9 Best Sights in Southern Oregon, Oregon

The name derives from an archaic Spanish word meaning "to plant grapevines," and that's exactly what this winery's husband-wife team started doing in the late '90s. Abacela has steadily established itself as one of Oregon's most esteemed wineries. Hot-blooded Spanish Tempranillo is Abacela's pride and joy, though inky Malbec and a subtly floral Albariño also highlight a repertoire heavy on Mediterranean varietals, which you can sample in a handsome, eco-friendly tasting room where you can also order light appetizers to snack on.

This rising star among southern Oregon wineries specializes in two varietals the region generally isn't known for: Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The vineyard's cooler, higher-elevation setting is perfect for these grapes usually associated with the Willamette Valley, and you can sample them, along with a refreshing, dry rosé of Pinot Noir—with one of their impressive cheese-and-charcuterie boards, perhaps—amid the cushy seating in the airy, modern tasting room and sweeping patio, with its grand mountain views.

A trip up the winding road—or, better yet, a hike via the old cart track marked Catholic access—leads to the resting place of the clans (the Britts, the Beekmans, and the Orths) that built Jacksonville. You'll also get a fascinating, if sometimes unattractive, view of the social dynamics of the Old West: older graves (the cemetery is still in use) are strictly segregated, Irish Catholics from Jews from Protestants. A somber granite plinth marks the pauper's field, where those who found themselves on the losing end of gold-rush economics entered eternity anonymously. The cemetery closes at sundown, and guided daytime and sunset strolls are offered about once a month in summer.

The Allen Elizabethan Theatre overlooks this park, a wooded nearly 100-acre jewel founded in 1916 that serves as Ashland's physical and spiritual anchor. The park is named for the town's mineral springs, which supply water fountains by the band shell and on the town plaza—be warned that the slightly bubbly water has a strong and rather disagreeable taste. From morning through evening, picnickers, joggers, dog walkers, and visitors congregate in the park's most popular areas, which include dozens of paved and unpaved trails, two duck ponds, a rose garden, a Japanese garden, and ice-skating rink, and a reservoir with a beach and swimming. A great way to get a sense of Lithia Park's vastness, and just how much wilderness there is in the northern section, is to make the 3-mile loop drive around its border. On weekends from mid-March through October, the park hosts a lively artisans' market, and free concerts take place Thursday evenings in summer.

As many as 500 bald eagles make Klamath Basin their rest stop, amounting to the largest wintering concentration of these birds in the contiguous United States. Located along the Pacific Flyway bird migration route, the more than 50,000 acres of freshwater wetlands in this complex of six different refuges serve as a stopover for around 1.8 million waterfowl in the fall. Any time of year is bird-watching season; more than 400 species of birds—including about 30 types of raptors—have been spotted in the Klamath Basin, along with many mammals, reptiles, and amphibians. For a leisurely excursion by car, follow the tour routes in the Lower Klamath and Tule Lake refuges—the latter has a superb bookstore and visitor center and is also a short drive from Lava Beds National Monument.

Marble caves, large calcite formations, and huge underground rooms shape this rare adventure in geology. Guided cave tours take place late March through early November. The 90-minute ½-mile tour is moderately strenuous, with low passageways, twisting turns, and more than 500 stairs; children must be at least 42 inches tall to participate. Cave tours aren't given in winter. Aboveground, the surrounding valley holds an old-growth forest with some of the state's largest trees, and offers some excellent and generally uncrowded hiking.

GPS coordinates for the caves often direct drivers onto a mostly unpaved forest service road meant for four-wheel-drive vehicles. Instead, follow well-signed Highway 46 off U.S. 199 at Cave Junction, which is also narrow and twisting in parts; RVs or trailers more than 32 feet long are not advised.

This pair of monolithic rock formations rise some 700 to 800 feet above the valley floor. Operated by a partnership between the Bureau of Land Management and the Nature Conservancy, the Table Rock formations and surrounding 4,864 acres of wilderness afford panoramic valley views from their summits, and glorious wildflower viewing and migratory bird-watching in spring. This is one of the best venues in the Rogue Valley for hiking; you can reach Lower Table Rock on a moderately challenging 5½-mile round-trip trail, and Upper Table Rock via a shorter (about 3 miles round-trip), less-steep route. The trailheads to these formations are a couple of miles apart—just follow the road signs from Table Rock Road, north of TouVelle State Park.

Few winemakers in southern Oregon have a more devoted following than Troon, whose swanky tasting room and winery in the northern Applegate Valley is patterned after a French country villa. Troon produces relatively small yields of exceptional wines, including some less typical U.S. bottles, such as orange wines and a revered Tannat.

Come face-to-face with some 600 free-roaming animals at the 615-acre drive-through wildlife park. Inhabitants include alligators, cheetahs, cougars, African elephants, gibbons, lions, giraffes, grizzly bears, Tibetan yaks, Siberian tigers, and many more species. There's also a petting zoo, a miniature train, up-close animal feedings and encounters, and engaging wildlife talks. The admission price includes two same-day drive-throughs. This nonprofit zoological park is a respected research facility with full accreditation from the American Zoo and Aquarium Association, with a mission to conserve and protect endangered species through education and breeding programs. Through its cheetah breeding program, for example, more than 215 of these animals have been born here.