My family moved to the Illinois Valley in Oregon’s southwest corner when I was just a few years old, where my conscious memories begin and my formative years flew by. Growing up in one of Oregon’s most lush and simultaneously rugged areas, the same valley where my mother spent her own childhood, I find myself often thinking about the river valleys and mountains of home no matter how far I travel today.

The perfect outdoor playground, the Illinois Valley has everything to offer in the realm of recreation, from hiking mountaintops to swimming in emerald pools and waterfalls or even stepping into the depths of a cave hundreds of feet below the earth’s surface. If you haven’t found your way to the magic hidden in Oregon’s southwest corner yet, I highly recommend it for folks of all ages.