From wine to wildlife, their risks are your rewards
written by James Sinks
Thankfully, Richard Sommer ignored the naysayers.
Sixty-five years ago, the pioneering winemaker planted what would become Oregon’s first commercial pinot noir vineyard, on a former turkey farm outside Roseburg.
Since then in Southern Oregon’s scenic Umpqua Valley—now home to some thirty wineries—vintners have routinely followed the instincts of the late “Father of Oregon Wine,” experimenting with new-to-Oregon varietals and yield-boosting innovations and even launching a winery in a former car dealership.
Risk-taking spirit has long been a hallmark around Roseburg, the Douglas County seat and onetime Oregon timber capital, from the time mercantile owner Aaron Rose claimed 320 acres in the Homestead Act in the 1850s—and then gave parcels away to attract the railroad and even churches to his new town.
Among other notable examples, wood industry giant Roseburg Forest Products began as a Depression-era sawmill with salvaged parts. And in 1972, a conservationist rolled the dice on rural Douglas County for the state’s only drive-thru animal park, Wildlife Safari.
An Indigenous word for dancing water, the Umpqua is actually a patchwork of more than 100 interconnected valleys nestled between the Klamath, Cascades and Coast mountain ranges. For thousands of years before white settlers arrived and swindled them, the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians called the valleys home. It won back its official tribal status in the 1980s and now runs the Seven Feathers Casino Resort in Canyonville.
The water still dances. The North and South tributaries of the Umpqua River slide through rugged valleys, whitewater and fishing holes, and braid together near Roseburg en route to the Pacific.
Along the way, you’ll find lures for waterfall hunters, hot spring dunkers, kayakers, bikers and hikers. Explore historic downtowns, breweries and farm-to-table menus. With sparse crowds, and iffy cell service in spots, maybe you’ll also personally recharge.
“It is a beautiful place to slow down,” said Cooper Ridge Vine-yard co-owner Paula Wilson, standing on their multilevel deck on a hillside above the North Umpqua River. The view is something. So, too, are the sparkling wines they’ve been experimenting with.
Taste some? The Sparkling Pomegranate Cuvée is a winner.
In the Umpqua nowadays, it’s very easy to say yes.
Day 1 WINERIES • GOLF • LIVE MUSIC
You’re not hallucinating. Yes, those are giant mushrooms and a massive marijuana joint atop an Interstate 5-flanking store in the town of Sutherlin. Yet that’s not what you’ll find inside.
Irreverent and kitschy, Magic Mushroom Oregon Gifts was opened two decades ago by Linda Pinsent and her husband, who fashioned mushroom-shaped lamps out of natural materials like seashells. Today, they sell pretty rocks and the handiwork of local artists. For chuckles, there’s a sign declaring a “clothing-optional” shopping section.
At the onetime site of a moonshine operation is Reustle Prayer Rock Vineyards, the nation’s first to commercially produce the tart Austrian white grüner veltliner. Judges called their 2021 bottling the best white wine in the country.
The winery is a perfect first stop to sample the diversity of vintages that thrive in the Umpqua’s Mediterranean-like climate, with its hot days and cool nights. Their bold syrahs also have worked their way onto best-of lists.
The sloping property also features Southern Oregon’s first wine cave, with cozy sitting areas, Roman-style artwork on the ceilings, scriptures underfoot and, among the barrels, a smiling Humpty Dumpty. (Still not hallucinating. It’s actually a concrete winemaking cask.)
An old tractor is parked in front at The Farmstand by Lehne Farms. In the back, you can park yourself at their charming coffee shop and bistro, with fresh salads, soups and baked goods. Try the gluten-free carrot cake and frozen chocolate bananas, with or without hazelnuts.
From here, its a quick drive to HillCrest Vineyard, the still-modest birthplace of Oregon’s pinot noir industry and also a horticultural laboratory. Richard Sommer tried planting several varietals—and the new owners have their own creative spark, and even make wine in Europe.
Nearby, Girardet Vineyards and Winery, another of Oregon’s early wineries when it opened in 1971, was the state’s first grower and bottler of baco noir, a rich red French hybrid.
With reliably warm autumn days and maybe a sore tush from hours in the car, you can unwind many ways at nearby Bar Run, a reclaimed gravel mine. Swing clubs on its eighteen-hole golf course flanking the South Umpqua River, or plop into a lazy river pool and covered hot tub—open through September—that feel plucked from a Disney resort. Pool day passes are $40.
Like many downtowns in rural places, Roseburg’s historic district is quieter than it used to be. You still will find a crowd at upscale True Kitchen + Bar, launched by a onetime waitress with a vision for a community gathering place. Try the steaks or scallops, and save room for the skillet cookie with caramel and local Umpqua Ice Cream.
A block away is The Rosebud Theatre, a cozy remodeled music venue opened by local musicians, with a velvet rope in front, acts every weekend and a speak-easy in back with a turntable and happy vibes. Still not hallucinating. This is really Roseburg.
Day 2 DOWNTOWN • HIGHWAY OF WATERFALLS
In 1959, a late-night fire near downtown spread to a parked truck laden with explosives. Heard 30 miles away, the explosion—known as The Blast—remains one of Oregon’s biggest tragedies. It killed fourteen people and injured 120 others, flattened several blocks and sparked tighter safety regulations nationally.
From the epicenter and a memorial plaque, it’s a short walk to Jackson Street, with strong java everyday at Bumble & Bean and the Umpqua Valley Farmers Market on Saturdays.
Along the avenue, browse Gallery Northwest for local art, Whiskey Creek Rustics for clothes and keepsakes, Serendipity for chocolates and Mac’s Tracks for model railroad things. If you’re a train buff, or not, owner Lachlan MacKinnon will point you to a warehouse where the Umpqua Valley Model Railroad Club is building a Douglas County diorama.
Passenger trains stopped coming to Roseburg in 1955. Today, the former depot is the southernmost location of the McMenamins historic preservation and brewery family, with ales and pub fare arrivals on the trackside patio.
Among Blast-damaged buildings in 1959 was a former Chevrolet dealership, which has been repurposed into the Paul O’Brien Winery. You’ll still find impressive models in the showroom and tanks in the garage, only now with more refined octane.
Also downtown in a circa-1908 building is the tasting room of boutique Trella Vineyards, which bottles a sparkling malbec rosé, pinot noir and a punchy baco noir called Pugilist.
Dubbed the Highway of Waterfalls, State Highway 138 curves a lot between Roseburg, Diamond Lake and Crater Lake. Along the way and into the Umpqua National Forest, you’ll be within short hikes of eleven splashy wonders including two-tiered Toketee Falls, which tumbles 120 feet in a basalt canyon.
Nearby is the trailhead to cliffside Umpqua Hot Springs, a popular spot for campers and bathing suit haters.
The bulk of the drive, you’ll follow the crystalline North Umpqua River, where risk-seeking boaters bounce in Class III whitewater and fly-fishers try their moxie along 33 exclusive miles for steelhead, salmon and sea-run trout. Guides are available for hire.
In old mining parlance, a “steamboat” signaled an unproductive claim, and it was time to move on. In the enclave of Steamboat, the mines may have disappointed, but it’s satisfying now with fishing, farm-to-table dinners and technology-free relaxation at the iconic Steamboat Inn.
Overlooking the North Umpqua, the place offers easy access to where early 1900s novelist Zane Grey once camped and fished. With no cell service, you’re invited to do weird things like talk, play board games and read in front of a fire.
And as night falls, leave a window or door ajar. The dancing water never gets old.
Day 3 HIKING + BIKING • WILDLIFE PARK • SOURDOUGH
The North Umpqua Trail follows the scenic river for 79 miles, normally, but chunks are temporarily closed for wildfire rehab, so check maps if you want to trail run or bike. Across from the Steamboat Inn, a half-mile navigable section affords an easy morning stroll alongside friendly banana slugs.
Back in Roseburg, at Brix Grill and Chill you’ll find post-workout calories on a big breakfast menu, with omelets, Benedicts, waffles and biscuits and gravy available seven days a week. Also a good idea: Bring an appetite.
Metalwork animals hang about in the town of Winston, but the biggest draws are the real-life ones at 600-acre Wildlife Safari. It takes about ninety minutes to drive the park’s 4.5-mile roadway, among big cats, zebras, bears and a quizzical ostrich. Since the place opened in 1972, 259 cheetahs have been born there, making it the most-successful breeding program in the western hemisphere.
After years of researching climate and soil types, a former doctor and his wife in 1995 took a leap and began planting his favorite grapes—the Spanish grape tempranillo—just outside Winston. Earl and Hilda Jones named their winery Abacela, which means “planting vines” in Castilian.
In 1997, Abacela bottled the nation’s first single varietal tempranillo, and they deservedly continue to win awards. With a glass on their Spanish-themed patio, you’ll feel like giving them an award, too. The winery also has pioneered Pacific Northwest production of malbec, cabernet franc and the Spanish white albariño.
Score some sourdough and maybe late lunch at artisan, vegetarian Lighthouse Center Bakery in the community of Umpqua. Nearby, the late Scott Henry in the 1980s invented a vertical wine trellis to help boost grape yields. He never patented the design, because he wanted to share it.
The historic downtown of Oakland looks much the way it did in the stagecoach days, except for a surprising population of mannequins, and not only at the museum. A former bank, now the tasting room of Triple Oak Winery, still has patched up concrete where thieves once tried to chisel into the vault from below.
In an old mercantile is The Secret Wine Society, with an ornate bar and vintages from around the world. Despite the moniker, the goal isn’t to be secretive, said Robert Douglas, the entrepreneur and vinophile who opened the place.
“We are just one and a half minutes from the interstate,” he said. “People ask why we opened in Oakland, and I answer why not.”
The naysayers, he said, have it wrong.
In the Umpqua, they tend to.
