The Best Museums

Portland Art Museum: Although the main focus is on bringing blockbuster, touring shows to town, the Portland Art Museum recently added a new wing for contemporary and modern art. The museum also has respectable collections of Native American artifacts and Northwest contemporary art.

Evergreen Aviation Museum (McMinnville): Looking like a cross between a gigantic airplane hangar and a huge barn, this museum is home to Howard Hughes's "Spruce Goose," the largest wooden plane ever built. There are also plenty of smaller planes on display to provide a little perspective for this behemoth of the air.

Jensen Arctic Museum (Monmouth): This museum is not very big, but it contains an amazingly diverse collection of artifacts from the Arctic. Even more surprising than the thoroughness of the collection is the fact that the museum is here in Oregon, not in Alaska.

Columbia River Maritime Museum (Astoria): Located near the mouth of the Columbia River, this large modern museum has fascinating exhibits on the Coast Guard and the dangerous waters at the mouth of the river.

Favell Museum of Western Art and Indian Artifacts (Klamath Falls): This museum houses an overwhelming assortment of Native American artifacts, including thousands of arrowheads, spear points, and other stone tools.

The Museum at Warm Springs (Warm Springs Reservation): Set in a remote valley in central Oregon, this modern museum houses an outstanding collection of artifacts from the area's Native American tribes.

The High Desert Museum (Bend): With its popular live-animal exhibits, this is more a zoo than a museum, but exhibits also offer glimpses into the history of the vast and little-known high desert that stretches from the Cascades eastward to the Rocky Mountains.

National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center at Flagstaff Hill (Baker City): The lives of 19th-century pioneers, who gave up everything to venture overland to the Pacific Northwest, are documented at this evocative museum. Set atop a hill in sagebrush country, the museum overlooks wagon ruts left by pioneers.