Attractions
Graham Oaks Nature Park
Grande Tour Route
Length: 80 miles / 128.0 km
Time to Allow: 4 to 5 hours
Fees: Some fees may be charged at some attractions.
Driving Directions
Start at the visitors center in downtown La Grande. From here, follow the signs to Birnie Park. The tour leaves the park and proceeds south the Ladd Marsh Wildlife Refuge overlook. After passing Hot Lake Resort, hook onto route 203 to Union. From Union, the tour goes south on 237, then east on for 15 miles. It then loops back to Union via route 203.
Grave Creek Covered Bridge
The Grave Creek covered span at Sunny Valley, about 15 miles north of Grants Pass, can be seen by motorists traveling Interstate 5.
Green Eugene
So who should I run into in downtown Eugene but Ken Kesey, the great Oregon novelist who wrote “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest?” Kesey passed away in 2001 and no, the late author’s presence wasn’t the ultimate prank from the Merry Prankster himself. But a bronze statue of Kesey, in the pose of a storyteller with his own grandchildren, was one of the many pleasant surprises I encountered on the streets of Oregon’s second largest city.
Hager Grove Pear Tree (Pyrus communis)
This pear tree is one of the oldest and largest in Oregon. It is the lone survivor of an orchard planted by the Munkre family, later known as Hager's Grove. Benjamin Franklin Munkre brought his family to Oregon from Missouri in the middle 1800's.
The orchard bordered a once popular creekside camping and playground area. It now stands at the crossroads of Interstate 5 and Highway 22 in Salem.
Hamley's Steakhouse, Café and Store
It’s easy, driving along in your car, to completely miss the Western experience that is Pendleton.
If you don’t visit during the Pendleton Round-Up, it’s easy to visit the museums, visitor centers and businesses and totally miss the old western vibe the community offers.
That is, if you don’t visit Hamley’s.
Hanthorn Cannery
Many times when I visit a historic site, I go into it with an attitude that is almost like an academic. I have an interest in learning what happened at the place I am visiting, but rarely do I get an emotional reaction.
As I wandered around the dark Bumble Bee canning facility, I notice they had hats and other personal items from the people who used to work there, but don’t any longer. If you stand next to some of the old equipment, you can almost hear what it sounded like back in the 1970s when the plant was operating and it was Astoria’s largest employers.
Harry and David
A long-time Medford and Rogue River Valley business that not only grows pears and peaches, but is one of the largest United States mail order companies. Started in 1934 as a catalogue company, Harry & David now has stores around the U.S. and offers a tour of their facilities.
Hatfield Marine Science Center of OSU
Experimentation: if there was one word that would describe the Hatfield Marine Science Center in Newport that would be it.
From trying to figure out how plate tectonics work, to seeing how you compare to the wingspan of an albatross, expect to learn volumes while you walk through the many exhibits – several of which change regularly.
But Bill Hanshumaker, who is responsible for many of the exhibits in the Visitor Center, says it is more than just a place to see an octopus and touch things in simulated tide pools.
Heceta Head Lighthouse
A few headlands over from the Sea Lion Caves lies one of Oregon’s most photographed lighthouses, the Heceta Head Lighthouse.
Surrounded by a state campground to the north, and a state park to the south, the lighthouse can be seen from Highway 101, or up close and personal if you are willing to take a bit of a hike.