Best things to do in Medford

Upper Table Rock and Lower Table Rock are two prominent volcanic plateaus located just north of the Rogue River in Jackson County, Oregon, U.S. Created by an andesitic lava flow approximately seven million years ago and shaped by erosion, they now stand about 800 feet (240 m) above the surrounding Rogue Valley. The Table Rocks are jointly owned; The Nature Conservancy is responsible for 3,591 acres (1,453 ha), while the Bureau of Land Management is responsible for 1,280 acres (520 ha).

Native Americans have inhabited the Table Rocks area for at least 15,000 years before European-American settlement. Starting in the mid-19th century during a gold rush, the settlers forced the Takelma tribe away from the Table Rocks and into reservations. The surrounding area was quickly developed. The Table Rock post office was established in 1872, an airstrip was built atop Lower Table Rock in 1948, and a very high frequency omni-directional range (VOR) aviation tower was constructed on Upper Table Rock in the 1960s. The Table Rocks were not protected until the 1970s.

The rocks are home to over 70 species of animals and 340 species of plants, which includes over 200 species of wildflowers. Vernal pools atop the plateaus fill during the rainy season in winter and spring because the andesite is impermeable. The dwarf woolly meadowfoam, a species of wildflower, grows around these pools, and is endemic to the rocks. The pools are also one of only a few places where the federally threatened species of fairy shrimp, Branchinecta lynchi, can be found. To protect these and other threatened species, the Bureau of Land Management has listed the rocks as an Area of Critical Environmental Concern since 1984.

The Table Rocks are one of the most popular hiking locations in the Rogue Valley, with over 45,000 visitors annually. Two trails, Lower Table Rock Trail and Upper Table Rock Trail, were cut across the plateaus' slopes in the early 1980s by the Youth Conservation Corps, Boy Scouts, and the Oregon Department of Forestry. This effort was coordinated by John Ifft, a forester for the Medford Office of the BLM.

The plateaus are named for their relatively flat tops. Upper and Lower refer to their location along the Rogue River, not their height. Upper Table Rock, 2,091 feet (637 m) above sea level at its highest point, is located upstream, while Lower Table Rock is farther downstream, with an elevation of 2,049 feet (625 m).

Create memories of Southern Oregon's wilderness that will stay imprinted on your mind forever by whitewater rafting or tubing on the area's scenic rivers. You'll enjoy this activity with an experienced guide, who'll work hard to keep you safe and entertained while rushing through the rapids that'll make your heart beat a little fast. You'll also be able to plunge off the raft into the crystal waters as you come to a calm spot, pick blackberries on the shore, or enjoy an organic meal. You can choose between day trips and multi-day journeys.

In the middle of Ashland, Lithia Park houses a forest growing along a stream. The area's high concentration of lithium oxide inspired the name of the park. Duck ponds and a Japanese Zen garden make this place particularly peaceful. There are playgrounds, tennis courts, and an ice skating rink in the winter. The park is fenced and is very dog friendly.

Known for its deep blue color and clear waters, Crater Lake National Park formed in a collapsed volcano. The lake is more than a protected ecosystem, it is also a sacred place to the Klamath tribe, who researchers think may have witnessed the collapse of the volcano. You'll be able to see another legendary aspect of the lake as well. "Old Man of the Lake," once a tree, now a stump, has bobbed in the lake for centuries. Crater Lake National Park boasts hiking trails and lookout points all around its rim.

Located in southwestern Oregon and extending into California, the Forest ranges from the crest of the Cascades Mountains, west into the Siskiyou Mountains, nearly to the Pacific Ocean. The Forest covers almost 1.8 million acres, including portions of the Applegate and Illinois River drainages that extend into northern California.

The Supervisor's Office is located in Medford, Oregon, with 5 Ranger Districts across the Forest: High Cascades, Siskiyou Mountains, Wild Rivers, Gold Beach, and Powers. Field offices remain in the communities of Prospect, Butte Falls, Ruch, Grants Pass, Cave Junction, Gold Beach, and Powers. The Forest also is home of the J. Herbert Stone Nursery, located near Central Point.

The Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest embraces a treasure of botanical diversity, and is home to incredible wild and scenic rivers, isolated wilderness, outstanding fisheries and wildlife resources, and breathtaking landscapes of mountains, meadows, streams, and lakes.

The National Forest Foundation, chartered by Congress, engages Americans in community-based and national programs that promote the health and public enjoyment of the 193-million-acre National Forest System and administers private gifts of funds and land for the benefit of the National Forests. http://www.nationalforests.org/

The Forest Service manages a system of 155 National Forests, 20 National Grasslands, and 222 Research and Experimental Forests, as well as other special areas, covering more than 192 million acres of public land. The Forest Service has evolved into a 30,000 employee agency that manages the National Forests for a number of multiple uses, including recreation, timber, wilderness, minerals, water, grazing, fish, and wildlife.

See more than 500 animals roaming freely throughout a 243 hectare (600 acre) park when you visit Wildlife Safari. Drive through the 2.4 km (4.5 mi) stretch to view animals from around the world in open spaces, and see many animals up close. After the drive, wander through the safari village to see even more animals, the White Rhino Event Center, gardens, a playground, gift shop, and cafe. Inside the village, explore the petting zoo and Australia walkabout exhibit, where you can enter with an enclosure with wallaroos. You can sign up for special encounters, such as lion and bear feedings, cheetah walking and petting, camel rides, and camping.

The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) is a regional repertory theatre in Ashland, Oregon, United States, founded in 1935 by Angus L. Bowmer. The Festival now offers matinee and evening performances of a wide range of classic and contemporary plays not limited to Shakespeare. During the Festival, between five and eleven plays are offered in daily rotation six days a week in its three theatres. It welcomed its millionth visitor in 1971, its 10-millionth in 2001, and its 20-millionth visitor in 2015. At any given time between five and eleven plays are offered in daily rotation six days a week in its three theatres.

Lava Beds National Monument is a place where you can smell the sage and juniper, listen to birds, and hike miles of lava flows or developed trails. Volcanic eruptions on the Medicine Lake shield volcano have created an incredibly rugged landscape punctuated by cinder cones, lava flows, spatter cones, lava tube caves and pit craters. Explore caves created by the sudden cooling of lava flows, or visit the site of the only Indian war in California at the historic Captain Jack’s Stronghold. The Stronghold, a natural lava fortress, is where a small band of 53 warriors and their families led by Captain Jack held off a force 20 times its size for five months. Just south of the Lava Beds is Medicine Lake ’s volcano, one of the largest shield volcanoes in the world. In actual mass, this volcano is larger than Mt. Shasta . Millions of eruptions over half a million years were gentle rather than explosive, covering more than 750 square miles of landscape with lava. A visit Glass Mountain offers fields of obsidian shining in the sun like black diamonds. At the crest of the mountain, Medicine Lake is a great place for camping, swimming and fishing.

To learn more about Lava Beds please visit our website: www.nps.gov/labe

Seven Feathers Casino Resort is a 298-room, AAA three-star hotel and casino located in Canyonville, Oregon, United States. The casino is owned by the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians. At 232,500 square feet (21,600 m2), with 68,000 square feet (6,300 m2) of gaming space, it is the largest facility of its kind in Southern Oregon. The resort attracts over one million visitors annually.

Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve is a protected area in the northern Siskiyou Mountains of southwestern Oregon in the United States. The 4,554-acre (1,843 ha) park, including the marble cave, is 20 miles (32 km) east of Cave Junction, on Oregon Route 46. The protected area, managed by the National Park Service (NPS), is in southwestern Josephine County, near the Oregon–California border.

Elijah Davidson, a resident of nearby Williams, discovered the cave in 1874. Over the next two decades, private investors failed in efforts to run successful tourist ventures at the publicly owned site. After passage of the Antiquities Act by the United States Congress, in 1909 President William Howard Taft established Oregon Caves National Monument, to be managed by the United States Forest Service (USFS). The growing popularity of the automobile, construction of paved highways, and promotion of tourism by boosters from Grants Pass led to large increases in cave visitation during the late 1920s and thereafter. Among the attractions at the remote monument is the Oregon Caves Chateau, a six-story hotel built in a rustic style in 1934. It is a National Historic Landmark and is part of the Oregon Caves Historic District within the monument. The NPS, which assumed control of the monument in 1933, offers tours of the cave from mid-April through early November. In 2014, the protected area was expanded by about 4,000 acres (1,600 ha) and re-designated a National Monument and Preserve. At the same time, the segment of the creek that flows through the cave was renamed for the mythological Styx and added to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System.

Oregon Caves is a solutional cave, with passages totaling about 15,000 feet (4,600 m), formed in marble. The parent rock was originally limestone that metamorphosed to marble during the geologic processes that created the Klamath Mountains, including the Siskiyous. Although the limestone formed about 190 million years ago, the cave itself is no older than a few million years. Valued as a tourist cave, the cavern also has scientific value; sections of the cave that are not on tour routes contain fossils of national importance.

Activities at the park include cave touring, hiking, photography, and wildlife viewing. One of the park trails leads through the forest to Big Tree, which at 13 feet (4.0 m) is the widest Douglas fir known in Oregon. Lodging and food are available at The Chateau and in Cave Junction. Camping is available in the preserve at the Cave Creek Campground, at a local USFS campground, and private sites in the area.

Mount Shasta (Shasta: Waka-nunee-Tuki-wuki; Karuk: Úytaahkoo) is a potentially active volcano at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California. At an elevation of 14,179 feet (4,321.8 meters), it is the second-highest peak in the Cascades and the fifth-highest in the state. Mount Shasta has an estimated volume of 85 cubic miles (350 cubic kilometers), which makes it the most voluminous stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc.

The mountain and surrounding area are part of the Shasta–Trinity National Forest.

DANCIN is a family owned, artisan producer of Pinot noir, Chardonnay, Syrah, Barbera and Port cradled within the western forested foothills of Southern Oregon just above the gold rush inspired community of Jacksonville, Oregon.

DANCIN is a love story. It is the marriage of science and art. The pairing of simple Italian fare and fine wine. And the sincere passion of Dan and Cindy.