Oregon Travel Guide

Browse the Oregon Photo Gallery

Top Things to See and Do

• Enjoy 300 days of sunshine in central Oregon's high desert (website: www.oregonskiresorts.com), a region of winter ski fields, rock-climbing cliffs, hiking trails, golf courses and over 150 rivers and lakes to tempt the most avid fly fishermen.

• Visit the annual Shakespeare Festival or overindulge at the Chocolate Festival, both held in the bustling town of Ashland (website: www.osfashland.org) in southern Oregon.

• For the perfect wine and cheese pairing, sample award-winning vintages from Oregon's wineries (website: www.oregonwines.com), then finish off with artisan cheeses at the Rogue-Creamery.

• Jet boat or raft the Snake River, winding through Hells Canyon (website: www.fs.fed.us/hellscanyon) on the Idaho border. The sheer walls soar 1,650m (7,900ft) above the river in North America's deepest gorge.

• Admire the beauty of Crater Lake, the nation's deepest lake plunging from an elevation of 1,800m (6,000ft) to a depth of nearly 600m (1,932ft). Located in southern Oregon, the lake forms the centerpiece of Crater Lake National Park (website: www.nps.gov/crla).

• Artists and photographers will enjoy the spectacular colors of the Painted Hills in the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument (website: www.nps.gov/joda), 120km (75 miles) east of Bend.

• Drive Oregon's scenic and rugged Pacific Northwest coastline on US Highway 101, through quaint coastal towns and state parks that extend right to the ocean shore.

• Head for the stunning Columbia River Gorge, an hour from Portland, where the Columbia furrows its way through a canyon 300m (1,000ft) deep, plunging between hills and sheer cliff faces. See breathtaking waterfalls, hike, bike, rock climb, windsurf - the choice of outdoor activities is limitless.

• Visit Salem, capital of Oregon and the state's third-largest city. Visit its many fine museums, gardens and parks, including the Mission Mill Museum, Old Aurora Colony Museum, Bush House Museum and Oregon Garden, which contains a Frank Lloyd Wright House.

• Stroll Portland's gardens, restaurants, shops, concerts, jazz festivals, theaters and first-class hotels. The Portland Art Museum houses paintings and sculptures from the 1350s to the 1950s.