Free Summer Activities in Cottage Grove, Oregon

My little home town of Cottage Grove, Oregon seems to come alive during the summer with a bounty of great activities and sights to see. Our historic downtown is full of shops, cafes, and beautiful murals.

Cottage Grove received the coveted All-American City award in 1968 & 2004 and is known as the "Covered Bridge Capital of the World". Whether this is accurate or not has never been determined, but our covered bridges have drawn people from all over the country. In fact, there is a covered bridge tour you can take.

If it's nature and outdoor activities that you like, there is a lot to choose from here. There are two lakes located on either side of town about 6 miles out. Cottage Grove Lake is three miles long and covers 1,158 acres when it is full. There is swimming, fishing, boating, picnicking, and campgrounds available surrounding the lake. There is also a serene trail that circled the entire lake for an early morning run or just a scenic walk.

Dorena Lake is the larger of the two lakes and covers 1,900 acres when it's full. This lake also features camping, boating, swimming, and picnicking.

Just beyond Dorena Lake is the Umpqua National Forest which boasts 984,602 acres of mountain woodlands full of hiking trails, campgrounds, picnicking spots and waterfalls. Another great trail system for walking, biking or horseback riding is the Row River Trail, it begins in town and winds 17 miles along the Row River, passing Dorena Lake along the way.

If you love events and festivals, we have some of the greatest around. The Cottage Grove Grower's Market is located down town every Saturday from May 26-October 6, and offers a wide variety of home-grown and home-made goods. The Concert in the Park Series at Coiner Park, will get you hopping with a different local singer/group every Wednesday night from June 27^th to August 29^th.

Some of our most well-known events include the ones surrounding our great sense of community here in Cottage Grove and include the Cottage Grove Rodeo (July 6-7), our Relay for Life event (June 22-23) and our car festivals, the South Lane Cruisers Car Club (July 28) and Cascade Corvette Club (August 10-12).

Our two festivals that are held throughout the summer are a remembrance and celebration of the founding livelihood of this area and its settlers. Bohemia Mining Days is a four day affair with a carnival, parade, beauty pageant, breakfast up at the mines and lots of great fun. This festival runs from July 19-22, for more information on this celebration, call 541-942-5064.

Our second beloved festival is the W.O.E. Cottage Grove Family Fair and Timber Show. This fair features vendors selling old time crafts and items, animal judging, timber contests, bingo, and activities for the whole family.

As you can see there is a ton of great things to come explore in Cottage Grove, Oregon during our beautiful summer months. With a high temperature reaching 90 degrees in August, and our average summer temperature around 77 degrees, we are a great place to visit for a nice mild summer vacation.

The Pacific Ocean is only 1 ½ hours away and it's a beautiful scenic drive to get there. For more information about all that Cottage Grove has to offer, please visit our City of Cottage Grove (www.cottagegrove.org) and Chamber of Commerce sites (www.cgchamber.com).