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100 Cool Things About Lane County

1. The name Nimrod

2. Miles and miles of beaches that are not cluttered with cars and "Baywatch" cast members

3. Roadside mist

4. The annual Coburg Antique Fair, even if it seems blasphemous to sell Star Wars action figures as antiques

5. Picturesque covered bridges

6. Triangle Lake High, where homecoming feels like a real homecoming

7. Mennonite farmers harvesting their grass-seed crop in late summer

8. Summer sunsets from Fern Ridge - when the personal watercraft are on the other side of the lake

9. You can dig clams and go skiing on the same weekend

10. Footprints in the sand dunes

11. Taking an LTD bus home from McKenzie Bridge with your bike on front - after an unsuccessful attempt to ride the bike to the base of the Middle Sister and climb to the top

12. Hiking-biking-jogging pleasures along Row River Trail

13. Cloverdale Church

14. Big's Hi-Yu-He-He, the kitschy restaurant where the biscuits are as big as your head

15. Wild turkeys parading across the lawns of ranchettes in the Coburg Hills

16. That artful Kesey Memorial atop Mount Pisgah

17. Exploring the bumpy roads of the Bohemia Mining District

18. King Estate Winery, for sheer grandeur

19. If you drive a Volkswagen bus, you know that at least once a day someone else in a Volkswagen bus will wave at you

20. Belknap Hot Springs

21. The funky, laid-back feel of the Alpha-Bit country store in Mapleton

22. Our Daily Bread, a Veneta bakery housed in a fine old church

23. The rack of elk-hunting tapes at Creswell Video

24. Bird-watching at Fern Ridge Reservoir from the westernmost end of Royal Avenue - a road that the lake swallows each spring

25. Sea Lion Caves and all its glorious odors

26. That Nordic pioneer cemetery tucked amid towering fir trees west of Junction City

27. Fall hay rides at Lone Pine Farms

28. Monster Burgers at the Vida Cafe

29. Driving by peppermint fields, especially after dark

30. The incredible small-town quaintness of the Creswell Public Library

31. Cycling McKenzie View Drive

32. Strange, flesh-eating flora at Darlingtonia Botanical Wayside, north of Florence

33. Coffee and scones on the veranda overlooking Blue River at River's Edge Inn

34. Christmas tree farms

35. The model airplane field out by the Lane County landfill

36. Seavey Loop Road

37. Whistlestop Barbershop in Creswell - pure Americana

38. Heceta Head Lighthouse

39. Mo's clam chowder

40. Catching a glimpse of Lane County's only castle from Sears Road just south of Creswell

41. That over-the-top holiday hit you get walking into Christmas Treasures, on McKenzie Highway outside of Blue River

42. Fading sunlight on the Coburg Hills

43. Picnicking by glassy water at the Leaburg dam

44. Steam that hangs over rivers in the winter

45. Mom-and-pop bait shops

46. Whitewater!

47. Breakfast at the Sunrise Cafe in Pleasant Hill

48. A pure drive on the 16th at Tokatee - the Three Sisters watching from afar

49. Sounds of rushing water along the hiking trail that hugs Fall Creek

50. Catching a glimpse of the elk herd that roams east of Interstate 5 in the hills between Cottage Grove and Creswell

51. Just the name, Poodle Creek Road

52. Grange halls

53. Willamette Pass, the antithesis of Vail

54. Burgers from the little food stand at Dorena Reservoir's Baker Bay Park

55. Green Waters Park in Oakridge

56. Bird music: killdeer after dark, oystercatchers on the rocks, Canada geese flying low

57. A Friday night fiddler's dance in Franklin, northwest of Fern Ridge Reservoir

58. That hill on the east side of Interstate 5 between Eugene and Harrisburg that is so perfect it almost looks like a one-dimensional prop

59. Triangle Lake

60. The spills, chills and thrills of rafting the McKenzie River

61. Finding a quiet swimming hole along Fall Creek on a hot summer day

62. Camping above Cougar Reservoir (along the South Fork of the McKenzie) at super sites: French Pete, Dutch Oven, Homestead, Twin Springs

63. Southwest bike workout: Lorane Highway to Briggs Hill to Territorial to Crow Road and back

64. Watching ospreys circle over the Siuslaw River while enjoying a pint of good English beer or a pot of tea on a lazy afternoon

65. Armitage Park for a quiet lunch

66. The middle six holes at Sandpines, and how you can see four horizontal strips of color: blue sky, deep blue mountains, white sand, green fairways

67. Fishing your favorite river

68. Catching crawdads in a Coast Range creek

69. Visiting Proxy Falls in the summer or, better yet, skiing in from White Branch Sno Park in the winter

70. The orchards west of Noti on Highway 126, seeing their perfect alignment and their yearly growth

71. Biking the Aufderheide Forest Drive, or driving it in autumn

72. Soaking in Cougar Hot Springs after biking Aufderheide Forest Drive

73. Cross-country skiing from Gold Lake Sno Park in almost any direction

74. Huckleberry season at Waldo Lake

75. Salt Creek Falls

76. Oregon Country Fair

77. The sound of the fog horn at the mouth of the Siuslaw

78. Watching winter or spring storms roll in from a warm, safe haven along the coast

79. The exclusivity of fly-fishing-only waters: Gold Lake and the North Fork of the Middle Fork of the Willamette River

80. Cottage Theatre productions in Cottage Grove

81. Wine tasting at Hinman, LaVelle, Secret House, King, Chateau Lorane, RainSong and Houston vineyards

82. U-pick berries at area farms

83. Finding chanterelle mushrooms in the woods

84. Hiking to the top of Mount Pisgah on a clear day and gazing at the Three Sisters

85. Tenas Lake, near Scott Mountain, on the few days of the millennium when the mosquitos aren't bad

86. Flying in from Denver over the Coburg Hills, and being reminded of how many trees and fields this place still has

87. Black-and-white holsteins in a deep green field

88. The late-evening smell of smoke from the campground near Richardson Point on Fern Ridge Lake

89. Running down the face of a sand dune straight into Cleawox Lake at Honeyman Park

90. Motorcycling the back roads

91. Burp Holler (even better name than Poodle Creek)

92. Fiddler's Green, one of the largest golf stores in the West

93. Rolling down your window and smelling the sea breeze when you first arrive in Florence

94. McKenzie River trout hatchery

95. Honking your horn in the Highway 126 tunnel

96. Looking up through a leafy canopy at two side-by-side waterfalls at the bottom of the Kentucky Falls trail east of Mapleton

97. In August or September, the first sign of vine maple turning red on the McKenzie Pass

98. That round barn near Triangle Lake

99. Running on the McKenzie River Trail

100. How could we not list a place named Skookum Creek Campground?

November 21, 1999, The Register-Guard