In this episode, host Zach Urness and outdoors intern Mariah Johnson detail how to hike, float and explore a lake with one of the most beautiful views of Mount Hood — but that in past was known as "Mud Lake." Johnson visited Trillium Lake, near Government Camp, one of the more popular summer recreation sites, home to a place to rent kayaks and stand-up paddleboards, in addition to a nice hiking trail and campground. Johnson also details why the lake was once known as "Mud Lake," and the fact tha...
Jun 30, 2025•22 min
In this episode of the Explore Oregon Podcast, Zach Urness talks to fish biologist Stephan Charette about one of the best places to catch fish in Oregon: smallmouth bass on the John Day River. In this episode, first published in 2022, Urness and Charette talks about why the fishing is so good, where and how to land them and the upside and downside of so many fish.
Jun 23, 2025•42 min
In this episode, host Zach Urness reposts and updates details on one of Oregon's greatest overnight float and fishing trips — the John Day River. In this episode first published in 2020, but updated this year, Urness and former co-host David Davis break down the river's most famous segment, how to get a permit and what makes this trip so special. They also dive into the history of the man the river is named for — John Day — and explain why his name is plastered all over Oregon.
Jun 22, 2025•27 min
In this episode, host Zach Urness talks about the experience of floating through an active wildfire on the John Day River, in addition to a story about an evacuation of a state park and how it was saved from the flames of the Ferry Fire. Earlier this month, Zach floated through the 10,000-acre Ferry Fire that was burning on the John Day. In the second half, Urness tells the story of Cottonwood Canyon State Park, also on the John Day, that was evacuated on June 11, had a firefight and was burned ...
Jun 19, 2025•21 min
In this edition, host Zach Urness focuses on how to fish the state's hike-in alpine lakes with expert angler and fish biologist Jeff Ziller with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Ziller has worked on stocking and surveying Oregon's mountain lakes since the 1980s. In the first half of the podcast, he talks about where to find fish in Oregon's mountain lakes, what type of fish can be had and how they got there in the first place. In the second half, Ziller breaks down the best methods to...
Jun 06, 2025•59 min
In this episode of the Explore Oregon Podcast, Zach and guidebook author Franziska of Hike Oregon pick 10 of their favorite backpacking trips for June, July, August and September as the high outdoor recreation season gets underway. In this podcast, first recorded in 2023, the trips recommended include shorter and longer backpacking routes, from 15 to 55 miles in length, in the Wallowa, Elkhorn, Cascade and Klamath-Siskiyou mountains. Franziska, the owner and operator of the website Hike Oregon, ...
May 23, 2025•56 min
In this episode, host Zach Urness talks about upgrades coming to Silver Falls State Park along with places in Oregon that almost became national parks — but never quite made the cut. In the first half, Urness talks about the new outdoors shop, campground and visitor center planned for Oregon's largest state park as part of expanding development at the park. In the second half, Urness talks about why Silver Falls didn't become a national park — even through it was strongly considered back in the ...
May 14, 2025•32 min
In this episode, host Zach Urness reports on a project in Eugene that will add a mountain biking park and expand the size of the city's Ridgeline Trail system for hiking. The city plans to add 12 miles of new trail at Suzanne Arlie Park and South Eugene Meadows, opening up the city's first trails built specifically for mountain biking while also creating new hikes and expanding hiking routes. It's been a long road for the city to embrace mountain biking. The project also moves the city closer to...
May 08, 2025•20 min
In this episode, host Zach Urness talks about the reopening of the Whitewater Creek road and trail into the Mount Jefferson Wilderness east of Detroit. The trail has long been one of the most popular in the Mount Jefferson area but it's been transformed by two major wildfires that have kept it closed since 2020. The road and trail is finally open now, and there are some amazing views and adventures to be had right now — in the early season — and later in the summer as well.
May 01, 2025•24 min
In this episode, host Zach Urness talks about the reopening of the Whitewater Creek road and trail into the Mount Jefferson Wilderness east of Detroit. The trail has long been one of the most popular and iconic in the Mount Jefferson area but it's been transformed by two major wildfires that have kept it closed six of the last nine years and all the way since 2020. The road and trail is finally open now, and there are some amazing views and adventures to be had right now — in the early season — ...
Apr 30, 2025•24 min
In this edition, host Zach Urness takes a deep dive into perhaps the wildest place in Oregon — the Kalmiopsis Wilderness. This episode, originally published in 2022, focuses on the 180,000-acre wilderness in southwest Oregon. It's home to deep river canyons, wildflowers found nowhere else on earth and rivers so clear they seem made of liquid glass. Zach is joined by Gabe Howe, executive director of the Siskiyou Mountain Club, to pick their 10 favorite hikes and backpacking routes in the Kalmiops...
Apr 25, 2025•1 hr 14 min
In this episode host Zach Urness covers a range of outdoors news topics, including: -Why this is the last summer to swim, fish or take a boat tour at Crater Lake National Park until 2029. -Why this was a very good, but also tragic, ski season in Oregon -Why Oregon set a record for visits to its state parks system -Also: Detroit Lake drawdown, Oregon is drought free, state of the wilderness permit season and the status of endangered wolves and snowy plovers.
Apr 19, 2025•36 min
Repost! In this episode of the Explore Oregon Podcast, host Zach Urness talks about Oregon's wildflower hotspots and the best times to see them with expert Greg Lief. Lief, who runs the website OregonWildflowers.org talks about some of Oregon's most interesting blooms and the best times to visit places such as the Columbia Gorge, Old Cascades, Coast Range and Eastern Oregon to find the best of nature's fireworks display. This episode was originally posted on April 18, 2024, but all the informati...
Apr 16, 2025•47 min
Host Zach Urness talks with Trailkeepers of Oregon executive director Steve Kruger about the group's mission and how federal cuts and a funding freeze could make it difficult to maintain hiking trails on public lands this summer and in future years. Kruger talks about the work TKO does in using volunteers to clear, fix and maintain trails, in addition to building bridges. He then talks about how a federal cuts and a funding freeze — in which agreed to grants and payments aren't being distributed...
Apr 09, 2025•39 min
In this episode, host Zach Urness interviews Salem ice climber Forrest "Frosty" Gill about the fun and challenge of ascending frozen waterfalls and ice flows across Oregon and the West. Gill talks about the equipment and technique used for ice climbing, the beautiful places it can take you and his journey in learning the sport through the Salem-based Chemeketans outdoors club and climb school. This past February, Gill climbed frozen Paulina Creek Falls in Central Oregon but has also climbed in A...
Mar 27, 2025•36 min
What do the federal cuts mean for Oregon's public lands? Plus, Detroit Lake mini cabins by Zach Urness / Statesman Journal
Mar 10, 2025•29 min
In this episode of the Explore Oregon Podcast, host Zach Urness talks with Randy Dersham, director of the new documentary film "Oregon's Boat." Dersham describes the evolution of one of the world's most famous boats — the McKenzie River Drift Boat — that took place in Eugene and on the McKenzie River. The boat evolved under a series of colorful fishing guides, woodworkers and adventurers to become the ideal boat for navigating whitewater rivers across the West. The film recently recently won the...
Feb 19, 2025•56 min
In this episode, host Zach Urness talks with two Oregon researchers that just published a study about a massive underground aquifer below the Central Cascade Mountains east of Salem and Eugene. Leif Karlstrom, a University of Oregon earth scientist, and Gordon Grant, a hydrologist with the U.S. Forest Service, discuss an aquifer they estimate as containing 81 cubic kilometers of freshwater — or roughly as much water contained in three Lake Meads, the largest reservoir in the United States. Karls...
Jan 29, 2025•45 min
In this episode of the Explore Oregon Podcast, host Zach Urness talks about three different things: -Snowshoeing, skiing or micro-spike hiking at Maxwell Sno-Park, plus spending the night in its two cozy snow shelters. -The plan to drop Detroit Lake to its lowest level in history, in a controversial plan aimed at saving endangered spring chinook salmon but that could also impact fishing, access and water quality at the reservoir east of Salem. -The controversy surrounding offseason recreation on...
Jan 23, 2025•33 min
In this edition, host Zach Urness highlights the best adventures the Statesman Journal outdoors staff wrote about in 2024. In part II, Urness talks about a roadtrip to the Oregon Outback — plus its "dark sky sanctuary" — along with why Oakridge is considered among the United States' best places to mountain bike. He also talks about diving into an underwater forest of Clear Lake, float tube fishing Oregon's alpine lakes, backpacking Broken Top Loop and new sections of whitewater that have appeare...
Jan 02, 2025•28 min
In this episode, host Zach Urness highlights the best adventures the Statesman Journal outdoors staff wrote about in 2024. In this part I episode, Urness talks about the troubled but beloved Umpqua Hot Springs during its "quiet season" and exploring snow shelters in the winter backcountry near Gold Lake Sno Park. Other adventures highlighted include summer skiing on Mount Hood — even during an extreme heatwave — along with mountain biking a historic road and how to visit one of Oregon's most bea...
Dec 26, 2024•34 min
In this episode, host Zach Urness talks about a collection of stories including the start of winter recreation season, the controversial drawdowns at Green Peter Reservoir and some fun winter adventures including skiing, hiking at Silver Falls and celebrating "yurtmas" by touring Christmas lights at the Coast. The podcast features interviews from KLCC in Eugene and considers why a plan to save endangered salmon has become so controversial, while other topics include new waterfall hiking loops at...
Dec 05, 2024•27 min
In this episode, host Zach Urness and intern Alexander Banks talk about the iconic — and popular — hike to Pittock Mansion. Beginning in the heart of Portland, the route takes hikers through Forest Park landmarks and up to one of the most beautiful vistas in the Rose City. For additional prospective, Banks also talks with guidebook author Matt Reeder about what makes the hike special. Finally, Zach offers a few of Portland's other best hikes.
Dec 02, 2024•22 min
In this episode, host Zach Urness talks with three people who worked to rebuild a stunning mountaintop fire lookout in southern Oregon where visitors can spend the night. In 2020, Bolan Mountain Lookout was burned by the Slater Fire. Four years later, a district ranger and the leader of a nonprofit, along with his dad, spearheaded rebuilding a lookout with one of the state's most unique vistas. In the podcast, Scott Blower, Wild Rivers District Ranger of the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest,...
Nov 25, 2024•47 min
In this episode, host Zach Urness talks with a Klamath River outfitter about how the largest dam removal project in United State history has transformed the river by returning salmon and opening new stretches of river hidden for over a century. Will Volpert, owner of southern Oregon's Indigo Creek Outfitters, has been rafting every stretch of what he's dubbed the "New Klamath" after dam removal to document, map and prepare for commercial trips and summer recreation on a stream that looks a lot d...
Nov 05, 2024•57 min
In this episode of the Explore Oregon Podcast, host Zach Urness talks with Oregon State Climatologist Larry O'Neill about the forecast for the winter of 2024-25. O'Neill details why a forecasted weak La Nina system could result in a cooler and wetter winter than normal and what that means for the state overall, including for skiing and winter recreation.
Oct 21, 2024•20 min
In this episode of the Explore Oregon Podcast, host Zach Urness and outdoors intern Elliott Deins talk about backpacking the Three Sisters Wilderness and "float tube fishing" in Oregon's backcountry lakes. Deins breaks down one of Oregon's most beautiful and challenging backpacking routes, the Broken Top Loop, including how many miles it takes, where you can camp and the major highlights — and there are many. Urness talks about hiking into the Mount Jefferson Wilderness carrying a "float tube" —...
Oct 14, 2024•21 min
In this episode, host Zach Urness goes deep on the record coho salmon runs in the Upper Willamette Basin. Urness talks with Chris Kern, the west region manager for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, about what makes coho unique, why their numbers have been skyrocketing and how anglers can catch them.
Oct 10, 2024•40 min
In this episode, host Zach Urness talks about three different major stories involving salmon in Oregon. And, he posts a really fun song about salmon sent to him by a reader. Stories: -A record-breaking run of coho salmon in the Upper Willamette Basin -Salmon reaching spawning grounds on the Klamath River for the first time in over a century -The tough situation at Green Peter Reservoir, where one type of salmon (kokanee) has been sacrificed for the hoped rebuilding of another (spring chinook). F...
Oct 09, 2024•22 min
In this episode, host Zach Urness and outdoors intern Skyla Patton get excited about the peak season for finding Oregon's delicious and beautiful state mushroom. In an interview first recorded in 2022, Patton breaks down everything about the Pacific Golden Chanterelle, including where and when to find it, how to eat it, how to get permits to harvest them and trickier questions including whether you can over-harvest the beloved mushroom. The two discuss everything from the science of why chantere...
Sep 23, 2024•38 min
