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Where Oregon’s Two Valleys Collide
The Calapooya Mountains cut about 60 miles through southwestern Oregon, splitting the Willamette Valley from the Umpqua Valley like a wall of rock and timber. Peaks top 6,000 feet.
Old-growth forest fills the canyons. Ghost towns from the gold rush sit quietly above the treeline, and waterfalls drop into pools cold enough to make you gasp.
The whole range runs between Eugene and Roseburg, and most people driving Interstate 5 have no idea it’s there. What you find when you turn off the highway is worth every mile of gravel road.
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Gold fever hit these mountains in 1858
Two peoples knew these mountains long before miners showed up…