A new year brings new ambitions to make the most of the days ahead, and that should include a trip to (or around) Oregon. With so many mountains, forests, deserts and beaches, the state offers lots of fun ways to get outside on a rewarding adventure. Here, a roundup of 12 outdoorsy ideas to carry you through the seasons.
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Get Outside in Oregon in Winter
- Celebrate Black History Month this year with trips to places like Astoria, where you can take a self-guided walking tour of landmarks that showcase the town’s Black heritage, and in Southern Oregon, where you can hike up Ben Johnson Mountain, a place named for a Black Oregon resident who lived and worked nearby. For more Black history, book a walking tour with Oregon Black Pioneers, which hosts events all over the state.
- Go winter glamping in L.L. Stub Stewart State Park near Portland, where you can stay in one of 15 ADA-accessible, heated cabins — five of which are pet-friendly — and set off on cross-country skis or snowshoes along the Banks-Vernonia State Trail.
- Play in the snow during the sunny Central Oregon winter. You’ll find skiing and snowshoeing (including a free ranger-led tour) around Mt. Bachelor and Hoodoo Ski Area, cross-country skiing and a cozy stay at Black Butte Ranch, and a horse-drawn sleigh ride around Sunriver Resort.
Wildflowers, Waterfalls and Dancing Birds for Spring
- Stop to smell the lupine and other wildflowers that spring to life this time of year. Near Mt. Hood, take a family-friendly outing on the boardwalks and paved trails at the 550-acre Wildwood Recreation Site, near Welches along the Salmon River, with forests and wetlands to explore. Look for a range of blooms on short, accessible walks around the Mount Pisgah Arboretum near Eugene, with meadows that burst into color each spring.
- Watch the dancing grebes at Putnam’s Point on the Upper Klamath Lake, where western and Clark’s grebes perform their unique, run-on-water courtship routines at one of the country’s premier birding destinations between April and June every year.
- Find awesome waterfalls along the Coast in spring, when cascades like Drift Creek Falls near Lincoln City, University Falls in the Coast Range west of Forest Grove, and the thundering Golden and Silver falls near Coos Bay are at their boisterous best.
Hike, Bike and Raft Into Summer Bliss
- Take an urban hike along 80 miles of trails that wend past stands of old-growth trees in Portland’s Forest Park, a green haven for weasels, birds and even elk.
- Go mountain biking in the Elkhorn Mountains that rise over Anthony Lakes near Baker City, where you’ll also find rewarding alpine lakes for fishing and fantastic trails like the Elkhorn Crest National Recreation Trail for hiking, trail running and backpacking.
- Splash through rapids and sleep under the stars on a guided river trip down Oregon’s Wild and Scenic rivers like the Rogue, the Grande Ronde, the Deschutes and even the Snake as it muscles its way through Hells Canyon, the deepest canyon in the country, with some of the darkest skies in the U.S.
Find Fall Colors and Watch Wildlife on the Move
- Go leaf-peeping among the blast of reds and golds when the Oregon maples and aspen trees don their autumn colors at Silver Falls State Park near Salem — Oregon’s largest state park and certainly one of its most beautiful.
- Bike the Gorge between farms and vineyards during the fall to sample the bounty of the region’s fruit stands and wineries, or gear up for your own waterfall tour with an e-bike ride along the Historic Columbia River Highway.
- Catch a wildlife migration of charismatic critters. Look for migrating mule deer that use special undercrossings — picture a tunnel for animals — to help them avoid cars south of Bend near the High Desert Museum. As winter sets in, head to Depoe Bay for whale watching, where you can head out on a guided tour or spot migrating gray whales from shore, and watch for elk herds at locations across the state.
