WASHINGTON-
The original Oregon Trail brought pioneers from the Midwest to the West Coast 150 years ago.
But today's travelers are blazing a new Oregon trail, crossing the state for recreational purposes and sampling everything from windsurfing to wine along the way, according to the September issue of National Geographic Traveler magazine.
The new trail described by the magazine leads from eastern Oregon's highlands across the Blue Mountains, then west along the Columbia River past The Dalles toward Portland, and into the Willamette Valley and down to the coast.
The magazine recommends starting in the Wallowa Range, 9,000-foot-high mountains behind towns like Joseph, a lumber hub turned art colony. Nearby you'll find hawks, eagles, elk and cougars on the Zumwalt Prairie.
In northeastern Oregon, Pendleton is known for the annual Pendleton Round-Up, a rodeo show, and for the blankets produced by Pendleton Mills, where you can take a factory tour.
The town of Hood River, at the confluence of the Hood and Columbia rivers, has long been known as the "Aspen of windsurfing," and is also a popular ski town thanks to nearby Mount Hood, National Geographic Traveler says.
Good restaurants, microbreweries and cafes abound in Portland, 65 miles away. For wine, head to the Willamette Valley, southwest of Portland.
For scenery, check out the rugged beauty of the Oregon coast, especially the northernmost part. In addition to the ocean and the coastal bluffs, there are interesting towns, like historic Astoria, named for John Jacob Astor, whose fur-trading company built a fort here in 1811. Lincoln City, a popular resort on Siletz Bay, is home to a glass studio where visitors can make their own creations.
