookstore in the world. Located in downtown Portland, it occupies an entire city block and stocks more than a million books distributed among nine color-coded rooms. The store provides a map.

• Take a coastal whale-watching excursion.

• Visit the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center in Oregon City, which uses living-history interpretations to make the experiences of early settlers come alive.

• Participate in Wine Country Thanksgiving, by visiting a number of wineries for their annual tasting events, which may include tasting local cheeses or truffles as well as the wine. Also, attend an Oregon Bounty Winemaker Dinner.