Oregon is the most beautiful state

And Washington state comes second*

California, Oregon and Washington are all states with a ton of natural beauty.

I would never want to leave the east coast, but I freely admit the west coast has better scenery.

It’s s great place to get lost and die alone in the wilderness too.

Indiana is the least beautiful, that's for sure. Hawaii, Alaska, California, Washington and Oregon are all contenders for most beautiful state.

Hawaii is beautiful landscape. Shitty people.

Alaska beautiful landscape

Washington beautiful with shitty depressed people

California drought wildfire and floods scare the hell out me

Alaska is gorgeously surreal as well.

OP, Oregon is beautiful. Have you hiked any of the trails along the Colombia River? It's beautiful in that area and there are several waterfalls. I also really love Astoria and the northern coastal region. Astoria is charming with it's Victorian architecture. Very scenic landscape wherever you go in Oregon. Many beautiful lighthouses too.

Hahaha.

"Would you still love me, come winter."

The entire west coast is beautiful. With the exception of Maine I find the east coast very blah looking in terms of scenery. Just very mundane run of the mill looking.

I'm from Illinois so both coasts have interesting landscapes for me.

r7 I did a couple of hikes in Mt Hood National Forest near Lake Trillium (another gorgeous place) and also Cape Lookout trails near Pacific coast. Both the places are too gorgeous. I also drove along Rogue river on OR 230 highway and that place was so calm and tranquilizing.

I am from California and I think what makes Oregon so beautiful is the fact that it feels very mysterious. There aren't many people living there. And except Crater Lake, there aren't many things that come to people's mind when they think about Oregon. All that makes Oregon pleasantly surprising when one visits it. It has so much beauty everywhere that it's tough to suggest which part of the state is beautiful.

Central Oregon, the Bend area is awesome too. If you are into backpacking, Washington state actually blows Oregon away, I say that as an Oregonian.

Are there biting black flies or mosquitoes during warm weather?

Have you ever heard of fucking Portland Oregon???

r15 Well, yes. Portland is good too but it's a city and I am talking about scenic getaways.

Areas around Portland are very scenic

OP, the desert landscape in eastern Oregon is also an interesting are. I think Crater Lake is beautiful.

Oregon is also amazing for being the location of the trailer that Tonya Harding grew up in!

Agree with R2, the West Coast scenery blows the East Coast away. Much western scenery can truly be called "awesome." However, there is beauty on the East Coast, albeit of a more humble and pastoral nature than the West Coast. The Hudson River Valley is gorgeous as are the various mountain ranges up and down the east.

Vermont is beautiful. The West Coast may be prettier, but no way can you say Vermont is run-of-the-mill. Same for parts of New York, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Maine is beautiful, too.

bump

I grew up in Portland, and have lived in 16 states after college in all regions (traveling nurse). Oregon, Washington, Hawaii, and Alaska are the most beautiful in my opinion. Hawaii is the only place that would be tolerable in the winter, and I would hate to live there full time (too isolated).

I went to a forest outside Eugene and sat in a hot spring next to the Willamette river. It was glorious. My only disappointment was noticing a pool right on the rivers edge as we were leaving. We'd been so close and didn't see it, probably because the naked senior citizen soakers on the opposite bank were in the direct line of sight of it. lol

The hike in was so green and lush with giant ferns. It felt like a land before time. I believe there are wildfires there now.

[quote] OP, the desert landscape in eastern Oregon is also an interesting are.

I always forget that half of Oregon is desert. I've never been east of Bend.

I’ve been to 47 states and 51 countries. My absolute favorite airport approach has been landing in Portland. Seeing Mt. Hood peaking out of the clouds as you descend is just unbelievably beautiful.

Oregon had a desert? Wtf?

*has

R27, yes. It looks like this apparently.

I did not know that.

I've visited Eugene and Florence. The ocean in Oregon is so beautiful. The people were very kind, surprisingly so, and the coffee was delicious. I liked Eugene's hippie-dippie vibe, it felt like barely anyone lived there however.

Eastern Oregon, even though not green, is stunning too.

[quote]I always forget that half of Oregon is desert. I've never been east of Bend.

If you like to hike or backpack you should go to the Wallowas. The town of Joseph is small but very nice and there is a state park for camping that is very close to some incredible hikes and especially backpacking trails.

I'm an Oregonian and yeah, it's varied and mostly beautiful. I have a soft spot for the central/eastern desert part, as I spent the best bits of my childhood there.

Sadly, whenever I visit my family now (in the part where everyone lives, the Willamette Valley), another forest or meadow is gone, replaced by vast asphalt parking lots, big box stores, and ticky tacky housing developments. I know that's what happened everywhere there are humans, but to see it happening in real time is fucking depressing.

[quote]Oregon had a desert? Wtf?

It's more like barren grassland/ranchland - it's not like Arizona desert. And parts of eastern Oregon are forest.

I've lived in Oregon for 20 years and I think the most amazing thing I've seen here is Hells Canyon between Oregon and Idaho. It's phenomenal (it's deeper than the Grand Canyon), but no one goes there because it's so far from everything. But if you go to the Wallowas like R33 recommends, and you definitely should, make sure you go to Hells Canyon.

R33, I love hiking/camping and that sounds lovely. Thanks!

This thread is getting boring. How many of you have attended a gang bang in Oregon? I imagine it must be wet and cold…mushrooms growing out of your ass.

Colorado is beautiful as well.

Only half of it, r38.

Where do you live, OP?

I ask because I was born in Alaska, raised in Washington, and retired to Oregon and I’ve never met a PNW native who wasn’t sworn to silence about the region.

Seriously, you may discuss the horrific traffic in Seattle, the unending rain, the exorbitant housing prices, the proximity to Idaho, and the length of the lift lines at the ski areas, but you may NOT extol the virtues of the place.

I grew up in Portland in the 70’s and people complained about the rude Californians moving in way back then. I can remember my mom blaming Californians every time someone would piss her off while driving. R38, Colorado doesn’t even compare. Denver is one of the ugliest cities that I’ve ever visited. The mountain towns are pretty, but basic. Fundies everywhere.

It's hard to visit woodsy Oregon and not be charmed by some of those riverfront homes.

California has more varied and spectacular scenery, but Oregon is fabulous too, and California doesn't have a Painted Hills area!

Seriously, why aren't the Painted Hills and Blue Basin near John Day in eastern Oregon better known? The hills are amazing, huge bare red, white, and yellow hills with black accents to set off the color, with various other bizarrely colored volcanic rock formations nearby, including the Blue Basin. It's a long drive from an airport to be sure, but an amazing place and well worth a visit.

I can't find a good picture of the Blue Basin, but it's the second most unearthly place I've ever been, after Antarctica.

The walls of a small bare canyon are indeed faintly blue, layered with blue-green and pale peach-colored rock. It's a few hours drive from Portland, out in the dry country east of the Cascades, but damn. Take the Columbia River drive as far as possible, and check it out.

This place could be Datalounge Central.

What is Ashland like? All I know about is that they have their Shakespeare Festival there.

If an asteroid ever hits Runyon Canyon at sunset, half of the world's influencers would perish in seconds...

Wrong thread!

The people of Oregon and Washington obliterate the natural beauty - and hideous inlands - of these soon-to-blow paradises.

A46, Ashland is an oasis. It’s small, artsy, boho, progressive, tasteful, expensive, and you may see the occasional Prius that displays a NAMASTE, BITCHES bumper sticker. I love Ashland.

I expected the worst of Medford but it’s not the altogether godforsaken MAGA hellhole I had assumed it would be and, in its defense, you can find car washes and hardware stores there.

Is it easy to bang the busboy at your progressive vegan restaurants?

r40 I live in California.

Meh. What day is it supposed to be sunny there this year? I was underwhelmed by both OR and WA. I don't like mountains in general and hate ones that are volcanic, the beaches are lame compared to the East Coast ones, and your woods are just woods like anywhere else. Nothing special. Oh, and the people were miserable and badly dressed with no prospects.

Sure, but it's full of drunk drivers and serial killers.

R52, do you remember the DON’T CALIFORNICATE OREGON bumper stickers? I was a Washingtonian and a kid when they came out. I thought they were funny but not nice and might hurt Californians’ feelings. Everybody seemed to villainize California and I never got why.

Now I’m old and I villainize Idaho. I had a long and scary talk with an Aryan Nations guy at a remote reservoir there once and many years later did wolf advocacy, which put me on the other side of the fence from almost every living, breathing, voting Idahoan. Now I’m willing to go as long a way out of my way as I have to go just to miss that state entirely.