Oregon

Our favorite Oregon travel photos of 2023

Published

10 months ago

December 23, 2023

Press Room

We really got out there in 2023.

While photographers for The Oregonian/OregonLive were busy covering breaking news, features and Portland’s restaurant scene this year, they also took the time to tour the state, documenting the people, places and landscapes that make Oregon special.

Touring everywhere from far eastern Oregon to the southern Oregon coast, they covered a little bit of everything: sled dogs, a solar eclipse, ghost towns, wildflowers, Cascade mountain tops and misty ocean views. Their 2023 photos showcase Oregon at its finest, showing off the sheer variety our state has to offer to all who explore.

Here is a selection of our favorite travel photos of the year.

JAMIE HALE

As The Oregonian/OregonLive’s travel and outdoors reporter, Jamie Hale scours the state for good views and interesting things to do. His landscape photos range from the Oregon coast to the high desert, covering the mountains, rivers and forests in between. In 2023, they included first-time trips to the Owyhee Canyonlands, Breitenbush Hot Springs and the lip of Willamette Falls, as well as a sled dog ride at Mount Bachelor.

Willamette Falls is seen at the end of June from a Portland General Electric property in West Linn, where an intertribal coalition, the Willamette Falls Trust, is planning a new public access project.Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Sunset at the Painted Hills, found within the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in central Oregon, at the beginning of May. Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

The Amanda statue rests in a clearing, surrounded by gifts, at the heart of the Amanda Trail in Yachats in July. The trail presents an unvarnished history of Indigenous communities in the area. Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Leslie Gulch Roads runs through the heart of the Owyhee Canyonlands in far eastern Oregon, during the last days of spring in mid-June. Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Middle Fork Tumalo Falls is found just off the North Fork Trail, part of the popular Tumalo Falls Loop Hike in the Deschutes National Forest. The waterfall is seen here in mid-October, just before the first snowfall arrived. Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

A February sled dog ride runs down a snowy trail at Mt. Bachelor in Bend. The rides are run by Oregon Trail of Dreams, an organization led by Rachael Scdoris, the first legally blind dog musher to complete the Iditarod. Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Spring wildflowers bloom on May 4 at Coyote Wall, a mountain biking and hiking destination on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge.Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Tiny red huckleberries grow beside the Boulder Ridge Trail on a Sept. 6 hike to Huckleberry Mountain in the Salmon-Huckleberry Wilderness of the Mt. Hood National Forest. Despite the name, the area is not a good place to find huckleberries.Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

A sunny November day on the Salmon River Trail in the Mt. Hood National Forest. The 14-mile hiking trail follows the Salmon River as it pours off the slopes of Mount Hood. Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

A fly fisherman casts into the lower Owyhee River, just north of Lake Owyhee State Park in the far reaches of eastern Oregon, in the middle of June. Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

A soaker enjoys the refreshing waters of Breitenbush Hot Springs on a cloudy May afternoon. Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

Wildflowers grow in mid-June along the Wallowa Lake East Moraine Trail, found above the northeast Oregon lake at the foot of the Wallowa Mountains near Joseph.Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

The view from a room at The Drift Inn on a rainy April day at Yachats on the central Oregon coast.Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

The sun sets over sagebrush at the Painted Hills in May, found within the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument in central Oregon. Jamie Hale/The Oregonian

A rainbow sunset in June over the fields of Wallowa County, just outside of Joseph in northeast Oregon.

SAMANTHA SWINDLER

Samantha Swindler, a features reporter and videographer, specializes in covering the communities, businesses and events across Oregon. In 2023, she spent good amount of time in Oregon’s high desert, walking the streets of Shaniko, soaking at Summer Lake Hot Springs and eating at the Cowboy Dinner Tree. Her trip to the cranberry bogs of the southern Oregon coast illuminated one of the state’s most fascinating industries.

Meteors streak across the night sky over Summer Lake Hot Springs, outside of Paisley, Oregon, in August a few days before the height of the Perseid meteor shower.Samantha Swindler

Hundreds of people started 2023 by jumping into the Pacific Ocean during the 19th annual New Year’s Day Polar Plunge at Neahkahnie Beach in Manzanita.Samantha Swindler

Cranberries float on the flooded bog in November at Bob Donaldson’s cranberry farm in Denmark, Oregon.Samantha Swindler

Hats at the Hamley & Co. Western Store in downtown Pendleton are shaped for each customer’s head, and also cleaned by staff.Samantha Swindler/ The Oregonian

A single meal at the Cowboy Dinner Tree, a rural Oregon attraction, comes with a salad, a plate of rolls, a bean soup, steak, baked potato and dessert.Samantha Swindler/ The Oregonian

Dead Format Music, located in the tiny ghost town of Shaniko, Oregon, sells CDs, records, DVDs, VHS and cassette tapes. Owner Shaun Cooper also operates a small radio station, 99.9 “The Ghost,” where he plays classic rock and old country that’s “so good the ghosts dig it.”

A speak easy and card room are reconstructed as part of the Pendleton Underground Tours.

VICKIE CONNOR

Videographer and photographer Vickie Connor spent most of the year shooting video, but took time out to capture a few still photos of her adventures around the state. A particularly perilous climb up South Sister and a trek along one of Oregon’s many scenic bikeways highlighted her year in travel.

Danish artist Thomas Dambo stands in front of his 19-foot-troll sculpture constructed on the campus of Nordic Northwest in Portland on Friday, August 11, 2023, as visitors listen. The troll is an art piece that will be in place for at least three years.

An overlook at Cove Palisades State Park is one of the highlights of Madras Mountain Views Scenic Bikeway.Vickie Connor/The Oregonian

The Oregonian’s Vickie Connor climbs to the summit of South Sister on Thursday, August 17, 2023, in Three Sisters Wilderness.Vickie Connor/The Oregonian

SEAN MEAGHER

Photojournalist Sean Meagher made it a point to document a few of the state’s most beautiful places this year. Trips to the Columbia River Gorge and Bend provided a collection of nice photos, including his beautiful shots of the Bend Whitewater Park.

Rain couldn’t keep visitors away from Multnomah Falls along the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon on Monday, Nov. 6, 2023. Sean Meagher/The Oregonian

The sun sets over Central Oregon as seen from the top of Pilot Butte in Bend, Oregon on Thursday, July 13, 2023. Sean Meagher/The Oregonian

Latourell Falls along the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon is pictured on a wet fall day on Monday, Nov. 6, 2023. Sean Meagher/The Oregonian

MARK GRAVES

Mark Graves, a photographer and data visualization specialist for The Oregonian/OregonLive, is known for his sky watching photos, and struck gold this year with his photos of the annular solar eclipse in October. His events coverage took him across western Oregon, where he documented fresh looks at time-honored traditions.