Trip Planners

1859’s Trip Planners are your source for exploring the great state of Oregon. Whether you are a local looking for a weekend family getaway or just visiting, each article is an insider’s guide to the best trips in Oregon.

Oregon coast landscape featuring rocky formations, ocean waves, and misty mountains, highlighting natural beauty and outdoor serenity in Oregon.

Cannon Beach Oregon Guide: Haystack Rock, Coastal Trails & a 3-Day Itinerary

Celebrate art, serenity and Oregon’s open coast at timeless Cannon Beach written by James Sinks The USS Shark was in trouble. The year was 1846, and the military schooner was listing near the treacherous Columbia River bar. Desperate to stay afloat, the captain ordered the crew to throw nonessential weight over the side. Among the items chucked overboard: cannons. While the boat ultimately sank, the crew survived. So did the cannons. One of them was later rediscovered near a towering sea stack called Haystack Rock on the north coast. More than a century after the shipwreck, the metal memento became the formal namesake of one of Oregon’s most popular beach destinations, when the artsy hamlet of Cannon Beach incorporated in 1957. An hour west of Portland at the junction of U.S. Highway 101, drivers destined for the nearest Pacific beach face a more-than-directional decision. Want a party? Bumper cars, boisterous…

Nestled on Mount Hood’s slopes, Government Camp offers a picturesque winter retreat with endless alpine adventures.

Government Camp: The Ultimate Mount Hood Winter Base

Government Camp bustles with the needs and delights of its winter visitors written by James Sinks Once, as winter approached, you didn’t want to be anywhere near Government Camp. On the southern flank of volcanic Mount Hood, this is where heavy-laden clouds from the Pacific begin dumping moisture—and keep dumping. In the era of the Oregon Trail, westward caravans were loathe to get caught here by inclement weather along the steep and slow-to-navigate Cascade-crossing toll route, known as the Barlow Road. The community at the top got its name in 1849 after U.S. Cavalry troops en route to Fort Vancouver abandoned wagons and supplies amid heavy snows. Times have certainly changed. These days, rather than a place to escape from, Government Camp is one of Oregon’s premier winter destinations to escape to. Just an hour from Portland when conditions are clear, the laid-back alpine hamlet sports four downhill ski areas,…

Brightly lit Portland cityscape with downtown buildings and neon "Old Town" sign at night, showcasing vibrant urban life and city lights, capturing the essence of Portland, Oregon.

Unwrap Portland for the Holidays

The Rose City has holiday charms for any agenda written by James Sinks Oh, the rumors outside are frightful. But the Rose City? Actually, pretty delightful. If you’re among those who’ve been avoiding Portland of late, there’s no better time to get reacquainted than during the happy hubbub of the holidays. Business windows twinkle, lit-up Christmas ships bob in the river, Nutcracker ballerinas twirl and a festive tree shines over Pioneer Courthouse Square. As you wander the famously walkable cityscape, you may wonder where exactly is the hells-cape that people keep warning about. With apologies to Mark Twain, reports of Portland’s demise have been wildly exaggerated. Yes, the pandemic and aftermath were tough in spots, as some businesses moved out, people without homes moved in and litter spread. Now, thanks to an all-hands campaign by civic, business and nonprofit leaders, streets are cleaned daily, tourist foot traffic is approaching pre-pandemic…

Beautiful fall colors in Oregon’s parks, vibrant leaves, serene pond, and peaceful nature scene in Portland, Oregon.

Fall for Ashland

As the days shorten, the Rogue Valley’s dramatic hamlet is a little spooky and a lot awesome written by James Sinks With its renowned theatrical festival, international culinary scene, public university and smorgasbord of outdoor recreation pursuits, it might not feel fair to call Ashland a ghost town. Then again, you might not be wrong. Paranormal reports abound in the hamlet in Southern Oregon’s Rogue Valley, from the ghost of a 1930s actor lurking at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, to one that stomps the hallways at the Columbia Hotel downtown. “Based on the stories I’ve heard, the spirits here are more mischievous than murderous,” chuckled 74-year-old Peter Finkle, a local historian who leads art and history walking tours. His most popular, by far, explores Haunted Ashland. Even if you don’t bump into apparitions, you’ll still be spirited away—and quite busy—in Oregon’s drama capital. Zigzag from dusty mountain trails to U-pick…

Covered wagon in a rural Oregon landscape during sunset, showcasing Oregon history and pioneer heritage, ideal for Oregon travel, culture, and scenic exploration.

Baker City: Gateway to Eastside Adventure

The (Oregon) trailhead to eastside adventure written by James Sinks When 1850s-era wagon trains on the Oregon Trail creaked across what was known as Virtue Flat, near present-day Baker City, they didn’t see much reason to stop. Lots of sagebrush and dust. No coffee. Zero stars. But then prospectors found gold nearby in 1861, and the region developed a bit more cachet. Incorporated in 1874, Baker City swelled to become Oregon’s third-largest city in 1900, thanks to its prime location on the rails between Seattle and Salt Lake City. With a Chinatown, opera houses, luxury hotels and not-virtuous brothels, the so-called “Queen City of the Inland Empire” was royally flush with reasons to visit. Among the destinations then and now is the circa-1889 Geiser Grand Hotel. Today, bougie chandeliers and the dining room in a stained-glass-topped atrium offer a striking contrast to the sagging building rescued in the 1990s from…

The Wild and Scenic Metolius River is one of the area’s top attractions, especially for those who fly-fish.

Camp Sherman & Sisters Adventure Guide

Adventures beckon in Black Butte country written by James Sinks It is a transcendent place, where Central Oregon’s Metolius River materializes out of nowhere. So it was no surprise to Sam Johnson on a day in the 1960s that a woman had set up an easel near the riverbank on his family’s property, and was brushing an oil painting. The Johnsons allowed free access to share the wonder where the water, crystalline and always 48 degrees, gushes from basalt springs. Johnson, like he often did, was gathering trash, his daughter Betsy Johnson recalled. One of her childhood chores was picking up tourists’ cigarette butts. Then, a bus arrived and lurched to a stop, and the artist—and her painting—were engulfed in a cloud of dust. “He said, ‘We need to do something about this, it’s getting loved to death,’ and that was when he first started talking about giving it away,”…

Florence, on the Oregon Coast, is a small-scale romantic town for any season.

Have a Blast in Florence

The hamlet on the central coast is known for sand sports, serenity and, increasingly, its art written by James Sinks Fifty-five years ago, Oregon highway engineers puzzled over removing an 8-ton whale carcass that was rotting—and stinking, badly—on a beach near Florence on the central coast. Their solution: a half-ton of dynamite. They believed the TNT would pulverize the whale into tiny pieces that would be washed to sea, and eaten by shorebirds. Their miscalculation was captured in an epic TV news spot. The blast sent a decaying geyser skyward, raining large pieces of rotting blubber and foul fluid onto onlookers as far as 800 feet away. While nobody was seriously hurt, a chunk of meat did smash the roof of an innocent Oldsmobile. Today, the episode has become a thing of lore, and Florence leans into it. Around the world, you’ll find multiple rose cities and music cities, but…

Jacksonville sets up like a postcard during the holidays.

A Storybook Winter: Jacksonville & Applegate Valley’s Holiday Magic

’Tis the most wonderful place when snow comes to Southern Oregon written by James Sinks Imagine a storybook gold rush-era town, where stately houses and brick boutiques glisten with holiday charm, where recreation options beckon and where cocoa and award-winning wines take turns warming you up. Also, imagine it’s not only Santa checking to see if you’re naughty or nice. Bigfoot might be watching, too. In Southern Oregon’s Jacksonville and the neighboring Applegate Valley, imagination meets reality. Here, as the mercury falls, lights go up and the nostalgia comes out. Each year, a Victorian Christmas celebration offers a tantalizing escape to a simpler time. Distant are big city stressors, and real world depressors. Soak in the decor, food, farm stands, spas, musicians, trails, parade and the romantic downtown that practically begs you to hold hands inside your winter gloves. This year, the tradition gets bigger. Jacksonville Trolley buses that previously…

Enjoy kayaking, boating or fishing at the iconic Wallowa Lake just south of Joseph.

Discover Joseph, Oregon: Art, Nature, and Local Culture in the Wallowa Valley

In artsy Joseph in summer, there’s much to see and experience—and not much time written by James Sinks It’s little mystery why Joseph attracts artists in droves. Surrounded by windswept grassy fields and in the shadow of towering peaks and glacier-carved Wallowa Lake, and with the easygoing aura of a place where nobody is in a hurry including hungry herds of loitering local deer, the Western-themed hamlet all but demands that you slow down, exhale and revel. And yet it’s almost impossible—nor would it be responsible—to breathe and bathe in the dramatic landscapes of the northeast corner of Oregon without also acknowledging a sad irony. It was here in 1879 that newly arrived settlers called the town Joseph, after the Nez Perce chief who’d just recently been chased from the valley. Chief Joseph always hoped his people could one day return to their ancestral homeland and the place his father…