Bringing the Suits to the Boots in Oregon

In a time of sky-rocketing fuel and food costs, the country comes to the rescue. The Oregon Country Trails is an eco-tourism system that offers a “buy local” package of food, recreation and entertainment.

Formed three years ago as an organized model of branded rural tourism attractions, The Oregon Country Trails is Oregon’s first eco-tourism system representing 85 local getaways, overnight stays, open barns, farms and ranches, fishing and swimming holes, fish hatcheries, unique country diners and restaurants, organic produce, grass-fed beef, poultry, pork, lamb, eggs, milk and cream, historical gardens, rural festivals and events, art galleries, wood shops, vegetable stands, fruit farms, fuchsia gardens, quilt shops, mercantiles, handcrafted goat cheeses, wineries, golf courses, tasting rooms, chocolate hazelnut farms, farmer’s markets, yurt stays, bicycling campgrounds, alpacas, sheep petting zoos, wildlife sanctuaries—even arctic wolves!

Divided into four driving routes or “trails,” in Lane, Benton and Lincoln counties, the Oregon Country Trails has packaged the rural experience with brochures, maps, and a usable website giving the urban visitor a place to go in the country and reason to get out of the car. Founder, Danuta Pfeiffer explains, “More importantly, it connects the urban visitor to the source of local healthy food and recreation. And in return, this helps with rural sustainability. It’s good to see rural alliances formed and communities come together where no community existed before.”

There’s power in numbers and festivals and collaborative promotion gives the rural vender exposure they couldn’t otherwise afford.

“In fact,” Pfeiffer notes, “In a time of scarcity of food and fuel, it will be the countryside and its producers that will keep our country running–not the cities. It’s a good idea to form alliances between the suits and the boots now, that will support us in the future.”

Learn more about Oregon Country Trails