Oregon
The Faces of Oregon: Mt. Hood, Columbia River Gorge & Astoria
Program No. 1834RJ
From awe-inspiring waterfalls to towering Mount Hood, from ancient forests to food-trendy Portland, explore the many wonders of Oregon on this great Northwestern adventure.
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6 days
5 nights
12 meals
5B 3L 4D
2
Mt. Hood, Timberline Lodge, Wildwood
Portland, OR
3
Oregon Coast, Fort Clatsop, Downtown Astoria
Portland, OR
4
Downtown Portland, Rose Garden, Portland Museum
Portland, OR
5
Columbia River Gorge, Multnomah Falls
Portland, OR
At a Glance
On four daylong field trips, discover the natural beauty and human history that make Oregon a state of wonder. Take in city highlights like the International Rose Test Garden, then explore the natural wonders outside the city, from the rugged Pacific Coast to the dramatic Columbia River Gorge to the volcanic Cascade Mountains. Each journey is accented by interesting, interactive activities, enhanced with interpretation from the program Instructor.
Activity Level
On Your Feet
Walking up to 1.5 miles on varied terrain. Elevations up to 6,000 feet.
Small Group
Love to learn and explore in a small-group setting? These adventures offer small, personal experiences with groups of 13 to 24 participants.
Best of all, you’ll…
- Gaze up at towering Mount Hood from majestic Timberline Lodge, one of the iconic great lodges of the West.
- Stand in awe of the Columbia River Gorge’s magnificent waterfalls and captivating vistas.
- Visit the rugged Oregon Coast, including the mouth of the Columbia River, known as the “Graveyard of the Pacific,” and the oldest American settlement west of the Rockies.
Featured Expert
All trip experts
John Jarvie
John Jarvie is a history teacher at several colleges in the area with Clark College in Vancouver, Wash. as his main campus. He has been working for the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center for over a decade, giving information to visitors about state and regional points of interest, local history and the Oregon Trail.
Please note: This expert may not be available for every date of this program.
John Jarvie
View biography
John Jarvie is a history teacher at several colleges in the area with Clark College in Vancouver, Wash. as his main campus. He has been working for the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center for over a decade, giving information to visitors about state and regional points of interest, local history and the Oregon Trail.
Jimmy Mohler
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Jimmy has served as a Study Leader since 2016, sharing her love of history and the outdoors. After a 25-year career as a CPA and teacher with emphasis on financial crime prevention in the U.S. and overseas, Jimmy shifted some of her professional energies to working at historic sites. She worked as a seasonal ranger on the Lewis and Clark Trail beginning in 1999. That led to speaking engagements and active volunteerism through the intervening years on that historic trail and others.
Vince Patton
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Vince Patton loved exploring the northwest as a reporter for a public television show called Oregon Field Guide. Experiencing nature and wildlife made for the best job of his 37-year career in television. During that time, he won 10 Emmy awards and three dozen other national and regional honors. After retiring, he got deep into genealogy, discovering roots back to the earliest settlers of the U.S. He has lived and worked in Colorado, Missouri, Kansas, and Texas, but has spent over two decades in Portland.
Eric Wheeler
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Eric Wheeler has over twenty years of experience as an architectural historian. He has written numerous National Register nominations, taught graduate level classes in architectural history and consulted with architects and realtors. Eric discovered the Pacific Northwest several years ago and continues to explore and interpret the captivating built environment of Portland and environs. Currently Eric designs and leads outings for his architectural walking Meetup group: Positively Portland Walking Tours. Eric has been leading walking excursions for Road Scholar since 2017.
Ryan Curtis
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Despite growing up in sunny South Florida, Ryan felt a calling to explore the unique landscapes of the Pacific Northwest. Ryan’s family emigrated from Zambia in 1979, bringing a sixth-generation jewelry business with them. After studying economics at Florida State University, Ryan worked for Road Scholar for five years before becoming a full-time group leader and professional rugby referee. He is an enthused outdoorsman and enjoys skiing, hiking, and kayaking through Oregon’s natural bounty. These experiences have given him insightful perspectives into American middle-class life.
Suzanne Burd
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Suzanne Burd recently retired from Columbia Gorge Community College after serving as a community education coordinator and the renewable energy technology program coordinator for 25 years. She has worked on Road Scholar programs in the Mid-Columbia region since 1996, covering topics such as wildflowers and the geology of the Columbia Gorge, skiing and the history of Timberline Lodge, the production and harvest of the Columbia Gorge’s diverse crops, the botany and geology of the John Day River Basin, and the Lewis and Clark expedition.
Barrie Simpson
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After a long career in the technology, pharmaceutical, and hospitality industries, Barrie Simpson became a Road Scholar group leader. She was raised in New England; following high school, she made her way to Oregon, where she planted trees all over the West before going on to earn a degree in environmental engineering. Currently living in San Francisco, she is a historical group leader for SF City Guides, a waterbird docent on Alcatraz, and a long time member leader of the American Society of Quality (ASQ).
Natalie DaSilva
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Natalie DaSilva is an Oregon Master Naturalist and Certified Interpretive Guide who enjoys nothing more than sharing her love for the natural and cultural history of Oregon and the Pacific Northwest. After a long and rewarding career in health care, she is now focused on developing programs to inspire others to discover, experience, and protect these natural and cultural wonders. An avid hiker, Natalie spends much of her free time exploring the unique landscapes of Oregon and surrounding areas.
Toni Ketrenos
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Toni Ketrenos teaches in the Wine Studies Department at Linfield College in Oregon. Prior to joining the faculty in 2020, she worked in nearly all tiers of the wine industry, including production, distribution, and retail. She earned her diploma in wines from the Wine and Spirits Educational Trust (WSET) and Certified Specialist of Wine from the Society of Wine Educators, as well as other regional certifications. In addition to wine, Ketrenos loves to travel, kayak, sew, and hike with her son and Australian Shepherd, Azzi.
Carolyn Devine
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Carolyn Devine has been a hike leader and naturalist for over 25 years in Oregon as well as the Bernese Oberland in Switzerland. Carolyn has a master’s in plant biology from the University of Michigan, and she has worked for a variety of nonprofits, the state of Oregon, and in adult education. She is the creative director of ArtAge Publications, and a freelance writer producing strategic copy for non-profits. Carolyn also has a beautiful garden teeming with hundreds of plants, and is learning classical guitar.
Suggested Reading List
(12 books)
Visit the Road Scholar Bookshop
You can find many of the books we recommend at the Road Scholar store on bookshop.org, a website that supports local bookstores.
The Faces of Oregon: Mt. Hood, Columbia River Gorge & Astoria
Program Number: 1834
A Chef's Bounty: Celebrating Oregon's Cuisine
A Chef's Bounty includes recipes from many of the most successful chefs in Oregon. It is a full-page, full-color book that features sustainable cooking and gives background insight into Oregon cuisine from all the unique regions of the state.
Portland: Yesterday & Today
Portland: Yesterday & Today features spectacular imagery and brings to life all the favorite destinations that make the city so unique. From the sprawling, verdant Forest Park to the towering U.S. Bancorp Tower (Big Pink), this book will give you a new appreciation for all that Portland has to offer.
Portland Then and Now
A spectacular book, captivating it's audience with historic, small town Portland images paired with the same scenes as they look today.
Sites include: New Market Theater, Blagen Block, Royal Palm Hotel, Grand Stable & Carriage Building, Pioneer Courthouse, First National Bank, City Hall, Berg Building, Portland Art Museum, Masonic Temple, Paramount Theatre, Union Station, Pittock Mansion, Bagdad Theater, Hollywood Theatre, St. John's Bridge, Swan Island.
The Good Rain: Across Time & Terrain in the Pacific Northwest
In this mesmerizing book, Egan retraces a journey made in 1853 by Theodore Winthrop, the author of the first national book about the Pacific Northwest. As he travels Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia by unconventional means, Egan reflects on Winthrop's predictions for the northwest, mourns the loss of so much natural beauty, and casts visions of the landscapes that have escaped the march of modern development. Winner of the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association Award.
Portland: People, Politics, and Power, 1851-2001
One of the most detailed and definitive books on the full history of the city of Portland. The seedy undercurrents of early society in Portland are revealed, along with details of crime, corruption, prohibition, racism and commercial development.
Astoria: John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson's Lost Pacific Empire: A Story of Wealth, Ambition, and Survival
This thrilling and harrowing volume tells the story of the 1810 Astor Expedition, which followed in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark to establish the first settlement in the Pacific Northwest. John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson dreamed of transforming the region into a world trading power. Instead, the cruelty of the wilderness and the clash of ambitions led to a grim failure that serves as a reminder of the frailty of the human body and will.
Up the Capitol Steps: A Woman's March to the Governorship
A personal and political memoir by one of the few women governors in the history of the United States, Up the Capitol Steps details the successes and the frustrations of a woman's life in politics. Roberts embroils herself in controversial policies and challenging elections on the road to Oregon governorship.
Notable Women of Portland
This book offers a radically different portrayal of the growth the city of Portland has experienced. Its focus is on the early female pioneers of the city and the many incredible and lasting impacts they had on the area.
A River Lost: The Life and Death of the Columbia
An insightful look into the many changes the Columbia River has undergone as a result of human exploitation. Harden weighs the pros and cons of river development and provides his unique perspectives, in addition to those of Native Americans, environmentalists, and individualist locals.
Building the Columbia River Highway: They Said It Couldn't Be Done
Peg Willis takes the reader on a journey along the Columbia River and explores the early beginnings of this highway that became known as a man-made miracle. Willis meets with two of the men responsible for the highway's creation and development, and explores the consequences (good and bad) of this architectural marvel.
Oregon's Promise: An Interpretive History
This detailed look into the history of Oregon offers jarring perspectives that clash with traditional stereotypes of the state and its residents. The author focuses on those that have been left out of the prosperous society that the pioneers originally looked to create and gives fresh insight into some historical assumptions that, upon further review, may not have been so true.
Oregon Trail Stories: True Accounts of Life in a Covered Wagon
Read through the exhilarating narratives from real letters, diaries and more. These first-hand tales of death, love, adversity and exploration offer insight into the lives of the early Western Pioneers.