The Umpqua River has been carving its path through the Oregon Coast Range for 50 million years, long before the mountains themselves existed. On this self-guided driving tour, you'll follow it from the sun-baked Umpqua Valley to the tidal edge of the continent. You'll discover how timber barons, Gold Rush merchants, and pioneering communities shaped this stretch of the Oregon Coast.

Starting in Sutherlin, you'll detour to a 1933 covered bridge before the landscape shifts dramatically from oak-studded hills to moss-draped maples. Pass through the Elkton AVA, where marine breezes create ideal conditions for Pinot Noir that regularly beats wines costing three times as much. Stop at Dean Creek to watch Roosevelt Elk — the largest elk subspecies in North America — graze across dedicated BLM meadows.

The tour ends at the Umpqua Discovery Center in Reedsport, where a wooden boardwalk offers an unobstructed view of the river making its final push into the Pacific.