Guide to Eugene: how to get there and where to stay, what to see and where to go in the evening. Best things to do in Eugene: fresh reviews and photos, places to see, branded entertainment and shopping.
According to toppharmacyschools, Eugene is a large city in the Pacific Northwest, the third largest in the state of Oregon. It is located near the confluence of the Willamette and Mackenzie rivers, about 80 km from the ocean. Eugene is best known for being home to the state university. In addition, the area around is very beautiful and great for outdoor recreation. Eugene’s official motto is: “A great city for art and outings.”
The Oregon County Fair, which takes place the second weekend of July, is one of the biggest hippie gatherings in the country. Visitors will find tons of great food, as well as handmade products and goods.
How to get to Eugene
Eugene Airport receives aircraft from Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and Phoenix. It is located a few kilometers from the city, and public transport does not go there. Daily Amtrak trains connect the city with Seattle, Portland and Vancouver. However, from Seattle you will get here by car in just 2 hours.
A bit of history
The city was named after its founder, Eugene Skinner, who built the first hut here. Later, when Eugene was considered a city, Skinner launched a ferry service across the Willamette River, where the Ferry Street Bridge stands today. The main impetus for the development of Eugene was the opening of the university in 1876, which turned the unremarkable town into a promising place.
Entertainment and attractions in Eugene
The Museum of Natural and Cultural History at the University of Oregon is located on 15th Avenue and features, among other things, a copy of an Indian wigwam and other Native American artifacts and art. They include elaborate wicker baskets and what is claimed to be the world’s oldest pair of shoes. In 2013, an exhibition of fossils found in Oregon was added to other exhibitions.
The Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art is also located at the University of Oregon and is housed in a beautiful and distinctive stone building with a patio. The exhibition features more than 13 thousand exhibits with a special focus on Asian art. These are works including Korean, Japanese and Russian authors. The pearls of the collection are a Korean screen of 10 panels and a Thai statue of a standing Buddha in gold leaf. Every first Friday of the month, admission to the museum is free.
For those with a bit of time to spare, it will be nice to just walk around the university campus, where you can see some beautiful old buildings from the 1800s. buildings such as Dedy Hall and Gilbert Hall. Also noteworthy are MacArthur Court and the old cemetery near it.
The rhododendron garden in the Hendrik forest park, opened in 1951, is especially beautiful in spring: the rhododendron flowering season begins in February and peaks in April-May. Not only is everything blooming here, but the park also offers an excellent view of the downtown. More than 6 thousand plants have been planted in the garden, forming intricate ornaments. And in the park itself, bicentennial trees grow, which go around many walking paths.
Eugene became the second home for the legendary Greatful Grandfather, plus Ken Kesey spent the last years of his life here and died. Therefore, the city has a fairly large hippie community – Eugene is sometimes called the “Mecca of hippies.”
The Oregon Air and Space Museum opened in 1991 and is a non-profit, donation-supported enterprise. Nevertheless, there are some rather interesting exhibits here, including the Fokker Dr 1 triplane, the Grumman A-6E Intruder and a replica of the Japanese Zero aircraft. In addition, in the museum you can see ammunition and aircraft engines.
The Shelton-McMurphy House is one of the oldest mansions in the Willamette Valley. It was built in 1888 by one of the first white settlers and today is surrounded by a small pretty park. Inside the wooden house in the style of Queen Anne is a museum.
The people of Eugene are said to love their coffee, their microbreweries and their nature. The level of social responsibility here is manifested in care for the environment and efforts to reduce the level of consumption. Therefore, for a hippie town, it is quite clean here.
Skinner’s Little Hill is a lone hill in the northern part of the city, on which a municipal park was opened in 1914. It was on this hill that Skinner built his first hut on the advice of local Indians to protect himself from the floods of the river. The hill and the park are surrounded by many hiking trails. In addition, on the western side of the hill there is a basalt quarry that was mined until the 1930s and is now popular with rock climbers. Here, in the park, stands the beautiful Shelton McMurphy-Johnson Mansion, a Queen Anne-style residence built in 1880 for the family that once owned the whole hill. Before the overgrown trees obscured the building, it was called the “Castle on the Hill”. On the other side of the hill, one can make out a large letter “O” visible from the city – the emblem of the university.
The second noteworthy hill on the other side of the city is Spencer’s Hill, which is south of Eugene. A park is also laid out here, and this hill is much higher – almost 630 m. This is a good place for walks that do not require special physical training.
The Eugene Saturday Market has been open all-weather since 1970 and is considered the oldest open-air market of its kind in the United States. A prerequisite: everything that is sold on the market is made or grown by the seller.
Alton Baker Park is a luxury destination for cyclists and joggers. This about 400-acre park stretches along the river and features the nearly 20-kilometer Route Bascom Bicycle Trail that spans both river banks and is connected to downtown via the DeFazio Bicycle Bridge. In addition, there is a science factory and a children’s museum in the park, which is popular not only with children.
4 things to do in Eugene:
- Go to the Oregon wine cellar in downtown. Here you can taste and buy wines from more than 150 Oregon
- See the monument to Ken Kesey.
- Eat a bacon donut at a branch of the world’s scariest Portland donut shop, Voodoo Donuts. Branch opened on Broadway.
- In the evening, check out Sam Bond’s, Eugene’s favorite club in an old garage that hosts free bluegrass jams on Thursdays, serves delicious organic pizza, and has a pretty patio for summer parties.
Eugene Events
The Oregon County Fair, which takes place the second weekend of July, is one of the biggest hippie gatherings in the country. Visitors will find tons of great food, as well as handmade products and goods. The city festival takes place in early autumn, capturing the entire downtown. The program includes live concerts, street performers, vendors and a Sunday morning parade. In October, Eugene hosts the three-day Clayfest, a pottery festival that brings together over 60 artists from across the state to showcase and sell their craft.
And the Art and Wine Festival has been held annually for more than 30 years in Alton Baker Park. It starts on July 4 and lasts for 4 days, more than a dozen local wineries display their products on the street these days for tasting and buying. In addition, live music is played at the festival, all sorts of handmade things are sold, and you can enjoy something delicious.
