The Mountains

On clear days, the Cascade Range volcanoes Mount Hood and Mount St. Helens loom on the Portland horizon. Both snowcapped peaks are just a short drive from the city.

Stretching above 11,000 feet, Mount Hood is Oregon's highest point. It's a downhill and cross-country skiers' paradise and summer training home for the US Olympic ski team with its year-round snow. During the spring and summer, campers pitch their tents on glassy mountain lakes along the Pacific Crest Trail. Experienced climbers can go for the summit, though sudden storms can make this a very dangerous undertaking. Many prefer to take in the view from Timberline Lodge. Located 7,000 feet up the mountain, this historic lodge is famous both for its role in the movie The Shining and for the U.S. presidents who have spent the night there. Like all the mountains in the Northwest's "Ring of Fire," Mount Hood is volcanic. They say it's asleep, but beware: They said that about Mount St. Helens too.

In 1980, the so-called "dormant" volcano Mount St. Helens blew its top, raining down a blinding storm of ash over Portland. Twenty years later, a trek through Lava Canyon to the massive crater on top still reveals acres of downed and denuded trees and an eerie pumice field resembling the surface of the moon.

All throughout Oregon, mountains are waiting to be climbed. Visit Crater Lake National Monument, hike through the Coast Range, Steens Mountain, and the Three Sisters, or drop from the rainforests to the beaches in Washington's nearby Olympic National Park.