68 Best Sights in The Willamette Valley and Wine Country, Oregon

Lynn Penner-Ash brought a wealth of experience working in Napa and as Rex Hill's winemaker to this winery that she and her husband Ron started in 1998. Although focused primarily on silky Pinot Noir, Penner-Ash also produces very good Syrah, Viognier, and Riesling. From its hilltop perch in the middle of the Dussin vineyard, this state-of-the-art gravity-flow winery and tasting room offers commanding views of the valley below.

This small winery specializes in small batches of Chardonnay and Pinots, with weekend tastings served to hip-hop beats in its cozy North Plains tasting room. Owner-operator Bertony Faustin is the first known Black winemaker in the state and has done much to elevate the voices of BIPOC winemakers, notably through his documentary, Red, White & Black.

David Adelsheim is the knight in shining armor of the Oregon wine industry—tirelessly promoting Oregon wines abroad, and always willing to share the knowledge he has gained from his long viticultural experience. He and Ginny Adelsheim founded their pioneer winery in 1971. They make their wines from grapes picked on their 230 acres of estate vineyards, as well as from grapes they've purchased. Their Pinot Noir, Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc, and Chardonnay all conform to the Adelsheim house style of rich, balanced fruit and long, clean finishes. They also make a spicy cool-climate Syrah from grapes grown just outside the beautiful tasting room.  Tours are available by appointment.

This family-run winery between Corvallis and Eugene takes sustainable wine-making to the next level, championing their own brand of "grazing-based viticulture" that uses barnyard critters, including adorable kune kune pigs, to help clear the land and keep the biome in prime working order. The result is balanced Pinots that often sell out soon after they're released. 

Since Argyle opened in 1987, it has consistently produced sparkling wines that are crisp on the palate, with an aromatic, lingering finish and bubbles that seem to last forever. The winery also produces Chardonnay, dry Riesling, Pinot Gris, and Pinot Noir. Stop by the sleek tasting room for a four- or six-wine flight, or sign up for the "Sparkling Experience," which includes a property tour and an eight-wine flight served with charcuterie.

Visitors are greeted by a resident taxidermy moose, Bruce, at this two-story museum, which showcases art, artifacts, and ephemera from Benton County and beyond in four different galleries. Highlights include a whimsical semipermanent exhibit that pairs hats with chairs from the same era, a display of inkwells from around the world, and all sorts of old-timey gadgets, from a vintage telephone switchboard to a massive Pontiac engine from 1929.  

In-demand winemaker Joe Dobbes provides custom wine-making services to many Oregon wineries too small to have their own winery or winemaker and also makes several lines of his own wines, ranging from his everyday "Wine By Joe" label to the premium Dobbes Family Estate label featuring great Pinot Noir, Syrah, Sauvignon Blanc, Viognier, and Grenache Blanc. In addition to a few single-vineyard Pinot Noir bottlings, Dobbes focuses on blends from multiple vineyards to provide consistent, balanced, and interesting wines. Flights and wine by the glass are available in the tasting room, and unlike many wineries in the region, walk-ins are welcome.

When the French winery magnate Robert Drouhin ("the Sebastiani of France") planted a vineyard and built a winery in the Red Hills of Dundee back in 1987, he set local oenophiles abuzz. His daughter Veronique is now the winemaker and produces silky and elegant Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. Ninety acres of the 225-acre estate has been planted on a hillside to take advantage of the natural coolness of the earth and to establish a gravity-flow winery.

Durant is known across the state for their flavorful olive oils and this hilltop property is also home to the first commercial olive mill in the Pacific Northwest. Stop by the gift shop to taste some of the farm’s signature oils or head out back to see an old-fashioned (and not-in-use) olive press imported from Spain. While olive oil is the big draw, there's also a tasting room where you can sample estate wines by appointment.

This museum does a striking job at telling the story of Independence and its surrounding regions through the eyes of various communities that have contributed to its history, not just white settlers. You can see a recreation of an old general store stocked with vintage packaging, a lifelike blacksmithing display, and even a doctor's office where old-timey medicines and medical books are displayed. Kids love the skeleton of “Betsy the Cow,” used in local classrooms to teach anatomy since her bones were first discovered by a group of schoolchildren in the 1960s.

This Benedictine monastery on a 300-foot-high butte was founded in 1882 and is the site of one of two modernist buildings in the United States designed by Finnish architect Alvar Aalto. A masterpiece of serene and thoughtful design, Aalto's library opened its doors in 1970, and has become a place of pilgrimage for students and aficionados of modern architecture. You also can sample beers produced by the abbey's in-house brewery (the aptly named Benedictine Brewery) at its taproom just up the road.

On the campus of Oregon's oldest psychiatric hospital, this nonprofit, volunteer-run museum explores the somber history of psychiatry through artifacts such as straitjackets sewn by patients and now-regrettable treatment devices.The hospital served as the primary set for the legendary 1975 blockbuster One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, starring Jack Nicholson (which was based on a book by the same name by Oregon author Ken Kesey). A popular permanent exhibit is dedicated to the Academy Award-winning film.

One of the founding families of Willamette Valley wine, Dick and Nancy Ponzi planted their original estate vineyard in 1970. While you can still visit the historic estate that looks out over these old vines, your best bet is to drop in at their new visitors facility at the winery just 12 miles south of Hillsboro. Here you'll find red and white flights of the current releases, as well as the occasional older vintage from the library. Enjoy table-side wine service indoors around the fireplace, or out on the covered terrace. Antipasti plates are a nice accompaniment to the wine. Pictures on the walls and displays provide a wonderful visual history of this winery that is still family owned and operated. The Ponzi family also launched the BridgePort Brewing Company in 1984, and runs a wine bar and restaurant in Dundee.

Richard and Helen Rice began collecting beach agates in 1938, and over the years they developed one of the largest private mineral collections in the United States. The most popular item here is the Alma Rose rhodochrosite, a 4-inch red crystal, though the Rainbow Gallery, which showcases rocks that emit brilliant multicolor when displayed under backlights, is a close contender. The museum (in a ranch-style home) also displays petrified wood from all over the world and a gallery of Northwest minerals—including specimens of Oregon's state gem, the sunstone.

After the founders realized that the country's best water supply for sake was in the Pacific Northwest, they built their brewery in Forest Grove in 1997. It's one of only six sake brewing facilities in America and produces award-winning sake under three labels, in addition to importing from partners in Japan. The tasting room offers three different flights, including one with a food pairing. Be sure to catch one of the tours, offered on weekend afternoons, where your guide will walk you through every phase of the sake-making process, from milling the rice to final filtration and bottling.

This beautiful area in the Coast Range foothills has a 15-mile-long hiking trail that surrounds the lake. Bird-watching is best in spring. Recreational activities include swimming, fishing, boating, waterskiing, picnicking, and hiking, and a 10½-mile, well-marked bicycle lane parallels the park's perimeter road.

The forest, starting just 2 miles from Corvallis and extending to the coast, includes the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area and the Cape Perpetua Interpretive Center. Within the park is the highest point in the Coast Range, Mary's Peak (4,097 feet), offering panoramic views of the Cascades, the Willamette Valley, and the rest of the Coast Range. On a clear day you can see as far as the Pacific Ocean. There are several picnicking areas, more than 10 miles of hiking trails, and a small campground, as well as stands of noble fir and alpine meadows. You can access Mary's Peak from Highway 34 between Corvallis and Newport and the central coast. Several other major highways (Highways 26, 6, 18, 26, and 126) also run through the forest between the Willamette Valley and the coast, providing access to recreation areas.

One of Yamhill County's oldest wineries (it was established in 1971) makes consistently excellent wines sold at reasonable prices. Set on a gently sloping south-facing hillside and surrounded by vineyards, lush lawns, and shade trees, it's a splendid place to learn about wine with tableside tastings held across a number of indoor and outdoor spaces. Winery tours and summer Sunday vineyard hikes can be booked in advance.

This sanctuary for indigenous and migrating birds, waterfowl, and mammals is in Sherwood (about 18 miles south of Hillsboro). It is one of only a handful of national urban refuges in the United States and has restored much of the natural landscape common to western Oregon prior to human settlement. The refuge is home to nearly 200 species of birds, 50 species of mammals, 25 species of reptiles and amphibians, and a variety of insects, fish, and plants. It features an interpretive center, a gift shop, photography blinds, and restrooms. This restoration has attracted animals back to the area in great numbers, and with a keen eye, birders and animal watchers can catch a glimpse of these creatures year-round. In May the refuge hosts its Tualatin River Bird Festival.

Relics on display are devoted to Pacific Northwest anthropology and the natural sciences. Highlights include the fossil collection of Thomas Condon, Oregon's first geologist, and a pair of 9,000-year-old sandals made of sagebrush.

Take a trip back in time to when the Oregon wine industry was much smaller and more intimate. Utopia owner and winemaker Daniel Warnhius moved north from California looking for a vineyard site that would produce world-class Pinot Noir, and he found this location with the right combination of location, climate, and soil structure. Whether you sit in the tasting room or prefer to take in the views from the outdoor seating area, you're likely to be served by Daniel himself. In addition to several great Pinot Noirs, they also produce a bright, crisp Chardonnay, and a Pinot Noir Rosé.

Stretching 110 miles along the western slopes of the Cascade Range, this forest boasts boundless recreation opportunities, including waterfall exploration, camping, hiking, boating, ATV riding, and winter sports. It extends from the Mt. Jefferson area east of Salem to the Calapooya Mountains northeast of Roseburg, encompassing 1,675,407 acres.

This parcel of open land on the banks of the Willamette River is named after the late publisher of Eugene's newspaper, the Register-Guard, and is the site of many community events. Live music is performed in summer at the Cuthbert Amphitheater. There's fine hiking and biking on a footpath that runs along the river for the length of the park, and an 18-hole disc golf course. Also worth seeing is the Whilamut Natural Area, an open space with 13 "talking stones," each with an inscription.

The winery that Gary and Nancy Andrus, owners of Pine Ridge winery in Napa Valley, founded in the 1990s has become synonymous with premium Oregon Pinot Noir. Because they believed that great wines are made in the vineyard, they adopted such innovative techniques as narrow spacing and vertical trellis systems, which give the fruit a great concentration of flavors. In addition to the standard flight of Pinot Noirs in the tasting room, Archery Summit offers educational tours of their gravity-flow winery and caves. You're welcome to bring a picnic, and as at many Oregon wineries, you can bring your dog, too.

Founded in 1977, Bethel Heights was one of the first vineyards planted in the Eola Hills region of the Willamette Valley. It produces Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Blanc, and Pinot Gris. The tasting room has one of the most glorious panoramic views of any winery in the state; its terrace and picnic area overlook the surrounding vineyards, the valley below, and Mt. Jefferson in the distance.

This boutique winery eschews the Pinot Noir prevalent throughout the region in favor of hot-climate varietals—including Zinfandel, Cab, and even a ruby port—all produced in small batches. Bravuro’s wines are only available at the tasting room or online, and every bottle is individually numbered.

Oregon's first cooperative winery was specifically designed to house multiple small premium wine producers. This gravity-flow winery has up-to-date wine-making equipment as well as multiple cellars for storing the different makers' wines. You can taste and purchase bottles from the different member wineries. The emphasis is on Pinot Noir, but more than a dozen other types of wines are poured, from Cabernet Franc to Gewürztraminer to Mourvèdre on a rotating basis. The selection of wines available to taste changes every few days.

This birds-of-prey educational center and hospital is home to nearly 40 resident education raptors. A visit is a great outing for kids, who can learn what owls eat, why and where birds migrate, and all sorts of other raptor facts. Some of the full-time residents include bald eagles, owls, hawks, falcons, and osprey.

Pronounced "sham-poo-ee," this 615-acre state park on the south bank of the Willamette River is on the site of a Hudson's Bay Company trading post, granary, and warehouse that was built in 1813. This was the seat of the first provisional government in the Northwest. The settlement was abandoned after a catastrophic flood in 1861, then rebuilt and abandoned again after the flood of 1890. The park's wide-open spaces, groves of oak and fir, modern visitor center, museum, and historic buildings provide vivid insight into pioneer life. Tepees and wagons are displayed here, and there are 10 miles of hiking and cycle trails.

This direct-to-consumer Newberg-area winery produces Pinot Noir along with Chardonnay, and Tempranillo. Take in estate views from the patio of the winery's hilltop tasting room, while you taste wines presented in graduated cylinders, an homage to the previous owner, a particle physicist-turned-winemaker.