Travel Oregon at Hood to Coast Relay

August 29, 2007


(The Travel Oregon team crosses the finish line at Seaside)

As outdoor enthusiasts and Oregon lovers, a team from Travel Oregon has been part of the annual
Hood to Coast Relay for several years now. The event is the "largest running relay" in the world and stretches 197 miles from the top of Oregon's majestic Mt. Hood down to the beautiful Oregon Coast town of Seaside.

This year, we invited sports writer George Schroeder of the Eugene Register-Guard to run on our team (we figured a sport writer could improve our time!). Check out George's column on the Hood to Coast relay in today's Register-Guard and read the back story on his blog about the experience.


(The Travel Oregon Hood to Coast team...31 hours, 16 minutes & 13 seconds later)

Glorious Oregon Hikes - Park Meadow Trail in Central Oregon

July 11, 2007

July is one of Oregon’s most glorious outdoor months when it comes to the mountains in Oregon, and with the 4th of July holiday upon us, we decided to head out and enjoy the predicted sunny warm weather from the cool reaches of the Oregon Cascades. Every trip we go on usually involves some kind of adventure or misfortune that we can laugh about later, and this took shape almost immediately after heading out of Portland. Barely 30 miles on the highway, a rock got thrown up by a passing truck and sailed into the windshield. Smack! But at least we got this part over with quickly….the rest of the trip was great!

After staying the night in Redmond for an early jumping off point the next day, we drove to the quaint town of Sisters and headed south towards Three Creeks Lake. Sixteen miles down the road, the pavement ended and we took a right onto a more primitive road pointing towards the Park Meadow trailhead (Located in the Deschutes National Forest, Sisters Ranger District ). We bumped down the alternating sandy and rocky track, our Subaru making the 1.1 mile side trip a piece of cake. With the sun now overhead, we strapped on our backpacks (dogs and humans) and headed up the easy trail. Almost immediately, the soapy scent of hot pine needles enveloped us as we headed deeper into the forest, and I heard the call of Swainson’s thrushes nearby in the canopy. Ah, heaven. (Photo: Dawn and her 40-pound pack navigate a stream)

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Birding in Klamath Falls

July 6, 2007

By Mo Sherifdeen

Whoever came up with the old idiom, "birds of a feather stick together," must have been thinking of Klamath Falls. With more than 47 birding locations that play host to 350 species among the mountains and marshes of its 190,000 acres, the Klamath Basin Birding Trail constitutes one of the biggest freshwater wetlands west of the Mississippi and is arguably a haven for bird watching. (Video: Dawnn Brown of Travel Klamath welcomes you to Klamath Falls)

On a brilliantly sunny June day a few weeks ago, a few Travel Oregon cohorts and I joined Dawn Brown from Travel Klamath and Dave Menke from U.S Fish & Wildlife on a tour of some of the area's prime birding locations. Having never gone out to check out birds before (at least the feathery kind), I was feeling a bit unsure of what to expect and what to do on this outing. But as soon as we met up with our guides, I knew that we were in the hands of experts. They swiftly got the group together by passing around our tools for the trip - binoculars, copies of Klamath Basin Birding Trail (which you can order online), and of course the requisite food for every able bodied bird watcher - water and granola bars. Tools in hand, we scrambled into the birdmobile (ok, van) and hit the road (see photos of our excursion here).

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Inside Scoop: The World’s First Dedicated, Lift-Assisted Downhill & Freeride Mountain Bike Park

February 13, 2007

Fat-tire fanatics already know that hundreds of mountain trails, designated bike lanes and widened shoulders make Oregon a haven for incredible bicycling adventures (just have a look at the trails on our site).

We’re psyched to announce some really exciting news from our friends in the mountain biking community. We’ve just heard that Oregon will soon be home to the world’s FIRST dedicated, lift-assisted downhill and freeride mountain bike park.

For those of you unfamiliar with this sport, “freeriding” is to traditional mountain biking as the demolition derby is to bumper cars. And it's performed by adrenaline-junkies seeking the ultimate thrill of gravity defying free-flight…on a bicycle!

For more about the world’s first dedicated lift-assisted downhill and freeride mountain bike park, read the following blog by Iris R, Oregon’s “bike guru” at the Dept. of State Parks:

Continue reading "Inside Scoop: The World’s First Dedicated, Lift-Assisted Downhill & Freeride Mountain Bike Park"

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