This fall, 200 ornaments will be hidden in the woods of Oregon. Here’s how to find them

Like the kids on “The Goonies” looking for One-Eyed Willy’s pirate ship or the kids on “Stand By Me” on, uh, different adventures, Oregonians love a good treasure hunt.

This fall, the state is celebrating one of its many annual treasure hunts Willamette Valley Jewel Huntwhich hides dangling ornaments from treetops in our local woods.

This year’s event, which runs from November 15 to December 25, will see 200 wooden ornaments hidden along 24 trails through the Willamette and Umpqua National Forests.

The Willamette Valley Visitors Association, which organizes the ornament hunt, will announce specific routes to find this year’s ornaments on Nov. 15 at willamettevalley.org/ornament.

Anyone who finds an ornament can keep it and also enter to win the grand prize of one night at the Independence Hotel on the Willamette River, a free tasting at 4 Spirits Distillery in Corvallis and one night at the Best Western Premier Boulder Falls Inn in Lebanon with two with free meals at the hotel restaurant 1847. The winner will receive a recommended 2-day travel itinerary.

Treasure hunters are asked to take one ornament per household and follow the trail Leave no traces principles while staying in the forest.

The woods where the jewels will be hidden, including the areas around Sweet Home and Cottage Grove, as well as the trails near the Mackenzie River and Detroit Lake, offer stunning views, towering waterfalls and quiet forests, perfect for a day hike. you will not find any treasure.

—Jamie Hale covers travel and nature walks and is a co-host The Peak Northwest Podcast. Contact him at 503-294-4077, [email protected] or @HaleJamesB.

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