The Great Oregon Wilderness

 Oregon is situated in the Pacific Northwest and is the heart of the North American temperate rainforest. You may have guessed it, that means lots of rain; with this rainy habitat comes the most gorgeous waterfalls and fern-covered forest paths. We intended to see as much of Oregon’s natural beauty as possible so below is a list of must-sees while there. We suggest renting a car while there to make day-trips easier.

Portland:

Well first and most importantly, Portland is home to over 100 breweries… in a 3 mile radius! If that doesn’t dazzle you, there are options for nearly every diet, at nearly every restaurant, so visiting Portland is a must for beer and food connoisseurs, alike.Our favorite breweries: Backpedal (microbrewery) and Lardos  (which is not a brewery itself but features breweries from all over Portland in their weekly tap takeovers). Lardos also has wonderful food and is across the street from Cartopia, a food truck haven with a lovely fairy light-lined picnic area.

Day Trips:

In one day trip we knocked out Multnomah Falls, Columbia River Gorge, and Mount Hood, all conveniently located on the same highway. Multnomah Falls is the first stop, about 45 minutes east of Portland. It is a gorgeous waterfall but quite touristy.  It was a perfect half way spot to the Hood River Valley. We took the scenic highway along the Hood River and stopped at overlooks and hiking trails along the way. Whilst in the Hood River Valley, we drove the Fruit Loop, a large circle of orchards, flower fields, farmers markets, and cider houses.

 1.40 hours from Portland: Silver Falls State Park is a loop of 10 beautiful waterfalls. We planned our Oregon trip around engagement pictures here. They turned out exactly the way I wanted them to. I felt I was a waterfall fairy in a mystical forest glen. A big thanks to Oregon wilderness and Sean Carr Photography for bringing my creativity to life:

(30 mins from Silver falls, two hours from Portland): Opal Creek Wilderness. Opal Creek is filled with clear blue refreshing pools and forest trails high in the mountains:

2 hour drive west to Cannon Beach, Haystack Rock, Astoria, Neahkahnie Point (set location for the Goonies):

Weekend Trip to Glide: Glide is about a four hour drive south of Portland. Glide tops the charts for Oregon nature destinations because of what lies alongside of the Willamette Forest Highway. Here, about every mile there are mountain trails, waterfalls, and hot springs. We definitely recommend visiting Tokotee Falls and Umpqua Hot Springs.

 Tokotee Falls:

 Umpqua Hot springs:

1 hour east from Glide is Crater Lake National Park, the fifth oldest National Park in America. Crater Lake is a caldera filled with water of the most brilliant shade of sapphire. There are no natural fish in the lake but there is stocked trout and salmon for fishing expeditions. Crater Lake is located high up on the mountains of Southern Oregon so weather here is chillier than expected. It was still snowing mid-June so many of the trails were closed but we still got to take in the beauty through the Scenic Rim drive and hiking up to a few of the peaks.

 For our last day in Oregon, we took the highway that goes through Deschutes Forest to Bend to Sisters to Cascade Mountain Range and across Smith Rock State Park before arriving back in Portland. This highway has a gradient of every landscape- desert, lush rainforest, jagged mountains, farmland. We stopped at overlooks throughout the way and at Bend for a quick meal/ brew/coffee break by the river at bend brewing company as a last hoorah. We are definitely planning a trip back to Oregon to go swimming in Crater Lake and to brush up on our beer-tasting skills!