Oregon National Parks

Oregon national parks offer sites with water a brilliant shade of blue or caves rich in diversity. You can also explore the history of Oregon’s economic prosperity or discover those who walked the land both humans and dinosaurs.

Visit these Oregon National Parks:

California National Historic Trail: The road to California carried over 250,000 gold-seekers & farmers to the gold fields & rich farmlands of California during the 1840's and 1850's - the greatest mass migration in American history. More than 1,000 miles of trail ruts and traces can still be seen in the vast undeveloped west – reminders of the sacrifices, struggles, and triumphs of early American travelers and settlers.

California Trail Ratings

Crater Lake National Park: Crater Lake has inspired people for hundreds of years. No place else on earth combines a deep, pure lake, so blue in color; sheer surrounding cliffs, almost two thousand feet high; two picturesque islands; and a violent volcanic past. It is a place of immeasurable beauty, and an outstanding outdoor laboratory and classroom.

Crater Lake Weather

Fort Vancouver National Historic Site: Nestled snugly today in the Vancouver/Portland metropolitan area and enveloped by its highway, rail, air, and maritime commercial networks, Fort Vancouver is a gem of a park whose story as an economic and cultural center - told, in part, through engaging programs and a world-class archaeology collection - fascinatingly portends that of the modern-day Pacific Northwest.

Fort Vancouver Weather

John Day Fossil Beds National Monument: A unique treasure is concealed in the sculpted exposures of sedimentary rock of the John Day River Valley in central Oregon. Here are some of the richest fossil beds in the world, and they contain a record of remarkable continuity. Whether you tour the museum at Sheep Rock, hike a trail at the Painted Hills, or picnic at Clarno, Oregon's exciting past will be revealed.

John Day Weather

Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail: Between May 1804 and September 1806, 32 men, one woman, and a baby traveled from the plains of the Midwest to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. They called themselves the Corps of Discovery. In their search for a water route to the Pacific Ocean, they opened a window onto the west for the young United States.

Lewis and Clark National Historical Park: The Park is made up of 12 park sites located on a 40-mile stretch of the Pacific coast from Long Beach, WA to Cannon Beach, OR. Visit the sites in any order you wish; we recommend starting at Fort Clatsop or the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center at Cape Disappointment. Both offer rangers, gift shops and exhibits on the region.

Lewis & Clark Weather

Nez Perce National Historical Park: Since time immemorial, the Nimiipuu or Nez Perce have lived among the rivers, canyons and prairies of the inland northwest. Despite the cataclysmic change of the past two centuries, the Nez Perce are still here. Join us in exploring the park's thirty-eight sites and experiencing the story of a people who are still part of this landscape.

The Oregon Trail: A History: On to Oregon! It all began with a crude network of rutted traces across the and from the Missouri River to the Willamette River that was used by nearly 400,000 people. Today the 2,170-mile Oregon Trail still evokes an instant image, a ready recollection of the settlement of this continent, of the differences between American Indians and white settlers, and of new horizons.

The Oregon Trail: The Journey West: In book or pamphlet form, guidebooks were soon available for emigrants. Some provided good, solid, reliable information. Others contributed to the "Oregon Fever" that swept the country in the 1840s describing the land in almost Biblical terms.

Oregon Caves National Monument: Oregon Caves may surprise you. Small in size, it is rich in diversity. That richness can be found both underground amidst narrow, winding passageways and above ground where old growth forest harbors a fantastic array of animals and plants found nowhere else. You will discover a land rich in conifers, wildflowers, birds, and amphibians. An active marble cave and underground stream reveal the inside of one of the world’s most diverse geologic realms.

Oregon Caves Weather