A dog-friendly weekend in green Eugene

We decided to visit Eugene as had heard it had plenty of outdoor attractions and things that we could do with Beatle. We we were also keen to visit a US College Town and this one is particularly famous due to its links with the founder of Nike... As we visited Eugene when the University was on break, it was likely a lot quieter than normal, but we still found lots of great places to explore.

THINGS TO DO

Visit the University of Oregon

Normally I wouldn't recommend visiting a University, but Eugene is a College town and the University and its vast grounds (250 acres) are pretty impressive. Obviously it’s probably not a great idea to be walking around when it’s busy with students, but during weekends or holidays you will have much more space. We enjoyed looking at the different buildings and public artworks and there were also plenty of grassy areas for Beats to roll and sniff on.

• The University Mascot, The Orgeon Duck, is located on the street-front side of Matthew Knight Arena (Basketball Stadium) and this is a must see. Beats wasn't too sure about this guy at first, but eventually agreed to have a pic with him…

Not too sure about this guy….

• There is a Museum of Natural and Cultural History within the campus and the exterior has a lot of interesting art and sculpture, including giant animal heads, carvings and even a big Mammoth. We enjoyed walking around the grounds and looking at the different art pieces.

Or this one….

• If you're into College sports then check out Hayward Field Stadium, a huge athletic ground that you can walk around - the best views are from Agate Street.

• The University of Oregon website is really interactive and you can use the site directly, or download the mobile app to get maps that will take you on self-guided tours of the campus. There is an 'Artwork Tour', a 'Historic Buildings' tour and even a 'Tree Tour'! A link to these can be found here

Explore Downtown Eugene

We really enjoyed exploring downtown Eugene with its pretty tree lined streets. We were also impressed by how much public art and murals are dotted around the town centre and it was fun to walk around and discover these.

Downtown Eugene is full of great outdoor art

The main shopping district includes Willamette Street and W Broadway - where the majority of stores and eateries are and you’ll find lots of great options to fit any budget or taste. Where these two streets meet is a large paved area called Broadway Plaza which a good spot to relax in and also has some really cool decorative pole sculptures.

Pretty Broadway Plaza

Visit the 5th Street Public Market

This Market comprises two areas on either side of lower Pearl Street. The first is a more traditional open air shopping market with a cute courtyard and fountain the centre that allows leashed dogs. Most of the cafes and restaurants have outdoor seating and some non-food related shops are dog friendly (just ask at the door). There is also some car parking on site.

Indoor courtyard at 5th Street Market

The other is a newer shopping complex called The Alley on the opposite of the road. It has a large Nike store and running man statue at the entrance. This complex is outdoors but covered and has more shops and eateries with plenty of outdoor seating. It also has a cute pet store, as well as an upmarket hotel. As this complex is also open air, your dog is welcome to join you.

5th Street Market

Willamette River and Trails

This large river runs through Eugene and has parkland on both sides. We enjoyed walking the pedestrian only, Autzen Canal Bridge to the other side of the river where you'll find shady, tree covered paths that take you in different directions. Turn left or right and you'll get to follow paved paths alongside the river (shared with joggers and cyclists).

However, if you continue to follow the main path directly off the bridge, you'll walk about 15 mins before coming to a clearing that offers good views of more University sports complexes (including the football stadium). There is also a very large off leash dog park (Alton Baker Park) where we let Beats off to meet some locals. We liked this dog park as it was really huge and had plenty of water and shade.

If you're over this side of the river, walk a further five minutes from the dog park to the Eugene Science Centre - the outside is a multicoloured delight and makes for a great pic.

If you're visiting in summer and your dog likes to swim, we saw lots of small paths down to the river and the odd dog swimming. The main river does flow quite fast so be aware of this before letting your dog dive in.

Checking out the Autzen Canal Bridge

Springfield - The Simpsons Mural

Whether you do this as a stand alone trip, or on your way out of town, make sure you stop by Springfield (which is only a ten minute drive away) to check out their collection of ‘The Simpsons’ murals. They are dotted around town, but our favourite was the oversized official mural which is located at 5th and Main downtown (on the side of the Emerald Art Centre). Springfield also has many other murals, some based on the Simpsons which are dotted around town, in alleyways etc. So if mural hunting is something you enjoy, Springfield would definitely be worth spending a couple of hours exploring. 

Loved this mural so much!

OTHER THINGS TO DO

If you and your dog are more into outdoor pursuits like hiking, then head to the Eugene Information Centre at 754 Olive Street who have maps and info about the various trails in the Greater Eugene area.

GETTING AROUND

For a small town Eugene is quite spread out. While the Downtown area is quite easy to navigate on foot, to access other areas - such as the River and University you may want to use a car, particularly on hot days.

EAT AND SLEEP

We found hotels to  be of varying prices, depending on how close they were to downtown. Further out towards the University was definitely cheaper as it was summer holidays - but I imagine during semesters that pricing would alter depending on demand from sporting events etc.

Because this is a College town, there are a large number of bars and restaurants to choose from. The majority seem to be located on W Broadway and those that had patio seating were dog-friendly.

We also had to visit Voodoo Doughnuts, who have an amazing assortment of delicious flavours and are located at 20 East Broadway (and you can see most of their quirky offerings from outside).

Delish looking donuts!

IN SUMMARY

Eugene is a great place to visit for a weekend getaway. While it’s a smaller town, it has a lively atmosphere and plenty of great places to explore and we found it to be very dog-friendly. The Willamette River and surrounding parklands also offer many different options to walk your dog and the large amount of trees offer plenty of shade.