Enjoy Oregon!

Sometimes it is easy to take the beautiful state that we live in for granted. Oregon is full of beautiful trails, scenic waterfalls, and abundant vineyards and Fall is a perfect time for an adventure. Here are some books to help you to make the most of the state that you live in.

If exploring vineyards and tasting local wines sounds like something that you would enjoy, then check out "Oregon Wine Country" by John Doerper. It offers guides to wineries throughout Yamhill County, Umpqua Valley, and Willamette Valley with suggestions on hotels and resturaunts. For further reading, check out "The Grail: a Year Ambling and Shambling Through an Oregon Vineyard in Pursuit of the Best Pinot Noir Wine in the Whole Wide World" by Brian Doyle.

If bird watching sounds like an interesting hobby to you, then flip through "Handbook of Oregon Birds: a Field Companion to Birds of Oregon" by Hendrik G. Herlyn and Alan Contreras. It is a useful guide to the birds that you will come across the next time that you are strolling through the woods or relaxing on your patio.

When you need to escape to a more urban setting for the weekend, a brief road trip to Portland can prove to be quite rewarding. Carl Abbott's "Greater Portland: Urban Life and Landscape in the Pacific Northwest" offers a useful account of Oregon's largest city.

If you are seeking inspiration on where to go on your next hiking adventure, look no further than Greg Vaughn's "Photographing Oregon: a guide to the Natural Landmarks of Oregon." The pages are full of mesmerizing landscapes that are easily accessible for Oregonians.

If you would like to take up a new hobby that involves getting into shape and enjoying nature, then "Rock Climbing Western Oregon" by Greg Orton may be an interesting book to browse through. If you are more interested in backpacking or hiking, and you need advice on which trails to take, then the UCC library has several books that will come in handy. Rhonda and George Ostertag's "75 Hikes in Oregon's Coast Range and Siskiyous" and Garret Romaine's "Gem Trails of Oregon" are both useful guides.