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These Charming Small Towns in Oregon To Visit

While Portland and Oregon’s other top cities have plenty to offer, the state has many small towns that offer lots of charms and postcard perfect landscapes. Visitors can enjoy backdrops that include everything from rugged coastlines with soaring sea stacks to snow capped mountains. These small towns in Oregon are all worth putting on your must visit list. Let find out These Charming Small Towns in Oregon To Visit below.

These Charming Small Towns in Oregon To Visit

Astoria

Founded in 1811, Astoria was the first American settlement west of the Rockies, and Oregon’s oldest town. It’s also one of the prettiest as well as being famous among movie buffs as the setting of the 1985 hit film The Goonies, and fans will find lots of spots to relive some of their favorite scenes, including the Clatsop County Jail which is now the Oregon Film Museum. History buffs can also explore the Captain George Flavel House Museum, the very site where Mikey’s father worked as a curator in The Goonies. The hilly streets here are filled with historic architecture, set along the Columbia River, which brings plenty of opportunities for water sports. It’s a great place for foodies and there are plenty of places to enjoy a cold craft brew too.

These Charming Small Towns in Oregon To Visit

Hood River

Located in the Columbia River Gorge east of Portland, Hood River is surrounded by spectacular scenery while providing a wealth of outdoor adventure. Stay here and you’ll have easy access to some of the state’s most stunning waterfalls in the gorge, scenic hiking trails, vineyards and access to outstanding windsurfing on the river in fact, this is considered the country’s windsurfing capital. Right in town, you’ll find plenty of great places to stay along with plenty of enticing local coffee shops and eateries.

Hood River

Sisters

Located on the eastern slopes of the Cascade Mountains along the edge of Oregon’s high desert area, Sisters is a small town that gets lots of sunshine and has the Deschutes National Forest at its doorstep. It’s an ideal town for those looking to get active among beautiful mountain scenery, providing easy access to skiing, whitewater rafting, mountain biking, hiking and backpacking, with the eye popping Three Sisters being the centerpiece. In town, you’ll find early 19th century facades and storefronts, now home to boutiques, art galleries and restaurants.

These Charming Small Towns in Oregon To Visit

McMinnville

McMinnville is the perfect base for those looking to explore Oregon wine country, located right in the heart of the Pinot Noir producing Willamette Valley. The historic town is a delight itself, with its tree lined streets hosting unique shops and boutiques, farm to table restaurants, coffee shops, and kitschy antiquaries punctuated with wine tasting rooms. It even hosts a space museum with a waterslide. Voted among the best main streets in America, the downtown core also hosts a wide range of events and community celebrations, from weekly farmer’s markets to the annual UFO Festival.

These Charming Small Towns in Oregon To Visit

Baker City

Located in eastern Oregon, Baker City was one of the milestones along the Oregon Trail and is home to the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center with exhibits that reveal the hardships those early pioneers faced. The town has a charming historic district that includes the Geiser Grand Hotel and its 1889 Saloon even if you don’t plan to stay it’s worth popping in to view the stained glass skylight, crystal chandeliers, and mahogany woodwork. To learn more about the town’s history, visit the Baker Heritage Museum and go back in time with a ride on the narrow gauge steam train.

Baker City

Cannon Beach

One of the most beautiful towns along the Oregon coast, Cannon Beach offers some of the most breathtaking scenery, with lush surrounding forests and spectacular golden beaches where just offshore sea stacks are thrashed by the waves. The highlight is the main beach with its 235 foot tall Haystack Rock providing a nesting ground for sea birds, including puffins. Just a couple of miles north is Ecola Park, with scenic hiking trails winding through old growth rain forest providing views of the Pacific, along with grassy cliffs overlooking the coast for picnicking. The town itself is a bustling tourist destination with upscale restaurants, gift shops and art galleries. That is once of These Charming Small Towns in Oregon To Visit.

These Charming Small Towns in Oregon To Visit