Raging fires, poor air quality and closed roads meant fewer hiking options along the North Umpqua, but the conditions provided a great opportunity to visit South County.

We drove past the covered wagons and the signs about the historic figures that stayed at Farewell Bend before us as we got back on the road to head home.

It is surprising how many residents of southwestern Oregon have never heard of the Wallowa Mountains or heard of their moniker, “Alps of Oregon,” and among those who do know about them, some even have difficulty pronouncing the name correctly (Wah-LAO-wahs).

Th Friends of the Umpqua Hiking Club will be hiking to the sandy beaches of Calamut Lake on Saturday.

“Turn right in 1 mile,” was the instruction the GPS gave as we were headed to Dallas.

Soon, outdoor enthusiasts will be hiking and mountain biking down a new trail through the shade-covered Umpqua National Forest, catching glimpses of Lemolo Lake between the evergreens.

Hastily I jaunted up the stairs, all the while knowing that I wasn’t paying my surroundings enough attention.

On Nov. 18, 1930, Chief Ranger William C. Godfrey lost his life in a snowstorm in the southern section of Crater Lake National Park.

As temperatures in Roseburg were inching closer to three digits, finding a place to cool off became a necessity.

To ensure public access to 211 acres of forestland along a wild and scenic section of the North Umpqua River, the Roseburg District of the Bureau of Land Management, with the help of Western Rivers Conservancy, acquired Swiftwater Park from Douglas County in April.

With the sun beaming above us and the Little River flowing beside us, we drove until the pavement turned to gravel and then kept going for another seven miles until we came to the Lake in the Woods.

The North Umpqua Trail is a 79-mile-long play land for hiking, camping and mountain biking along the flowing emerald river.

On a trip to Grotto Falls — off the Little River Road last year — I stopped at a little gas station and store and was told I should see nearby Wolf Creek Falls and wade in the water.

BEND — Flurries started coming down as we hit the outskirts of Bend, and by the time we got to the parking lot for our hike to Tumalo Falls it was white everywhere.

No matter what website, search engine or social media app you use when you search for “Best Hikes in Oregon,” Tamolitch Pool is certain to be on there.

Groundhog Punxsutawney Phil predicted a long winter this year and it seems that he may have been right.

Wandering off trail through the lush evergreen woods, a hiker hunched down to find a mushroom hiding in the damp shade underneath the fronds of a fern.