Ever since the first western settlers traveled The Oregon Trail, explorers have come to Oregon to find wilderness and adventure. Today, nothing has changed. From the depths of Hells Canyon to the heights of Mount Hood, from Steens Mountain and the dry desert southeast to the spectacular Oregon Coast and on countless great trails in between, Oregon has it all.
The Central Oregon region near Bend is a mecca for mountain bikers, hikers, and skiers who explore the volcanic landscape around Mount Bachelor and the Three Sisters Wilderness. Fly fisherman and kayakers flock to the Deschutes River, while climbers challenge the steep faces at Smith Rock State Park as well as the high peaks of the Cascade Range like Mount Jefferson and Mount Hood. A short day trip east from Portland toward Hood River takes hikers into the magnificent Columbia River Gorge with its famous Multnomah Falls, just a small fraction of the countless trails available in the Mount Hood National Forest, and a day trip west from Portland leads to the Oregon Coast and the Coast Range near Astoria, Cannon Beach, and Seaside.
The easy proximity to both the trails along the coast and in the Cascade Ranges is available the length of the Willamette Valley, from Portland in the north all the way through Salem, Corvallis, and Eugene. In Southern Oregon around Grants Pass, Medford, and Klamath Falls, the Siskiyou Mountains shelter Oregon Caves National Monument and Crater Lake National Park drawing travelers year-round. And remote Northeast Oregon near Pendleton and LaGrande has two mountain ranges of its own, the Blue Mountains and the Wallowas, home to the Eagle Cap Wilderness.
With so many options, it’s hard to know where to begin. A good place to start might be hiking or backpacking along the Pacific Crest Trail which traverses the entire state through the Cascade Mountains.
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