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Oregon sights worth seeing

Here are a few of our favorite, and a few somewhat more obscure, activities in the state:

Take the Bend-Burns highway and head way out east to Harney County and find the Pete French Round Barn, an architectural oddity from the cowboy era. It sits by itself in the middle of nowhere, but a rancher has conveniently built a small museum nearby. Enjoy the immense, disorienting flatness of the Alvord Desert and go hiking in the gorges of Steens Mountain. If it's spring, get up before dawn and find your way to a sage grouse lek.

If you're looking for a spectacular hiking challenge, try walking to the top of South Sister.

Looking for something truly different on the east side of the Cascades? Check out Train Mountain, truly a place like no other. It's indescribable.

In Portland, spend a day at the zoo or stop by OMSI.

Try some of the state's other quirky museums.

For a more cultured time, enjoy the state's three great lodges: Crater Lake Lodge, Timberline Lodge and the Lodge at Oregon Caves. Timberline, especially, is an Arts & Crafts wonder, and even starred in a movie.

Go to Ashland and check out the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

Then head for the coast and see Shore Acres State Park. Check out Heceta Head Lighthouse. See the elk viewing area outside Reedsport. Stop in and breathe the fetid air at Sea Lion Caves near Florence. Have lunch at Mo's. Or head for Newport and the wonderfully kitschy wax museum there.

For an archetypal Oregon experience, try driving through a clearcut.

all text and images © 2005-06 by Bob Keefer
no reproduction allowed in any form without written permission