Most of Oregon’s 1.2 million seabirds nest in the Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge, a 320-mile-long sweep of 1,400 islands, rocks, and reefs along the Oregon coast from Tillamook Head to the California border. The rocks, islands and all but one headland are classified as wilderness and are closed to the public as sanctuaries for nesting birds. Beach-goers can explore the tide pools teeming with sea life below the high tide line on the refuge’s protected rocks and islands. 

Photo: Roy W. Lowe/USFWS  

Crater Lake has inspired people for hundreds of years. No place else on earth combines a deep, pure lake, so blue in color; sheer surrounding cliffs, almost two thousand feet high; two picturesque islands; and a violent volcanic past. It is a place of immeasurable beauty, and an outstanding outdoor laboratory and classroom.

Photo: National Park Service 

Channel Islands National Park encompasses five remarkable islands and their ocean environment, preserving and protecting a wealth of natural and cultural resources. Isolation over thousands of years has created unique animals, plants, and archeological resources found nowhere else on Earth and helped preserve a place where visitors can experience coastal southern California as it once was.

Photo by Tim Hauf