About the Author

Grant McOmie

Grant McOmie is a Pacific Northwest broadcast journalist, teacher and author who writes and produces stories and special programs about the people, places, outdoor activities and environmental issues of the Pacific Northwest. A fifth generation Oregon native, Grant’s roots run deepest in the central Oregon region near Prineville and Redmond where his family continues to live.

Ride the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad

July 12, 2013
It’s rare to combine an Oregon history lesson with outdoor recreation, but in Tillamook County you touch history by “riding the rails” on a unique steam engine train ride. In Garibaldi, the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad connects passengers with recreation that reaches back more than a century. Each morning, Engineer Scott Wickert preps the business end… More
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Oregon Coast , Garibaldi , Historic Sites & Oregon Trail , Trip Ideas , Attractions ,

Skeleton Cave

July 5, 2013
If you are looking for a refreshing way to beat summer’s sweltering heat and you want to learn something new about Oregon, we  may have found what you’re looking for at a place that’s more akin to a walk-in cooler.  Head to Central Oregon’s volcanic landscape and explore the amazing Skeleton Cave near Bend. Central… More
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Central Oregon , Bend , Guides & Charters , Parks, Forests & Wildlife Areas , Trip Ideas , Outdoor Recreation , Attractions ,

Grant’s Getaways: Fort Rock

June 28, 2013
Oregon’s high desert is vast, timeless and remote – where distances are great and people are few and where the only outpost for miles is unlike any state park you’ve ever seen. At Fort Rock State Park, you won’t find many people, phones, radios or TV’s and many of the people who visit the distant site… More
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Southern Oregon , Fort Rock , State Parks , Parks, Forests & Wildlife Areas , Trip Ideas , Attractions ,

The Cloud Girls

June 21, 2013
Summer begins this week and that means Oregon’s forest fire season won’t be far behind. Not too many decades ago, high adventure in the outdoors meant service, duty and responsibility to protect Oregon’s forests from catastrophic fire. This week, we learn about the Tillamook State Forest where women once ‘manned’ fire lookout towers and earned the nickname,… More
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Oregon Coast , Tillamook , Parks, Forests & Wildlife Areas , Trip Ideas , Attractions ,

Zip Through the Tree to Tree Adventure Park

June 18, 2013
It's a point of view that will take your breath away: up to 60 feet off the ground! It is found only at the unique Tree to Tree Adventure Park, set in the foothills of the Oregon coast range in the Tualatin Valley. The 57-acre forested parkland is unlike anything you've ever experienced off the ground. In fact,… More
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Portland Region , Amusement Parks , Family Fun , Trip Ideas , Outdoor Recreation , Attractions ,

Oregon’s First Wildlife Photographer

June 17, 2013
The best getaways offer scenic beauty, plentiful wildlife and teach you more about Oregon. You’ll find all of that at a getaway in Hillsboro this summer through an exhibit and guided wildlife refuge tours that center on one of Oregon’s earliest wildlife photographers. Moments with wildlife are best when they take your breath away! That’s… More
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Portland Region , Hillsboro , Museums , Trip Ideas , Attractions ,

Surf Fishing and Clamming

June 9, 2013
It's spring on the Oregon Coast and adventure waits at every turn; when the tide goes out the dinner table is set for thousands who gather to dig razor clams at Gearhart Beach in Oregon’s Clatsop County. Astoria native and longtime clam digger Steve Fick used a short-handled shovel with a long steel blade as… More
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Oregon Coast , Fishing , Trip Ideas ,

Heceta Head Lighthouse is Back

June 2, 2013
You can learn much about our state by exploring the many towering whitewashed wonders that rise above the Oregon coastline. Oregon’s lonesome-looking sentinels are prized for the scenic moments that capture our hearts, plus the sheer rugged coastal drama they lend the landscape. They also take us back to the state’s early days of maritime… More
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Oregon Coast , Florence , State Parks , Historic Sites & Oregon Trail , Parks, Forests & Wildlife Areas , Lighthouses , Trip Ideas , Attractions ,

Oregon’s Secret Garden

May 17, 2013
The beauty of an Oregon spring is the chance to strike out on new adventures where the scenery is never twice the same. So it is this week as we visit two striking sites for the price of one stop — The Dean Creek Elk Preserve and Spruce Reach Island. Be prepared for something special along… More
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Parks, Forests & Wildlife Areas , Wildlife Viewing , Trip Ideas , Outdoor Recreation , Attractions , Events ,

A Gorge-ous Bikeway

May 10, 2013
This story was first published in 2013 during the construction of a new section of the Columbia Gorge State Trail, which now covers a 1.6-mile stretch between Troutdale and Cascade Locks. Before this scenic pass opened, the trail was not connected between the John B. Yeon State Park trailhead and Moffett Creek Bridge. Learn more about this important… More
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Mt. Hood & Columbia River Gorge , Trip Ideas , Outdoor Recreation , Attractions ,