Oregon
What off season? Bundle up and reap the benefits of colder weather in these snowy playgrounds.
Your region's go-now guide: See newts on the move in California and bears heading for lower elevation in Beartooths, MT
Our trail scouts' top local hikes
Your region's go-now guide.
Jump-start your hiking season on these spring-ready trips from around the country.
Slip past tides along cliffy coasts on an easy-to-plan long weekend.
Park your tent in one of these 10 spots, and you'll be happy in the morning. Guaranteed.
Discover a higher world.
Tired of the same old weekend loops? Looking to create memories your grandkids will talk about? In this how-and-where guide, we serve up 15 extraordinary escapes that will shatter your expectations of "normal." From adventure moviemaking to canyoneering, we'll take you places you've never been—but will long to visit again soon.
Five more must-do hikes from our top field correspondent, who's notched more than 1,800 trail miles throughout the West and mapped 116 trips.
Climb an 11,000-foot peak, hike to a secret summit, see the glacier-capped Cascades, soak in hot pools, and explore the ruins of a 100-year-old resort.
Ten trails. Ten unmatched miles each. Get maximum bang for each boot step on hikes that our most-traveled contributors call their all-time favorites.
Cross ancient lava fields on a lake-filled weekend.
Can you ever really have too much of a good thing? Once you've seen the biggest tree, largest glacier, and deepest canyon, nothing else compares.
Discover real wilderness just two hours from Portland.
Hike these long trails in Washington, Oregon, and California, and climb to a 10,064-foot peak in Angeles National Forest.
Hit Idaho's Owyhee River just right, and you get one of the West's best paddles to yourself.
The only thing better than enjoying the life-list scenery in the country's premier national parks? Getting that same scenery, minus the crowds. Find it in these 10 backcountry hotspots, along with no-hassle permits, choice campsites aplenty, and solitude to match the world-class terrain.
See California dunes, Nevada red-rock canyons, Alaska's deep forest, quiet Oregon Coast, and Washington's Cascade lakes.
Your favorite Northwest hikes—from dayhikes to weekenders to multiday trips.
The undisputed local experts—you—choose the top parks, trails, campsites, and weekend getaways in the Northwest.
Hike into North America's deepest river gorge--a canyon that could hold five stacked Sears Towers.
The best hikes near Portland.
The best hikes in Northwest, as suggested by the best local hiking clubs.
Explore waterfall-filled Gorges with fossils preserved in the shale walls.
Climb a fourteener for a view across the continental divide.
Hike streamside near pacific northwest greenery and caribbean-blue eddies.
See ferns that play dead, then dramatically come back to life.
Witness the birthing of a species that shared the seas with dinosaurs.
Gaze into a 2,000-foot-deep tub of snowmelt.
Our army of reader-reader scouts mapped 59 local hikes from South Carolina to Northern California. See their favorites, then learn how to download tracklogs and waypoints.
See five volcanoes, camp at secluded lakes, and hike through a swarm of butterflies. (Click linked trips for GPS waypoints, photos, and more.)
Crashing waterfalls, hidden lakes, and a choice Denali view highlight the 2010 Northwest Readers' Choice hikes.
See this deciduous pine turn electric-yellow.
Find primo lakeside camping on a rainforest-to-alpine loop.
Want guaranteed peace and quiet? Hike to two of the Lower 48's most remote alpine lakes.
Climb the Northwest's tallest nontechnical volcano.
This classic alpine loop belongs on every backpacker's tick list.
Enjoy unparalleled views from one of the country's finest skyline trails.
Hawaii's Nakalele blowhole rivals Old Faithful. Plus: Trek to Oregon's salmon run and California's wine country.
Every year the salmon of the Pacific Northwest return to their birth place to spawn. See this natural phenomenon and a river of fish on an easy hike through tall pines.
What's better than hiking every weekend? Hiking every day. Here are the best big-city escapes from New York to Los Angeles. Plus: Bill Donahue explores the remote reaches of Portland's Forest Park and discovers secrets even locals don't know.
When urban trails blend with raw wilderness, the sum is much greater than the parts.
Pack up your brood for a day in the outdoors with these kid-friendly trails.
For our 2010 Readers' Choice issue we want to know your favorite trail in America.
You won't find bottlenecks on these untrammeled peaks.
Three treks to life-list phenomena
Ten perfect summits for your next group hike
A quick guide to the best acres, trails, and views.
Threatened by OHVs, logging, and overgrazing a 120,000-acre proposed addition to Red Buttes Wilderness would quintuple its size and benefit the Pacific Crest Trail.
Trek through a trio of wilderness playgrounds on shape-shifting mountains of sand.
Does your kid want to be an ice climber? How about a thru-hiker, or paddler? These cities have just what you need.
Which towns offer the ideal mix of accessible trails, inspiring teachers, and great recreational resources? We worked with The Outdoor Foundation to identify America's top 25 places to beat nature deficit disorder.
From Boulder to Juneau to Bozeman, see which cities made the cut for the best place to raise an outdoor kid, and why.
Time to cool down. Hike to these refreshing swimming holes and settle right into summer.
Take your pick of mountains, rainforests, deserts, or the ocean–or experience all four zones in a single day–one advantage of living the outdoor dream along the west coast of America.
According to folklore, the soft light emitted by bioluminescent organisms is magical. In reality, the eerie glow results from a chemical reaction–but it still looks enchanting on a moonless or cloudy night. Here's where to glimpse these living light bulbs.
Discover the best hike in every state, as voted by BACKPACKER readers. Plus: your essential gear, most desirable tentmate, worst-ever adventure movie, and our picks for the best reader-submitted photos.
Pack snowshoes for these nine epic treks to snowy solitude in the Pacific Northwest, Rockies, and Northeast.
Fall camping season seems to go on forever with these fair-weather weekend trips.
We've got a selection of cozy shelters and trail-side restaurants from Washington to Maine. Check out these hikes in the Rockies, the Northeast, and the Northwest.
A killer whitewater trip at the end of a stunning 40-mile canyon hike? That's the scenario on Oregon's Rogue River Trail.
Trek the best spring blooms from the Ozarks to the Olympics with these two, three, and four day treks.
From Florida to Wyoming, track wild horses for four hours or 10 days.
Circumnavigate Oregon's Crater Lake on snowshoes
Can you see the forest through the trees? Join a bittersweet trek through an old-growth wilderness in its final days.
16 wild ways to find backcountry solitude and big-time scenery. All this, and you can bring the ice chest, too.
Classic hike-in spots in Wyoming, South Carolina, and Oregon let you ditch the trail mix for pan-fried fish.
Push yourself on any of these challenging hikes
To hike from Mexico to Canada and back, a man needs strength and speed and luck. He needs something else, too. If only he knew what it was.
Head through the Pearly Gates for a heavenly sunrise
A hike with an otherworldly desert, a striking escarpment, and hot springs
Use your backpacking skills at the best surfing, climbing, trail running, and even paragliding spots
The beauty of this hike comes alive with the rain.
City life got you down? Head for the quiet hills of southeastern Washington, where the air is clean, the water clear, and bighorn sheep outnumber hikers.
Our comprehensive guide to the best backpacking you can find in Oregon.
If overpowering stillness is your thing, try the old-growth forests in Oregon's Bull of the Woods Wilderness.
You'd better like your own company, because that's all you'll have in Oregon's Badlands Wilderness Study Area.
Everything you'd want in a long trail.
Chambers Lakes are too cold for swimming, but a great place to watch 'bergs drift by.
All trails lead to the top in this lake-lover's paradise.
Only have a short time to tackle the Pacific Northwest Trail? Our guide will give you the best the PNT has to offer.
In a region known for soggy times, Juniper Dunes is a warm sandbox where you can dry out.
Vast meadows of wildflowers sprawl across the ridgetops and valley bottoms of the Three Sisters.
Steens looks like your average mountain, but hike up high and you'll find a hidden paradise.
Everyone's heard of the Cascades, but no one seems to know about Tillamook State Forest.
Waterfalls and wonder: Both are plentiful in Oregon's Columbia River Gorge.
Hiking through Oregon's Jefferson Park puts you in the heart of what was once some pretty hot country.
Waterfalls and old growth in this gorge-ous Oregon hideaway.
