The short version Winter is when the Gorge waterfalls run loudest and the roads are least predictable. You don’t need a Multnomah Falls permit (the 2026 season ended September 7). Check TripCheck for ice the morning you drive, carry microspikes…
Portland in December
You booked Portland for December, didn’t you. And now you are up at midnight reading weather pages, wondering whether you made a small expensive mistake. Sit down. I have good news and one piece of bad news, and you get…
Golden Larch Hikes in Oregon
Oregon’s western larch turn whole mountainsides gold for about two weeks each late October. Here are the best larch hikes and the exact window to catch them.
Willamette Valley in Winter (Fireplaces, Empty Tasting Rooms, Truffle Season)
Two tasting flights, $50. A bowl of soup we split, $14. One night at an inn outside Dundee with a gas fireplace and a view of nothing but fog, $189. Gas both ways, about $16. That was a Tuesday and…
Oregon Coast in Winter
My winter coast uniform is a wool hat pulled down over my ears, a rain shell that stopped being waterproof about two seasons ago, and a thermos of coffee I drink in the car with the heater roaring and the…
Apple and Pear U-Pick Farms Near Portland
The best apple I ever picked was a Karmijn de Sonnaville that settled an argument with my husband about whether it actually tastes like a good Champagne. It kind of does, and I was right. But I only got to…
