Synopses & Reviews
Emmy Award–winning journalist and fifth-generation Oregon native Grant McOmie provides travelers with an in depth guide to 101 of the best Oregon destinations featured in his popular television series Grant’s Getaways, produced by KGW-TV and Travel Oregon. Come along with Grant McOmie as he explores family-friendly destinations and day trips across the width and breadth of Oregon. From kayaking in Netarts Bay, riding a jet boat on the Rogue River, and fishing for Deschutes River steelhead to exploring Lava River Cave in the Newberry Volcanic National Monument, digging for fossils in the John Day Basin, and riding mountain bikes at Black Rock, Grant’s Getaways: 101 Oregon Adventures has an outdoor adventure for everyone. The book is organized by the month in which the television segment was filmed, and features 75 photographs from Grant’s outdoor adventures. Also included are travel tips such as “What to Know if You Go” and “Best Time of the Year” as well as access information.
Review
“No one knows how to get more out of our amazing state than Grant McOmie. He's been showing us how to enjoy the best stuff along the back roads and beyond for a long time. I suspect he might actually be trying to get away from the question everyone asks him — 'How do I get your job?' — but I'm thankful Grant's made it so easy for all of us to... get away.” Paul Linnman, KEX 1190 radio personality, and author of The Exploding Whale and Oregon Golf
Review
“I've been a fan of Grant McOmie since his cub reporter days in Seattle. He is the voice of the great Pacific Northwest outdoors. Capturing not only the story of the destination, but sharing the legends, yarns, and accounts of the personalities that make Oregon this unique place we call home. Great read, makes me want to get outdoors even more!” John Williams, creator/host of Wheelchair Destinations
Review
“Grant has long been a favorite of mine and now he's sharing the how, what, where, and when of his insightful outdoor adventures. Whether tree climbing, cooking up a crawfish boil, digging clams and fossils, kayaking, snowshoeing, or soaring skyward, Grant offers 101 concise vignettes that intrigue and encourage us to lace up our boots and get out there. As Grant so aptly puts, 'Why live here if you don't go searching for those singular moments which set Oregon apart.' Amen.” MJ Cody, co-editor of Wild in the City
About the Author
Grant McOmie is a Pacific Northwest journalist, author, and teacher who writes and produces stories and special programs about the people, places, outdoor activities, and environmental issues of the Pacific Northwest. A fifth-generation Oregon native, Grant is a graduate of Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, and he continued graduate studies in Journalism, English and Speech Communications at the University of Washington and the University of Portland (Master of Arts).
Grant began his broadcast career at Portland's KGW-TV in 1981, and then worked at other stations in Seattle and Portland. He returned to KGW in 2008. He currently stars in the ongoing series Grants Getaways for KGW-TV and Travel Oregon. While he has had a varied career reporting and producing topical and timely environmental news stories, features and documentary programs, its been the exploration of the Pacific Northwest back roads and byways that he has enjoyed the most. Sharing those journeys of discovery with readers and viewers has provided the greatest personal rewards and the dominant themes in his work.
Grant has received significant awards for his work, including numerous Emmy Awards from the National Academy of Television Arts, most recently a 2011-12 Emmy for Feature Reporting. He shares the distinct honor of the Edward R. Murrow Award for News Coverage from the Radio-Television News Directors Association, as well as many Oregon AP and OAB News Awards over the past three decades.
Table of Contents
GRANT’S GETAWAYS: 101 Oregon Adventures
Contents listed by best month to visit:
JANUARY
1-Eco Pub/Hopworks Brew Pub
2-Adventures Without Limits
3-Heritage Trees
4-Dinosaurs with Fins @Bonneville Hatchery
5-Fort Yamhill SP
6-McKenzie River Valley- Belknap Hot Springs
7-Mush Puppies/Jerry Scdoris
8-Elkhorn Wildlife Area Elk Tour
FEBRUARY
9-Rice Rocks Gem Museum
10-Romance of Waterfalls
11-Erratic Rocks SP
12-Snow Shoes to Trillium Lake
13-OHV Tillamook State Forest
14-Cape Perpetua Scenic Area
15-Klamath Refuge/Eagle Celebration
16-Hot Lake Springs Resort
MARCH
17-Magness Farm and World Forestry Center
18-Aquatic Invasive Species/Marine Patrol
19-Kayak Tillamook/Netarts
20-Drift Creek Trail and Niagara Falls
21-White River Wildlife Area
22-Covered Bridges of Linn County
23-Cottage Grove Scenic Bikeway
24-Wildlife Safari
25-Friend to the Critters/Wildlife Images
APRIL
26-Soar like an Eagle
27-Tree-to-Tree Adventure
28-Rowena/CG Scenic Hwy
29-Holleywood Ranch Petrified Wood
30-Mt Hood Sc Drive/Parkdale & Lost Lake
31-Razor Clams/Horseneck Clams
32-Cape Lookout Hike – Whale Watch
33-Kam Wah Chung Museum
34-Oasis in the Desert-Malheur Wildlife Refuge Frenchglen/Round Barn/Diamond Craters
MAY
35-Saddle Mtn, Spruce Run, Nehalem Falls
36-Ki-A-Kuts Falls
37-Nestucca River Scenic Byway
38-Mary’s Peak
39-Valley of the Giants
40-Upper Willamette: Black Canyon Campground, Willamette Hatchery Museum, Salt Springs Falls, Odell Lake
41-Green Peter Reservoir
42-Klamath Canoe Trail
43-Klamath Trout Fishing
JUNE
44-Up, Up and Away/Newberg Hot Air Balloons
45-ODFW-Heritage Foundation: First Hand Oregon
46-ODFW Trout Airlift
47-Soft Sides of an Iron Giant/Iron Mtn Hike
48-Newberry Crater/Paulina Lake
49-A River Runs Through It/Metolius
50-La Pine State Park, Lava River Cave, Lava Butte, Lava Cast Forest
51-Diamond Lake is Fishy Again!
52-Three for One/Sunset, Shore Acres, C Arago
(also Xmas Lighting at Shore Acres)
JULY
53-Youth Outdoor/Becoming Outdoors Woman
54-Black Rock Mtn Bike Trails
55-Nestucca Bay Wildlife Refuge/Whalen Is SP
56-Santiam Horseback Trail
57-Oakridge Mountain Bikes
58-High Cascade Canoe/Sparks Lake
59- Palisades SP/Cove Houseboats
60-Oregon Caves National Monument and Lodge*
61-Rogue River Jet Boat
AUGUST
62-Disc Golf @Stub Stewart SP
63-Trask River Crawfish
64-Huckleberry Hounds
65-Climbing Old Growth Trees
66-Siltcoos River Canoe Trail
67-J. Day Fossil Beds/Digging Fossils/Wheeler HS
68-Crater Lake Boat Tour
69-Swiss Alps of the West- Wallowa Lake SP
SEPTEMBER
70-Taking Aim at Archery
71-Bald Peak State Park and Wheatland Ferry
72-Tillamook Bay Chinook Fishing
73-Trail of 10 Falls/Silver Falls
74-All Hands on Deck/Newport
75-Wolf Creek Inn and Golden SP
76-South Slough National Estuarine Reserve
77-Deschutes River Steelhead
OCTOBER
78-Afoot and Afloat Fall Colors/Tualatin Refuge
79-Historic Cemeteries
80-Chanterelle Mushroom Hunt
81-Walk on the Wildside/Wildwood Rec Area
82-ODFW Crabbing Class (Oct)
83-Bonney Butte Raptors
84-The Oregon Birding Trail/Willamette Valley
85-Sumpter Dredge
NOVEMBER
86-Fernhill and Jackson Bottom Wetlands
87-Sandy River Gorge Preserve
88-Wheelchair Destinations
89-Sauvie Island Sandhills
90-Down by the Ol’Mill Stream/Thompson’s Mills SP
91-All Oregon Boat
92-Secrets in the Sand/Lincoln City
93-Ladd Marsh Wildlife Area
DECEMBER
94-Wild in the City/Portland Intertwine
95-Smith Bybee Lakes
96-Columbia River Highway 30
97-Twilight Eagle Sanctuary
98-Snow Play on the Mtn
99-Jewell Elk
100-Deep Tracks/Snow Shoe Deschutes Forest
101-High Desert Museum