Explore Oregon Podcast: The state's most beautiful places and biggest issues

Host Zach Urness and intern Makenzie Stamets talk about the future of what was once among state's most beloved campgrounds: Yellowbottom Recreation Site. Located in the Quartzville corridor northeast of Sweet Home — and just past Green Peter Lake — the area is home to old-growth forest, beautiful swimming holes and unique activities like gold panning. For years, Yellowbottom was the anchor for vis...

In this episode of the Explore Oregon Podcast, host Zach Urness and intern Makenzie Stamets talk about an accessible rock climbing area in Mount Hood National Forest near the town of Zigzag. French's Dome is a classic rock climbing location near Portland that is a well-loved day trip for locals. It offers both the peace of relaxing in the shade and the thrill of adventure in climbing rock as high...

In this reposted episode of the Explore Oregon Podcast, host Zach Urness welcomes a trio of fun guests to talk about going backpacking with kids and some of the best places to visit. In thie episode first recorded in 2022, Urness is joined by Bonnie Henderson, his co-author of the guidebook "Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon," along with 11-year-old backpackers Nate and Mary Evans, who share their thou...

In this episode, Zach talks about the new trail system being constructed to access the popular site known as Blue Pool on the McKenzie River east of Eugene. Urness talks with Willamette National Forest recreation program manager Matt Peterson about what the new $3.4 million system will showcase and the reason for it. Also known as Tamolitch Falls, the site has become one of the most popular, overr...

In this 2022 episode, host Zach Urness and three river experts pick the 20 best river trips in the state for whitewater thrills and overnight camping adventures. The group talks about what makes rivers such as the Rogue, Deschutes and Clackamas so incredible and detail how to make the trips happen during the summer months. They also highlight lesser-known floats such as the Illinois, Molalla and N...

In this episode, host Zach Urness talks with the U.S. Forest Service about when the Opal Creek area will finally reopen. The 35,000-acre wilderness and recreation area was severely burned and closed by the Beachie Creek Fire in September of 2020. It was hoped that popular sites such as Three Pools, Little North Santiam Trail and Henline Falls would reopen this summer, but those plans have been del...

In this episode, host Zach Urness chats with author Cheryl Hill about her new book "Hiking Oregon's Fire Lookouts." Hill picks 10 of her favorite lookout hikes and all the details needed to visit. She also talks about the history of lookouts, etiquette for visiting lookouts and how to spend a night in one. To buy the book or attend one of Hill's events, visit her website at: https://cherylhill.net...

U.S. Forest Service chief Tom Schultz defends reorganization plans in interview by Zach Urness / Statesman Journal

In this episode of the Explore Oregon Podcast, host Zach Urness talks about the popular mini cabins at Detroit Lake State Park and great places to visit nearby during the spring. The cabins were originally intended as staff housing for seasonal employees, but in the off-season, they've becoming popular for visitors that might otherwise not visit. Urness talks to the rangers who made the cabins hap...

In this episode, host Zach Urness talks about an in-depth story that he wrote about the past, present and future of Oregon's timber industry. The story and podcast look at the history of Oregon's most important and influential industry and the current push by the Trump administration to increase logging. Urness also examines the rise of "mass timber," a new style of building that could improve the...

In this episode, host Zach Urness talks with Oregon State Representative Ken Helm, D-Beaverton, about landmark legislation to protect Oregon wildlife and a host of other legislative issues. Helm talked about passage of a bill to rise $38 million for wildlife programs through an increase in the state's transient lodging tax. He also touched on other issues from the recently completed 2026 session i...

In this episode, host Zach Urness reposts a conversation with author Glenn Voelz about the rise of Oregon's search and rescue, from the pioneer age to the modern era. Voelz is author of the book "Oregon Search & Rescue: Answering the Call," which covers the state's best-known searchers, high-profile disasters and how both shaped modern search and rescue. The book and podcast cover famous disasters...

In this episode, host Zach Urness dives into the sale of 92-foot Abiqua Falls and the effort to preserve it as a new park. Urness talks with outdoors writer and author Adam Sawyer about what makes Abiqua Falls so special and the unique space it's occupied in becoming one of the state's most loved places. They also talk about the waterfall going up for sale and concerns that brings. Then Urness tal...

In this reposted episode, host Zach Urness talks with Randy Dersham, director of the documentary film "Oregon's Boat." The film, which won the award for Best Feature at the Oregon Documentary Film Festival, is now available to watch for free on YouTube or at the film's website. Dersham describes the evolution of one of the world's most famous boats — the McKenzie River Drift Boat — that took place...

In this episode of the Explore Oregon Podcast, host Zach Urness previews the upcoming Oregon legislative session and outdoor-related bills that will be considered this February. Topics include: - A potential legal fix to the lawsuit and affordability crisis facing ski areas and outfitters and guides. Pete Wallstorm with the Oregon Outfitters and Guides Association details why the issue has become...

In this episode, host Zach Urness talks with Oregon state climatologist Larry O'Neill about the state's lack of mountain snow and whether it's going to rally this winter. Then, they talk about where 2025 ranked in terms of heat, rainfall and other factors from this past year. The year 2025 was the third-warmest in records that date back to 1895 and O'Nell talks about why that was the case and othe...

In this episode, host Zach Urness talks about: The delayed start of winter recreation season, but the encouraging opening of Hoodoo Ski Area Storm damage and the closures of numerous popular outdoor recreation sites The most interesting people and places that we covered in 2025

In this reposted episode, host Zach Urness talks about the mythic Grove of Titans, a collection of the largest redwood trees on earth, located just south of the Oregon and California state line.  This podcast, which originally published in 2021, focuses on a recently completed trail system that provides access to the Grove inside northern California's Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park. Previously...

In this episode, host Zach Urness goes fishing in an unusual place — the bottom of an empty reservoir on a stream that only appears for a few weeks every year. The place in question is Lookout Point Lake, a reservoir southeast of Eugene just off Highway 58. The reservoir undergoes a deep drawdown each year to help endangered fish, and in the process exposes reservoir bed — and a river — that's bee...

In this episode of the Explore Oregon Podcast, host Zach Urness talks with Debbie Colbert, director of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. Colbert became the first female director of ODFW, an agency tracing its history back to the 1800s, in May of 2024. In the podcast, she talked about her background as a field scientist and her first year as director, before jumping into hot-button topics...

In this episode, host Zach Urness reposts his tips and tricks to finding the perfect Christmas tree in Oregon's national forests. With a $5 permit, you can travel far and wide in the national forests to find a tree to bring home — whether you live in Portland, Salem, Eugene or elsewhere. It's not always as easy as it seems, however. The podcast breaks down where to get a permit, which forest to ta...

In this episode, host Zach Urness talks with author Dan Shryock about his book on Oregon's Scenic Bikeways. Shryock, who wrote "Cycling Across Oregon" in 2024, talks about what inspired the book, his eight favorite rides and what he discovered along the way. The routes Shryock rode took him through deep forest, over the Cascade Mountains, onto the Oregon Coast and into eastern Oregon canyons.

In this episode, host Zach Urness looks at the curious case of how a non-native fish, walleye, showed up at Lookout Point Reservoir and was then flushed into the Upper Willamette River Basin. Urness interviews two fish biologists about how walleye, a tasty but controversial fish, were discovered at the reservoir east of Eugene and spawned to become a fishery popular with anglers. In 2023 and 2024,...

In this episode of the Explore Oregon Podcast, host Zach Urness brings back a second volume of his favorite weird, wild and quirky stories from the first 70 episodes of the podcast. This edition features: - Why Hood River was once called "Dog River" - A ghost wagon rising from the Detroit Lake - A major drug bust on the Oregon Coast that led to a beautiful collection of trails - The history of Hoo...

Favorite podcast tales volume 1: Betrayal in Grants Pass, a nuke at Cape Kiwanda, D River showdown by Zach Urness / Statesman Journal