8 Must-Do Experiences In Oregon | Oregon Travel Guide | Skoolie Life | Travel Photographer and Content Creator
8 Must-Do Experiences in Oregon
Oregon is truly one of the most beautiful and diverse states I’ve been to, and it’s PACKED full of adventures from end to end. We spent well over a month traveling from the outskirts of Portland, to the central coast, and then over to Bend, and we still know there’s so much more to see! Below are 8 must-do experiences that you shouldn’t miss when you visit Oregon.
1.
Hike the Wahkeena Falls Loop Trail in the Columbia River Gorge
If you want to see as many waterfalls as possible in a single hike, this is the one for you! This loop trail is 6.1 miles long, and you’ll get to see 6 different waterfalls, including the famous Multnomah Falls. This hike is so rewarding that I have an entire blog post on this one alone for you to check out for even more details and photos of each waterfall.
2.
Visit Trillium Lake in the early morning for the best view of Mount Hood
If you’re looking for the most photo-worthy view of Mount Hood, Trillium lake is definitely it! Be sure to get there as close to sunrise as you can, because the parking lot fills up well before noon even during the weekdays when the weather is nice. You’ll most likely find the shoreline filled with fisherman in the morning, and you can kayak and paddle board on the lake or take the easy walk on the trail around the shoreline.
3.
Explore Strawberry Hill Wayside at sunset
Strawberry Hill Wayside is one of the MANY beach pull offs you’ll find on the Oregon coast, and it’s one of the best for tide-pooling! At low tide (which was sunset when we were there) the water pulls back and reveals huge rock formations filled with tide pools that are teeming with life such as star fish, mussels, sea sponges, and even seals. It was by far our favorite beach that we explored.
4.
Hike to the “God’s Thumb”
This was for sure one of my favorite hikes I’ve ever done because of how insanely beautiful the views are at the end! I do have to warn that this hike is VERY popular, so I strongly recommend going on a weekday, and if you go right at sunset you’ll be rewarded with the most magical light. We got insanely lucky with a perfectly clear day and not a single other person at the end when we got there for sunset! Definitely go all the way to the top of the “thumb”. It looks scary from afar, but the top is flat and not really scary at all, even for someone who is afraid of heights, and the view from the top is a once-in-a-lifetime experience! (Every hike I mention on here can be found on the app All Trails).
5.
Go sandboarding at the dunes
As clumsy as I am, I chose to just be the photographer for this one, but Josh loved tearing down the giant sand dunes at Jessie Honeyman State Park with Sam chasing after him. There’s a shop right across the street from the state park that rents sand boards for around $10 for a whole day, so this cheap experience is perfect if you’d like to do something you can’t do many other places!
6.
Watch sunset at Sparks Lake
If you’re visiting the super popular city of Bend, head over to Sparks Lake for sunset or sunrise! This lake is one of my favorite locations from the whole trip due to how beautiful it is. There are hiking trails that follow the shoreline, it’s a super popular spot for landscape and portrait photographers, and there’s tons of free boon-docking sites for smaller rigs all around.
7.
Hike the Tumalo Mountain trail
This hike is only about 4 miles round trip, but it’s uphill the whole way with a gorgeous view of the mountains at the end! This is a super popular hike near Bend, so I recommend going either right at sunset or sunrise. We happened to go basically during the middle of the day so it was pretty busy on the way up and down, but luckily not too crowded at the top.
8.
Hike the Misery Ridge trail at Smith Rock State Park
This trail is rated as “hard” but it’s a lot more doable than the name suggests, and the views are SO worth it! This was one of those hikes where the entire loop trail has gorgeous views to look at, so definitely don’t be scared off by the trail rating or the name. Smith Rock State Park gets super busy, so definitely start this one early in the day, and on a weekday if possible. I recommend going counter-clockwise on the loop, so you get the steeper but shorter switchbacks out of the way first. The loose gravel is what makes this hike harder, so in my opinion it’s a lot easier going up the steeper switchbacks than down, and this way you’ll be going uphill on the shorter ones. On the other side of the hike, you’ll be coming down the longer switchbacks, which makes this hike easier to do when going counter-clockwise instead of clockwise.
