Outdoor Recreation
Cottage Grove is a friendly, recreation and family-oriented small town located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley. We have many opportunities for vacationers, from the hard core mountain bike rider to the camper who wants to sit next to a lake and just relax.
Hikers and campers find the nearby Umpqua National Forest challenging with waterfalls, crystal clear streams and the colorful Bohemia Mining District that offers a variety of views and historic ruins. Brice Creek Trail, traversing a scenic, rocky creek with numerous small waterfalls and pools, is a popular place to spend a summer afternoon (Cottage Grove Ranger Station 541-767- 5000). The Row River Trail, a paved 16 mile rail-trail, provides a family-friendly ride alongside Dorena Lake, with livestock filled pastures, and beautiful forests. Trail use is free.
As the Covered Bridge Capital of the West, Cottage Grove is home to six covered bridges including the last remaining covered railroad bridge West of the Mississippi River. The Chambers Railroad Bridge is on the National Registry of Historic Places and was fully restored in 2011. There is also a State of Oregon Covered Bridge Scenic Byway as well as the Covered Bridges Scenic Bikeway, which is incredibly popular with cyclists and pedestrians alike. If you’re a bicycle enthusiast, click here for other area bicycle rides you won't want to miss!
Dorena Lake and Cottage Grove Lake, located only minutes from the downtown area, offer overnight and day picnicking opportunities as well as boating, fishing, swimming and camping. Fishing and angling are available at Row River, below the Dorena Dam, and in Dorena Lake itself. Fishermen catch both trout and catfish in Dorena Lake, and rainbow and cutthroat trout in Row River. Dorena Lake is also famous for its windsurfing.
A variety of indoor and outdoor, year-round, organized recreation activities are offered for the youth in South Lane County through South Valley Athletics (SVA) and South Lane School District. Seasonal activities include soccer, baseball, T-ball, pee-wee baseball, girls’ softball, volleyball, flag football and basketball. South Lane School District also provides year-round recreation swimming for all ages at the Warren Daugherty Pool. Adult programs are offered on a limited basis. Golfers have two courses to choose from - Middlefield Golf Course, along the Row River, and Hidden Valley Golf Course at the foot of Mount David.