Tina Lassen

When fresh snow dusts the forested peaks and folded hills of Southern Oregon, winter adds another layer to the many delights of the Rogue Valley. All year round, you can enjoy the valley’s renowned dining scene, world-class wines and famous fishing. More

Only the African cheetah can outpace the pronghorn, the second-fastest land animal in the world. Pronghorn spring into motion with easy grace, able to accelerate to speeds of more than 60 miles per hour. And while the cheetah might win a sprint, the pronghorn would dominate in a distance race: With a 30-foot stride and exceptional endurance, they could dust a marathon in 45 minutes. More

A saw blade of snowy volcanic peaks provides quite the backdrop for the Madras Mountain Views Scenic Bikeway. This 29-mile ride rolls through farm fields and skims along the canyon rim of Lake Billy Chinook. A word of advice from one cyclist to another: the scenery might get distracting, so you’ll want to pull over now and again to take it all in. More

On a trip to the Columbia Plateau, where the Columbia River Gorge melds into the wide-open cowboy country of Eastern Oregon, you might need to recalibrate your sense of scale. Everything feels immense: the wide Columbia River jacks up with swells as big as the ocean, swaying wheat fields ripple toward a distant horizon and… More

You could go years passing through this community at the east edge of the Portland metro area without realizing what you’re missing: bird-filled wetlands, boating lakes, bike trails and a pedestrian-scale walkable village. With its waterfront parks, open spaces and a postcard-perfect vantage point of Mt. Hood, this city of 9,000 offers not just a… More

The artful arch of the Alsea Bay Bridge signals your arrival in Waldport, a coastal community 15 miles south of Newport on the Central Coast. Like the bridge, Waldport spans the mouth of Alsea Bay, a waterway renowned for crabbing and rich with wildlife. With easy access to the ocean, the bay and the vast… More

“It was love at first touch,” Lillian Pitt recalls of the first time her hands met clay. That happenstance encounter with a potter’s wheel led Pitt down a path of creative exploration and collaboration that has taken her all over the world. At age 72, Pitt is recognized as one of the most highly regarded… More

A string of riverside communities greets the wild and oh-so-scenic McKenzie River as it drains down from the Cascade Mountains and tumbles west toward Eugene. More

The mighty Columbia meets the even mightier Pacific near Warrenton, perched right on the rim of the continent in Oregon’s northwest corner. For Lewis and Clark and the Corps of Discovery, arriving here meant the victorious completion of a monumental 28-month expedition. Your arrival can mean recreation. Everywhere you turn, it seems there’s water —… More

The verdant hills and rambling creeks of the Willamette Valley set the stage for this pocket of communities west of Salem. Long an abundant homeland for native tribes and later a productive farming and logging locale, this region’s lush landscape is still a powerful draw. It all feels a bit like a local’s secret, where… More