: Umpqua Valley Farmers Market

Road Trip: Roseburg

October 29, 2012 (Updated June 26, 2014)

Settled in the 1850s and proud to hold some of the early roots of Oregon winemaking, Roseburg’s 21,000 residents give the town a not-too-big, not-too-small, friendly feel. Visit Roseburg for a trip through history and wine country.

Featured on the Umpqua Valley Wine Trail, HillCrest Vineyard is one of the oldest continually operating post-prohibition estate wineries in Oregon.
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History Afoot

Use your smartphone to take the interactive Blast Tour of downtown Roseburg. The route documents the explosion that rocked an eight-block radius of the city on Aug. 7, 1959, and includes historic homes like the Floed-Lane House and other historic buildings. A visit to the Douglas County Museum illuminates this timber town’s roots in the nearby Umpqua National Forest.

Covered Bridges

Visit the six lovely covered bridges set along quiet country roads in Douglas County near Roseburg. Built in the 1850s, the wooden structures span local waterways.

Taste Umpqua Country

Some of the oldest modern grapevines were planted here in the 1960s (with German immigrants first producing wine even earlier in the 1880s), making the Umpqua Valley one of the oldest wine making regions in the state. One of five sub-regions on the Southern Oregon AVA, the Umpqua Valley Wine Trail is home to more than 23 wineries.

Get Outside

From Highway 138 east of town, drive the Rogue-Umpqua National Scenic Byway toward Diamond Lake for a tour of the “Highway of the Waterfalls.” Along the way, you can explore more than a dozen cataracts, including Watson Falls, a 272-foot cascade.

About The
Author

Eileen Garvin
Eileen Garvin lives and writes in Hood River. When she’s not hunched over her keyboard or digging in the garden, you can find her mountain biking, kiteboarding, hiking, skiing or camping somewhere in Oregon.