Places westcoastspirit Wants to Go

On East Burnside, a 24-hour vending machine distributes world-class pastries.

The oldest tofu shop in the United States is a firm favorite with locals.

A world of craftwork elegantly curated in a historic brick warehouse.

Their motto is, "We've been bonkers for hats even longer than you have!"

Private collection of art inspired by cabinets of curiosity.

This indoor-outdoor Portland market is an ode to the lesser-known corners of Latin America’s varied foodscape.

This rare, carefully curated collection showcases the history of neon inside a grandiose Elks lodge.

A puppeteer’s paradise offering shows, workshops, and an archive of over 2,000 puppets.

This dry lake bed contains the oldest known petroglyphs in North America.

Hidden inside a gift shop that doubles as a museum, this gargantuan yo-yo can only be operated by crane.

A unique museum where guests can rent and operate a locomotive.

An out-of-the-way state park in Oregon that features both a picturesque waterfall and the ruins of a hydropower plant.

This massive mushroom has spent centuries eating its way across a huge swath of Oregon.

World's largest porcine hairball sits in a collection maintained by Benedictine monks.

A spectacular but little-known slot canyon in extreme northern Nevada, with sheer walls nearly 500 feet high and a perennial stream.

A little-known occurrence of fossil wood in northern Washoe County, Nevada, near the Black Rock Desert.

An institution that preserves the history of institutionalization.

The long, arduous journey of the stones of the Abbey of New Clairvaux.

Mine your own precious stones.

Hollowed out cedar log tubs set in an ancient towering forest.

A crumbling wizard is one of the final reminders of a roadside Middle Earth.

Many generations of travelers have passed through the steep, smooth walls of this canyon.

1920's mining camp and environmental education center is serving to protect the surrounding forest, one of the last of its kind in the Pacific Northwest.

An optical illusion found amid a logged redwood forest.