Backroads
of Oregon: Your Guide to Oregon's Most Scenic Backroad Adventures ,
by Rhonda Ostertag and George Ostertag
Over the last decade I have cris-crossed much
of Oregon on extended road trips and have long considered the
"Beaver State" to be part of my personal backyard.
It was, therefore, with some surprise that I found so many places
that I had never heard of described in Backroads of Oregon:
Your Guide to Oregon's Most Scenic Backroad Adventures.
The most amazing thing to me is that I have been on many of
the thirty-one backroads profiled in this new book by Rhonda
and George Ostertag, and I still had missed some of these very
cool places. It just goes to show the value of good guidebooks
like this one.
The authors have divided the state into five
regions and provided tips and suggestions for following five
or six off-the-beaten-path road trips in each one. Some of
the routes are well-known to most visitors, like the Pacific
Coast Scenic byway or the loop through Hell's Canyon. But
other trips, like the one that in the Four Craters Wilderness
area that goes past Fort Rock near Christmas Valley and up
to the incomparable geologic feature Crack-in-the-Ground,
are definite paths-less-taken.
As in the other volumes in the Voyageur Press's
Pictorial Discovery Guide series, like Backroads
of Southern California and Backroads
of Washington, the photos in this very entertaining
guide book are stunning and inspired an instant yen to hit
the road in a Pacific northwesterly direction. The next time
I actually am planning a trip a trip to anywhere in Oregon,
I know I will find this book very useful in finding those
out-of-the-way places that a casual visitor only finds occasionally.
Two previously unfamiliar places described in this book that
are accessible from roads that I thought I knew include Fishhawk
Falls near Astoria and the Smelt Sands State recreation area
near Cape Perpetua -- an enchanting place of crashing winter
waves this book has added to my must-see list.
Backroads of Oregon does a wonderful
job of providing information about little-known fresh-water
angling locations and plenty of tips for finding trails for
exploring on foot. The book also includes some excellent maps
and a good collection of historical photographs that meld
well with the current-day route suggestions. There are some
great road shots and we believe you will enjoy taking a virtual
road trip through some of Oregon's most scenic locations.
Mark
Sedenquist
12/11/05
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