Mark Stock

Thanks to 5,200-acre Forest Park, Portland backs right up against a wilderness area full of old-growth trees and more than 80 miles of hiking trails. It’s the lush green expanse just west of town, stretching from the city about 7 miles northwest to the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers. More

Every good vineyard tour should begin with an exercise in imagination. For Oregon winegrowers operating along the route of an ancient and sizable series of floods, that tour should invite you to picture everything from Milton-Freewater to Eugene swimming in 400 feet of water. Because when the Missoula Floods came charging through the region thousands of years ago, that was quite literally the scene. More

About 15 miles west of Salem, a distinctive pocket of rolling vineyard land is shaping its fruit unlike any other stretch within the Willamette Valley, the state’s most famous wine-growing region. Above ground in the soon-to-be Mount Pisgah, Polk County AVA (American Viticultural Area), marine gusts and lower-set sites help with ripening. Beneath ground, soil types like Bellpine, Wellsdale and Jory — Oregon’s official dirt — create complexity. More

From a brewing standpoint, Corvallis has been dealt quite a hand of cards. The jewel of Benton County resides at the core of the mid-Willamette Valley, known far and wide for its agricultural abundance, which, of course, includes hops. It is the home of Oregon State University, where aspiring students continue to fine-tune the trade via the school’s Fermentation Science program, complete with a pilot plant brewhouse, malthouse, sensory science lab and more. More

For a land as awe-inspiring as the Willamette Valley, the 100-mile stretch of freeway from Portland to Eugene on I-5 makes for a surprisingly anonymous-looking interstate, the likes of which you find almost anywhere else in America. But here’s what sets it apart: Few roads in the nation traverse such fruitful territory. More