If you enjoy outdoor recreation, you’ll love Bly. Bly offers easy access to either BLM or Forest Service land. Meaning there are endless opportunities for hiking, horseback riding, ATV riding, snowmobiling, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, hunting, and bird watching. There is even a small band of wild horses living nearby that can be watched from time to time. Near Bly is the historical Mitchell Monument, the only location in the continental United States where Americans were killed as the result of enemy action during World War II by a Japanese Balloon Bomb. The Shrapnel Tree still stands.

‘Here, you’ll find out when the cows come home’

Nestled between three distinct valleys, Bryant Mountain, and resting on the banks of the Lost River sits the western town of Bonanza, an agricultural community home to working farms, dairies, ranches, and even a ranch-turned-winery! Bonanza proper features a western themed general store, saloon, and turn of the century jail house. What was once a Modoc Indian gathering site now sits Big Springs Park, a peaceful place for picnics and bird watching. You can hike a trail, cast a line, dip a paddle, build a campfire, or enjoy the Oregon State Chili Cook-Off and Annual Rib Cook-Off in the town of Bonanza.

‘Year round recreation lovers’ paradise’

Chemult is a small, friendly community located in scenic South – Central Oregon. It boasts a variety of outdoor recreation including winter time activities such as snowmobiling, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, and dog sledding that can’t be beat on the groomed trails which meander through the forests to Crater Lake National Park, Crescent and O’Dell Lakes, Diamond Lake, and Miller Lake. Summers bring an abundance of sunshine in which to enjoy the wide variety of outdoor recreational opportunities such as hiking, biking, bird watching, camping, boating, fishing, hunting, and exploring the volcanic legacy lands that surround. With Amtrak stopping here twice daily, it’s a convenient and scenic way to visit Chemult.

‘World class fly fishing, fish here!’

Set on the banks of the legendary fly fishing paradise of the Williamson River, Chiloquin offers easy access to Crater Lake National Park and endless wildlife watching thanks to its nearby Agency Lake. In town, the Two Rivers Art Gallery & Gift Shop features the work of over 70 local makers, while nearby Train Mountain boasts the longest miniature railroad in the world at 36 miles of track, where you can ride through 2,200 acres of pine forest. Overnight campers have many choices, including Collier Memorial State Park & Logging Museum which sits on the pristine convergence of Spring Creek and the fabled Williamson River and tells the pioneer and logging history of the region.

A small railroad town with loads of character. Here you will find a giant brown bear with trout in hand, the cutest old general store, delicious local dining, some of the best equestrian trails in Oregon, access to loads of outdoor recreation and more, including an eclectic collection of bottles, historic treasures, and taxidermied animals. Experience wildlife like you never have before in the wooded hills of the Cascade Mountain Range. From Rocky Mountain Elk to Mule Deer and Mountain Lions to Wolves, Mother Nature is as beautiful as she is wild in Crescent, OR.

‘Life’s better in the woods’

Crescent & Odell Lakes are nestled in a glacier basin east of the towering Cascade Mountain Range. They boast brilliant blue-green water and sandy beaches. These lakes are prime locations for boating, fishing and swimming. The Summit Lake Trail is popular among hikers and mountain bikers, offering excellent views of Diamond Peak across Crescent Lake. Visitors can take advantage of skiing at Willamette Pass, snowshoeing and snowmobiling in the winter months near the lakes. Crescent Lake Snowpark offers a base camp for exciting winter excursions. On-site yurts offers visitors unique camping opportunities to explore wilderness areas, rivers, lakes and reservoirs, and approximately 1,600 miles of trails not to mention the famed Pacific Crest Trail that borders Odell Lake.

Named for the Dutch dairymen who first settled here, Dairy is one of many small agriculture based towns along the Oregon, California, and Eastern Railroad Trail. The town of Dairy is a great, scenic place to start your ride, walk, or run on the OC&E Trail, Oregon’s longest linear state park! Dairy is also home to a quaint little post office and Irish pub and diner.

‘Where history of the Klamath Basin rests… literally’

Established in 1863 and once an old military outpost near the western end of the Oregon Trail between Crater Lake National Park and Upper Klamath Lake now serves as an 8-acre Klamath County Museum. The grounds include the graves of four Modoc Indians, including Captain Jack, executed by the U.S. Army after the Modoc Indian War of 1872-73. Aside from the rich history, Fort Klamath is known for its proximity to Crater Lake and its epic fly fishing, birding and kayaking on the nearby Wood River.

‘Nature’s therapy’

Once an old timber town, now a quaint family getaway in the woods. Here you can cruise with the classics at the Gilchrist Cruise and Summer Fun Days, and enjoy crisp clean air, clear water, wide open spaces, breathtaking views, and an abundance of rivers and lakes along with numerous protected wilderness areas with giant ponderosa pines. There are a host of activities available for the outdoor enthusiast: snowmobiling, hiking, riding, fishing, hunting, and cross country skiing to name a few.

Not to be confused with the Oregon Lottery, Keno is also the name of one of the bucolic towns in Southern Oregon. Keno is a town of both history and adventure. Home to the Bill Scholtes Klamath Sportsman’s Park containing a motocross course, four wheel drive and off-highway course, an airfield for radio controlled aircraft, shooting ranges for both rifle and archery, picnic and camping areas, access to fishing on the Klamath River and more. Keno is also home to historical land marks of the Applegate Trail, the Oregon Trail’s ‘Southern Route’. It’s the site where the Applegate’s crossed the Klamath River to continue onward towards Northern California and Nevada. You will find historical land markers and information at Topsy Reservoir, just outside of Keno.

‘Come Czech us out’

In the early 1900’s Czech immigrants living in the American Midwest sent a scouting party to find the perfect place to settle, and they found it in the idyllic farmlands of the charming town of Malin. Set amidst the lush, rolling hills less than a mile from the California – Oregon border, Malin greets visitors with a vast city park of towering Ash trees that features an Olympic sized swimming pool. The picturesque town boasts a refurbished 1930’s movie theater, several ‘yes, of course we cook from scratch’ eateries, and the Malin Historical Society Museum where a WWII Flying Ace’s journal is just one of many treasures you’ll find.

‘Your potato headquarters’

Tucked in the heart of potato country, and boasting the annual 2-day Klamath Basin Potato Festival as proof, is the quaint quilter’s paradise of Merrill. The wide, grand Front Street is home to restaurants, cozy places to stay and wonderfully unique shopping, including three quilting businesses and counting. With both the Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge and the Lava Beds National Monument a short drive or bike to the south, Merrill makes a perfect home base for exploring year-round wildlife and storied history of Klamath County.

One of the gateways into Oregon from California, Midland is a charming community filled with friendly residents, and loads of agriculture. Here you can drive along farm fields, gazing at a number of different bird species, deer, and perhaps even a coyote. Or, find yourself at one of eight Oregon Welcome Centers picking up information about all there is to do in our beautiful state.

‘Escape to nature in Crater Lake’s backyard’

Nestled along the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway, one of just 31 All-American Roads in the US, and overlooking Upper Klamath Lake National Wildlife Refuge, Rocky Point is your destination for fishing, boating, bird watching, duck hunting, snowmobiling and outdoor adventure! Paddle the Upper Klamath Lake Canoe Trail, or go soaring on Crater Lake Zipline, Oregon’s longest tree-to-tree zipline that’s sure to challenge and inspire you. In the autumn the area’s aspen trees turn a brilliant yellow and orange, allowing for wonderful photography opportunities. With over 165 miles of groomed trails for winter recreation and not one, not two, but three beautiful full-service resorts, Rocky Point is certainly an all season destination.

Once an old mill and box factory town, now a cute rural town known for being a scenic section along the OC&E Woods Line State Trail (Oregon’s longest linear state park!) rich in wildlife and waterfowl. Here you will find many agricultural activities abound in this fertile valley, including world famous fly fishing on the Williamson River.

Photo Credit Michael McCullough