My article about cool things to do in Medford, Oregon, came out in the Oregonian on May 16, 2009:
Medford gets a bad rap. It’s nearly impossible to miss on a visit to southern Oregon, but the city has never caught on as a tourist destination.
Although some 600,000 passengers fly through the Rogue Valley International-Medford Airport every year, tourists come to visit Ashland, home to the famed Oregon Shakespeare Festival (in downtown Ashland, 541-482-4331, orshakes.org), or Jacksonville, the quaint town to the west known for the annual Britt Festivals (541-773-6077, brittfest.org).
After all, unless you are looking for a cheap hotel or a quick trip to the Rogue Valley Mall (1600 N. Riverside Ave, 541-776-3255, roguevalleymall.com), why stop in Medford, a sprawling city of some 77,000 inhabitants better known for its smokestacks and highway construction than its charm and allure?
But wait, there are reasons. And, since I always like a travel challenge, I set out to discover them in Medford and neighboring Central Point (it’s hard to distinguish where one city ends and the other starts).
The most obvious and well known is the Harry & David factory tour (1314 Center Drive, Medford, 541-864-2277, ext. 3, tinyurl.com/ctq7mt). For $5 (applicable toward a purchase of $40 or more in the store afterward), a little white van transports you from the Country Store to the Harry & David plant itself, where you spend about an hour watching workers making candy, packing gift boxes and decorating baskets.
Elsewhere, at the Rogue Creamery (311 N. Front St., Central Point, 541-665-1155, roguecreamery.com), you’re apt to be greeted by co-owner David Gremmels’ mother, Sonya, 66, wearing her hair net and fussing over customers.
Sonya Gremmels will bring you right to the free samples of chipotle cheese curds and jalapeno handmade sausage, and tell you how Rogue River Blue Cheese — wrapped in grape leaves, soaked in pear brandy and aged for more than a year — won an award in France.
Then go next door to the Le Petit Tasting Room, which pours Ledger David wines, is next door (245 A N. Front St., Central Point, 541-664-1707) and try the viogniers, which are made from grapes native to the Rhone region of France, which grow well in southern Oregon because of similar climate and soil.
After you’ve enjoyed a flight of wines, don’t miss Lillie Belle Farms (211 N. Front St., Central Point, 541-664-2815, lilliebellefarms.com), a local handmade chocolatier beloved for lavender chocolates sprinkled with salt.
Try free samples of gingered pears covered in dark chocolate, watch boysenberry buttercups being made through a big viewing window, and ogle the croquembouche cream puff tower that could be yours for just $70.
Walk or bike off all those treats with a jaunt on Medford’s Bear Creek Greenway, which runs all the way from the Dog Park in Ashland to Pine Street in Central Point.
On the subject of parks, train aficionados and families will enjoy the underfunded but wonderful Medford Railroad Park (Table Rock Road and Berrydale Avenue, Medford, tunnel13.com/park.html), which is opened only the second and fourth Sunday of every month, April through September.
White-haired volunteers, all of whom love trains, will show you around the park, which sits on 49 acres and has miniature trains to ride, a museum of model trains and actual train cars to explore.
Then there’s Dogs for the Deaf (10175 Wheeler Road, Central Point, 541-826-9220, dogsforthedeaf.org), a nonprofit organization that has been training rescue dogs to help deaf people and seniors since 1977.
After a video, you get regaled with a demonstration from Tricky, a lovable mutt who failed his training course because he only liked to work when he felt like it.
If you only have time for 5 awesome things to do in Medford, Oregon:
1. Go on a Harry and David Factory tour
2. Say cheese at the Rogue Creamery, which has lots of samples and gourmet delights
3. Visit Lille Belle Farms and try all their chocolates
4. Go wine tasting
5. Walk or bike the Bear Creek Greenway
Read the whole article about things to do in Medford, Oregon at OregonLive.
Published: May 28, 2009
Updated: January 18, 2020
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