Oregon - Introduction

Although in no way part of the geographical Southwest, Oregon contains extensions of some of the landscapes in California and Nevada to the south - the Great Basin Desert occupies the southeast third of the state, the Cascade Range extends from north California all the way into Washington, and the steep coastal mountains of California's redwood forests continue the full length of the Pacific shoreline in Oregon, looking down on countless tiny islands and secluded beaches.

The population is very much concentrated in Portland and in smaller cities along the I-5 corridor, leaving the remainder of Oregon very lightly settled, and many areas have relatively few paved roads, especially in the desert southeast. Huge stretches are public land, either managed by the BLM or part of national forests, so there are endless opportunities for exploring and for primitive camping. The National Park Service operate only three landscape-based preserves (in addition to a few historic sites): Crater Lake, Oregon Caves and John Day Fossil Beds, but many other places are protected as state parks, state beaches, state forests and wilderness areas, and there are also two large USFS-owned parks, Oregon Dunes NRA and Newberry National Volcanic Monument.



In the west, the Pacific coastline of Oregon stretches for 310 miles, from the California border to the Columbia River adjoining Washington, and all has a similar appearance - mostly rocky, either sheer cliffs or sloping hillsides, but with many beautiful beaches, the majority little visited owing to the generally cool weather conditions that prevail even in summer, and the often difficult access. One special feature are the thousands of offshore rocks, found all the way along the coast, many eroded by wind and waves into arches, caves, spires and other photogenic formations; all are protected as Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge. The southern section is most scenic, from Brookings to Coos Bay. The Oregon Dunes region is an exception to the predominantly rocky shores, as for 40 miles the shore is formed of sand, partly grass and tree-covered, with marshes, creeks and lagoons a little way inland. This is managed by the USFS as a National Recreation Area, and has many visitor facilities yet even here much of the land is still wild and not often explored, since the coastal highway US 101 runs inland, several miles from the coast. Nearly all the many state preserves along other parts of the coast are free to enter, have little or no development, and have spectacular scenery.