Independence
Once the hops capital of the world, Independence has becom a well-preserved warren of historical buildings down Main Street and an energetic community scene centered on its Willamette riverfront amphitheater.
Recreation
Oregon Bucket List
The best Bucket List for Oregon’s must-dos. See a rodeo at the Pendleton Round-up, go yurting on the coast, climb Mt. Hood, run Pre’s Trail and more.
New Jazz in Portland
Jazz in the Rose City is blossoming with youthful innovation these days in a Pacific Northwestern cult fueled by creativity. While expressing the independent spirit of Oregon, this emerging jazz culture also remains connected to the past.
Wine Across Oregon
Wine consumers and wine tourists can raise their glasses in a toast to the times. Prices have dropped, and wineries are courting tourists through their tasting rooms and wine clubs. The industry is in the hands of hundreds of small, family-owned wineries where visitors can often meet and talk with the people who craft the wine. The state’s wild, scenic beauty, its reputation as a foodie culture and a genuine place to taste wine attract many out-of-state tourists. And instead of all roads leading to Newberg or Dundee as they did in the ’80s and ’90s, wine lovers can get their fix in tasting rooms from Hood River to Ashland.
Columbia River Highway
The historic Columbia River Highway is one of the country’s most scenic, with expansive views of the Columbia River, waterfalls cascading from basalt cliffs, the historic Columbia Gorge Hotel and its Doscovery Center.
Oregon Travel: Eugene
Track Town, USA brings together the legend of Steve Prefontaine, Ken Kesey and Bill Bowerman with a spate of cultural venues that rivals any big city.
Lucky in Heppner
While vestiges of the Heppner Flood remain everywhere, the small rural town at the foot of the Blue Mountains is channeling the luck of the Irish with a Celtic history that remains today. Its St. Patrick’s Day celebration is great shillelagh and shenanigans.
Oregon Ski Guide
Oregon’s rich snowsport history is full of larger-than-life characters and ski areas in dramatic settings. It’s a history that begins with Norwegian and Swedish loggers, arriving in the early 1900s with their cross-country skis, and spans the heyday of alpine skiing in the 1950s and 1960s to present-day snowboarders and freeriders. Along with each area’s history and statistics, we asked insiders to offer tips on how to ski and ride their local resort.
The Pinot Wilderness
By summer, I had settled on the most ambitious of all fantasies—to take trail horses on a two-day binge in wine country. In Oregon’s famed Pinot noir region lay a vast wilderness for exploration. Surprising chapters of a bigger story would emerge from that wilderness.
