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  • Untold: How an Oregon ranger saved hundreds from the 2020 Labor Day Fires

    Untold: How an Oregon ranger saved hundreds from the 2020 Labor Day Fires
    2025/09/09
    In this episode, host Zach Urness talks with an Oregon ranger that saved hundreds of people from the path of the deadly 2020 Labor Day Fires. Nikki Swanson, Sweet Home district ranger for Willamette National Forest, spurred a major evacuation and closure of the Mount Jefferson Wilderness just days before the Lionshead Fire burned the area and nearly 200,000 acres on Sept. 7-8, 2020. She is credited with saving a number of lives five years ago. “She is a hero, not properly thanked,” Linn County Commissioner Will Tucker said.
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    37 分
  • Opal Creek reopening, Labor Day Fires lookback, North Cascades road trip

    Opal Creek reopening, Labor Day Fires lookback, North Cascades road trip
    2025/09/03
    Host Zach Urness talks about plans to reopen beloved Opal Creek, the five year anniversary of the Labor Day Fires and about traveling to Washington's North Cascades National Park. Earlier this month, Urness reported that Opal Creek was likely to have a limited reopening in 2026 while also detailing the struggle of victims of the Labor Day Fires five years later. Finally, Urness talks about the beauty and challenge of visiting Washington's North Cascades.
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    23 分
  • How to get up close views of whales on the Oregon Coast

    How to get up close views of whales on the Oregon Coast
    2025/08/28
    In this episode, host Zach Urness and outdoors intern Mariah Johnston talk about how to go whale watching in Depoe Bay to see giant whales — specifically from a boat. Located along Oregon's central Coast, Depoe Bay is known as the whale watching capital of the Oregon Coast and home to the worlds’ smallest harbor. Urness and Johnston discuss how to book a $30 to $50 boat tour, avoid sea sickness and experience the giants up close during the summer and fall months.
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    22 分
  • Head underground at Oregon's Lava River Cave and Mitchell Point Tunnel

    Head underground at Oregon's Lava River Cave and Mitchell Point Tunnel
    2025/08/15
    In this episode, host Zach Urness talks to outdoors intern Rose Shimberg about two of Oregon's subterranean destinations. Urness and Shimberg talk first about the Lava River Cave, a mile-deep lava tube outside of Bend and the longest in Oregon. They go into the formations you can see and the different ways to reserve a trip to the popular destination. In the second half, they discuss the Mitchell Point Tunnel, which opened earlier this year to hikers and bikers. Recreating the crown jewel of the historic Columbia River Highway, the tunnel offers stunning views of the Gorge, with multiple hikes nearby to explore.
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    31 分
  • 10 best Oregon mountain climbs that don't require ropes

    10 best Oregon mountain climbs that don't require ropes
    2025/08/10
    In this episode, first published in 2021, Zach talks to mountain climb leader Michael Gurley about the best high mountain hikes and climbs that don't require ropes in Oregon. Zach and Michael pick 10 different mountain peaks that Oregonians in good shape can attempt with a hike or "scramble" climb, provided they've got strong legs, strong lungs and a good plan. The climbs they cover include multiple routes that rise above 9,000 feet, and two that ascend above 10,000 feet, in mountain ranges in the Cascades, Siskiyou, Elkhorn and Wallowas.
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    1 時間 5 分
  • Last call at Crater Lake: How to swim, boat and fish for the last time until 2029

    Last call at Crater Lake: How to swim, boat and fish for the last time until 2029
    2025/08/08
    In this episode of the Explore Oregon Podcast, host Zach Urness and outdoors intern Mariah Johnston talk about how to swim, boat and fish in the water of Crater Lake National Park’s for the last time until 2029. Located in southern Oregon, Crater Lake is home to the deepest lake in the United States at 1,949 feet. Beginning next year, the only trail leading to the water will close for a three year construction project. That makes this August and early September the last time you can take a boat tour, swim or fish in the lake until almost the end of the decade. Urness and Johnston discuss how to plan the trip and how to experience the deep, blue water in the state's only national park while you still can.
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    30 分
  • Linton Lake: Rare trout, giant waterfalls and old-growth forest highlight pool in Three Sisters

    Linton Lake: Rare trout, giant waterfalls and old-growth forest highlight pool in Three Sisters
    2025/08/03
    In this episode, host Zach Urness talks about hiking, camping and fishing for rare brown trout at Linton Lake in the Three Sisters Wilderness. Located a mile off McKenzie Pass Highway 242, Linton Lake features old-growth forest, a place to swim, one of Oregon's tallest waterfalls and some of the most fun hike-in fishing in the state. Urness talks about the how to make the trip and how to have a good day on the water.
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    18 分
  • Oregon's state parks face closures and cuts. Here's the director's plan to avoid that

    Oregon's state parks face closures and cuts. Here's the director's plan to avoid that
    2025/07/23
    In this episode, host Zach Urness interviews Oregon Parks and Recreation Department director Lisa Sumption about the challenging future for Oregon's state parks system. The parks system includes more than 250 recreation sites and 50 campgrounds and was visited by a record 56.6 million people in 2024. However, OPRD is expecting to face a 14% shortfall by 2027. That could mean layoffs to rangers and even closing some parks. In the podcast, Sumption explains the shortfall and plans to fix it by raising revenue through new and creative streams of income. It's her hope to fund the park system without asking for taxpayer funding or any tax increase.
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    37 分